A/N: Ei peeps! Here I am, finally back on track! Phew! This sure took me longer than I expected! I think I'll have to blame those practices that just makes my whole body ache for more than two weeks…Geez…and those exams too! They could've fried my brains if they wanted to! Darn…At least now it's Christmas break! As short as that may be, I should be thankful we even have a break! Ah well. I shouldn't dwell on things like that, should I? Anyhow, thanks to all of you who took the time and reviewed! Yes, even you Annika-chan…Although I'll have to thank you again! You're taking the time and effort just to give me a gift and here I am, just breaking it! sniff Gomen! Thanks again!
Well, 'nuff said on that, I should go on to the chapter. Thanks again!
Disclaimer: Obviously not mine! Everything belongs to Kishimoto Masaki-san! And I will really have to praise that creator for making such a wonderful character in the form of NARUTO! Waah! Well, if I did own it though, I'd have made Sakura end up with the one who truly deserves her love! Wahahaha! Ehem! Enough about that, let's just move on…
"Talking"
'Thinking' ('Inner Sakura')
'Kyuubi talking'
"Count that day lost, whose low descending sun views from thy hand no worthy action done."
-Charles Staford
I'll Be Home
By Milky Étoile
Chapter Three
Flashy Entrances and Lousy Introductions!
To say that a certain pink haired girl was shocked would be one of the greatest understatements one could say after having seen that expression on her face.
Sakura was lost for words. She couldn't decide on what to do. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know if she should just ignore the guy or glomp him until he was choked to death. Although her mind (or rather her inner self) had another idea.
'Beat him 'til he's dead!'
However, as much as that idea pleased her, she tried to think more rationally.
If she were to glomp him, the other two, being Sasuke and Iruka-sensei, might get the wrong idea of her show of affection.
"Ah! Naruto! You're back, how have you been?" Maybe acting casually and try to be on a safe ground would do best. For now. She'll get her answers later on…
The blonde haired boy smiled back at her. "Been fine as always, Sakura-chan! Although traveling with a pervert isn't exactly something I had hoped for." Naruto seemed to have twitched, only to stop after being hit on the head all of a sudden.
"ITTE!" The blonde boy looked up to see the only chuunin in the room 'coughing' and glaring at him because of the rude and uncalled-for comment.
"He taught you and that's what you do to repay the respected man who could have been doing more important things than teaching a genin!" Iruka spat at him, narrowing his eyes even more at the now nervous Naruto that seemed to have shrunk under his gaze.
The blonde inched away from the somewhat enraged teacher and muttered incoherently under his breath about how perverted men didn't even deserve the least respect. The volume of his voice was enough to be heard by the room's current occupants though.
Sakura tried not to giggle at her friend's antics. He didn't seem to have even changed much except for the slight physical changes. She was a bit curious though. Wasn't he with that so-called 'great legendary sannin'? If he really was, then that would mean…
"The great Jiraiya-sama is a pervert?" As frank as the question might have been, it was the only one Sakura could think of at the moment.
After hearing that sudden question, it seemed that the other occupants of the room could only blink at her. And almost as sudden as the silence had come, the question, after being digested by the others, earned a grim look from their now former teacher and still a rather stony expression from her black haired teammate. That question should really be answered positively. Of course, Sakura's display of logic, as simple as it might have been, was very plausible.
Naruto, however, could only grin sheepishly and scratch the back of his head nervously, and tried to think of a way to change the subject, not wishing that the aforementioned sannin would hear the rain of insults he had started. He didn't want Jiraiya to hear that. Although that was just because it was included in the conditions the sannin had always given him when he was to learn a new jutsu that Naruto was to not badmouth him until he was to be taught how to do it. Apparently, Jiraiya had yet to teach him the new technique and he was obviously not going to for a while. And Naruto surely wanted to learn how to do the Karyuu Endan more properly.
The blonde haired boy turned his attention back to the others.
"Well, you see…it's quite a long story. But I promise I'll tell you later. Now, our jounin sensei is supposed to come, ne?"
Sakura reluctantly gave in. "Yes, our new instructor should be coming any minute now…"
The black haired member of the new Team Seven glanced at the clock on one side of the classroom. Okay…fifteen minutes since they should have been called out. Their instructor must've been caught up with some business then…
"Oh you just hope so…I highly doubt he'll arrive any minute now…" the oldest of the lot said to himself. Iruka crossed his arms and had a disapproving look on his features as if a student had disappointed him.
Well, that sure wasn't very encouraging for a start. Maybe waiting wouldn't hurt them…
"Agh! What's taking him so long! I would accept it if he were thirty minutes late but TWO HOURS IS INSANE!"
Sakura could only sigh at her blonde teammate's behavior. At least that hadn't changed in him. It made her wonder now who influenced both her and Naruto with their, erm, loudmouthed-ness. Ah well.
The surviving Uchiha watched amusedly as his new teammate continued to pace on the platform by the blackboard while muttering words he could barely catch. Naruto was obviously not so patient.
That was contrary to what he thought before as the blonde was quiet for the first hour of their waiting, reading off a scroll that didn't seem to have a title. After that hour, their green-eyed teammate tried to strike a conversation with the whiskered blonde, asking questions that were answered with vague replies. When Sakura had given up (now she had to be patient, trying to pry information for half an hour from a unresponsive guy is NOT easy), Naruto started to walk around the classroom, muttering all the while.
It was when he heard the sudden outburst from Naruto that he thought he wasn't so patient at all. Well, might just mean that he was not that good of a ninja then. An impatient nin tended to act brashly and not even think of the consequences of their actions. But Sasuke decided that he'll just have to see in the future then.
"THAT'S IT! He's going to get it…whoever he is!" With that said, Naruto grabbed an eraser by the blackboard and made his way to the door.
"Ano…Naruto-kun, what're you going to do?" Sakura just had to ask, even if she had an idea of what his answer would be.
"Oh? What am I going to do? Weeeeell…Sakura-chan, I'm just going to make sure our new sensei wouldn't forget how being late is NOT supposed to be in a ninja's qualities list…" The blonde smirked as he placed the blackboard eraser by the door, making sure that it when the door was opened, the object would fall straight to the person's head.
Sakura seemed uncertain about his idea but Sasuke now wore a smirk too.
"Demo…wouldn't that be a bit…disrespectful?" the pink-haired genin asked tentatively. Naruto harrumphed at that.
"Hmph! Disrespectful? He's already made my respect for him gone the first hour we waited! He should be thankful I'm not going to make him go through my usual myriad of traps just to pay him back. Besides! If he really IS a good jounin, then he wouldn't be hit by a mere object just like that!" The blonde then made his way to one of the seats with his arms crossed and an indignant expression on his face.
Again, Sakura could only sigh. After glancing at the clock, she noted irritably that they'd been waiting for two and a half hours. It really was unacceptable. She had to agree with Naruto that such lateness was uncalled-for in a shinobi. Well, she couldn't exactly do anything but wait.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Until…
Sakura noticed both Naruto and Sasuke suddenly become tense and sat up straight at the same time, averting their gazes towards the door. The pink-haired genin then also turned to face the slowly opening door to reveal…
Hatake Kakashi was not your average jounin.
Of course he wasn't. He'd already become chuunin even before reaching fifteen. After that, he'd become an ANBU team captain. At that time he'd already made it to jounin rank easily. And to top that off, he was also known as the Yondaime Hokage's prized student during and after his genin days, not to mention, one of the leader's good companions as well.
Of course, that didn't end at that. He was also well-known among the high-ranking nin as the 'Copy-cat Ninja,' famous for the over-a-thousand jutsus he had learnt. Or rather, copied with the Sharingan he had in his other eye. But only few really knew it was because of the Sharingan.
Of course, besides that, he was known to have never passed any genin team that made their way to him. Zero percent of passing rate. The others just presumed he was giving them such a hard ordeal.
Of course, all that made him one of those classified under the 'elite jounin' list. And that was beside the fact that the masked jounin's cool attitude made him famous in the village's female population.
But of course, that might as well be put down if the whole of that population found out that he was actually the biggest fan of the most perverted material that can ever exist.
Yes, of course that material would be the book series entitled 'Icha Icha Paradise'. Written by none other than the Toad Sannin Jiraiya, its cover colored a bright orange tint. It was the escape from boredom of all male ninja from their extremely boring missions and the comfort of the heart-broken. With all of its perverted words, scenes, pages, all of the readers' boredom, problems and pains seem to melt into no more than…a girlish giggle.
Yes, a very girlish giggle. As hard it may be to fathom for such people of the male populace be reduced to doing something so…unmanly, it was true.
And alas! One of these men was the famous lazy-looking nin, Hatake Kakashi. It might have been a shame!
But of course, it wasn't. Even though not many people…alright. Even though many people knew of his attachment to the cursed little orange pocket book, he was still very much respected.
But of course, that was when he wasn't reading the said cursed little orange pocket book. And this wasn't one of those rare times he didn't read the aforementioned cursed little orange pocket book.
As a matter of fact, Kakashi was walking down the hallways of the Ninja Academy nonchalantly with the said cursed little orange pocket book in front of his mostly-masked face. He was going to fetch his newly assigned genin team from the classroom they were waiting.
And, of course he knew he was already two and a half long grueling hours late. That was because he figured that since they would have to be with him for some time, they would have to get to know his little habit. That was, of course, if they ever pass his insane test.
Either way, he had spent half an hour speaking with the Sandaime about the members of the team he had just been assigned to. He had found out very well that one of his new pupils was the current apprentice of his idolized author. Which meant that this idolized author was currently in the vicinity. Which, of course, drove him to go looking for the said author, but not after digging for the newest issue of the cursed orange book in the nearest bookstore. He'd hope to let the author sign it but it seemed luck was not with him as he was unable to find Jiraiya in the nearby bath houses, as he had expected him to be.
Ah well. He might as well just take the chance of asking his new student.
But he had only decided that two hours after the time he was due to meet his team.
And now, he was walking, albeit rather slowly, towards the classroom where they waited. When he reached the door, he decided to put back the small book in his pouch. One had to at least make a good impression. Yes, even if he'd been two a half hours late.
And so, as he opened the door, he had least expected what might have happened to him. But it surely made him remember never to make his students wait. Ever again.
Although that just slipped his mind shortly afterward…
A familiar blonde's laughter was echoing in the said classroom. In the middle of the blonde's laughing fit was a loud, "You fell for it!" and his laughter echoing again.
The room's other seated occupants, namely Sasuke and Sakura, were struggling, trying hard not to laugh. Sasuke was faring up much better than Sakura though as he only had a smirk on his features unlike the other, who was already half sniggering.
They watched as the white smoke cleared, revealing a silver-haired masked man with half of his face covered, his forehead protector covering his left (is that right?) eye like a bandana would to a pirate. The shoulder and chest part of his jounin vest was covered in chalk dust, along with some parts of his black mask. His expression was unreadable but it was clear that he wasn't as pleased as he thought he would be after hearing that he'd finally get to meet his idol.
Naruto's laughter had died when he noted from the man's silver hair, masked face, and covered left eye that this was one of the ninja his sensei had mentioned with high praises. This was none other than the Copy-cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. He was frozen on the spot at that.
"No way…Hatake Kakashi? Our jounin instructor?" That was all he could say after his realization.
The jounin only nodded, ignoring the chalk dust that was on his clothes. "I see you've been told who I am." He was quite interested on the reactions of his new students. What he didn't expect, of course, was the blonde suddenly bowing low before him.
"Go-gomen nasai! I really didn't mean to—I mean I—! I mean…I didn't know and—" Naruto bowed even lower (if possible) and said, "I'm really sorry! I won't do it again!"
His other teammates were floored by this. One moment he was laughing at the demise of their new sensei for all he could care and the next bowing low to the said instructor, asking for forgiveness for his mischief. Truly, they didn't know what to make of it. Sasuke and Sakura only stared at the exchange.
"Well…that's alright, really. But…" Naruto looked up as Kakashi trailed off. The blonde noticed that he was looking at him with a bored visible eye.
"My first impression is…" They all looked eagerly at him…
"Not much." The three's expressions fell. "Meet me at the roof in a few minutes." And the silver-haired jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Naruto's shocked expression was suddenly replaced by a look of pain. "ITTE! Mou, Sakura-chan! What did you do that for!" The blonde rubbed his aching head, looking up at Sakura, who had recovered from her previous state of surprise.
"BAKA! You gave our new jounin sensei a bad first impression," Sakura unclenched her fist and made her way to the door to follow Sasuke. The Uchiha had already left the room a few moments ago.
Naruto sighed before making a hand seal and disappearing in a puff of smoke as their new instructor had.
The first to arrive was that whiskered member of the team he was newly assigned to. The blonde had appeared in a puff of smoke just like how he had, just at the moment he'd gotten his book out of his pouch.
'Hmm…He must've been taught by some professional to be able to do a more or less mid-class level of jutsu. Wait. What am I thinking? He was taught by a professional…'
Most normal genin usually don't even have the slightest idea on how that kind of travel from one place to another worked. Obviously, this young prankster wasn't as normal as other shinobi of his current rank, Kakashi guessed. He had only been vaguely informed of who the members of his newly assigned team would be. Despite the fact that he already knew that this member of the team was under the tutelage of his idol.
He turned his attention back from his thoughts to his new 'subordinates'. He tried to measure in his mind how they could actually fare up to what they had to endure later on. Or rather, tomorrow.
After a moment, he realized that the blonde seemed to have been scrutinizing him with narrow eyes. He raised his eyebrow at him as if to ask.
That was before the blonde noticed the orange book that was still in his hands.
When Naruto had arrived on the rooftop, he didn't expect that the silver haired jounin whom he had thought to be one who was highly respected to be reading that book.
"Please tell me that book isn't what I think it is!" The blonde looked at the jounin in exasperation. When the man put up the front cover for the title to be seen, Naruto seemed to have become horrified all of a sudden.
"No way! I didn't come back to Konoha just to be stuck with another perverted sensei!" he said, now looking as though he'd lost all hope.
At that same time, Sakura and Sasuke chose to arrive, now wearing curious looks. Kakashi, however, only raised an eyebrow at the blonde before seeming to have just recalled something.
"Ah…that's right…You were with Jiraiya-sama for what? Two years?" the silver haired jounin asked, putting away his book.
"Three," Naruto corrected bitterly. "I've been with that perverted so-called 'Greatest Toad Sannin' for three long years! And I'm thankful enough that none of his…habits rubbed off on me!"
"Hm…funny…I was sure he might have gotten some things in your head…" Kakashi looked away, seemingly to avoid the boy's gaze.
"'Some things'!" Naruto looked at the instructor incredulously. "There's no way in hell that I'll be like that—that abomination! I'll be like my dad who's a lot more decent, respectable and most of all, not a—"
"Pervert?" the jounin cut him off, brushing off his own wonder on how Naruto had found out about his father. "How can you be so sure he didn't become like Jiraiya-sama? After all, he was his apprentice."
"Argh! I'll get you for that! Just you wait…" Naruto crossed his arms and sat on the floor (this is the rooftop). As Sakura and Sasuke went near, they heard him muttering along the lines of, "helping Gai-san," and "ripping that darn mask off you…" What that was all about was beyond them.
A smile was hidden beneath his mask as Kakashi turned to them. "Now, I think we should start with the introductions. Say your name, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, something of the sort."
"Ano…" Sakura started, finally having the courage to speak but still hesitantly. "Why don't you start? To give us an example?"
"Alright then. My name is Hatake Kakashi and I have no intention to tell you my likes and dislikes. As for my dreams for the future……Well, I have a lot of hobbies…but they are of no importance to you…"
The others waited for him to finish, but apparently, he wasn't going to say anything else than that.
"Oh they will be…if I ever find out you've got the same hobbies as him, I swear I'll make sure you won't be able to read that damn book ever again…" the only blonde muttered, more to himself than to anybody, but they heard him still.
"Nice knowing your name, Kakashi-sensei…thank you very much…" Naruto said out loud. "Although I would've thought that your likes were little orange books and that you disliked waiting for the next issue of the said little orange book to be out, just like all those others addicted to the stupid little orange book. And your hobbies might as well be reading the aforementioned little orange book. Your dreams? I could only guess it has something to do with collecting all those little orange books…"
They turned to see Naruto, no longer wearing that pout on his face but now glaring at the jounin. The beast inside Naruto started to erupt in laughter for the second time (the first being when the jounin went through the 'blackboard eraser prank' before). The sound Kyuubi was producing was echoing through the walls of his mind. Naruto only smirked at that and turned his attention back to the outside world.
The blonde turned to look at Kakashi after a moment and added, "Oh, and is that some genjutsu you're using? You must be quite exceptional at genjutsus. After all, hiding all that white stuff that was on you some minutes ago isn't really the easiest task one could do. I added a bit of my long-lasting, sticking-onto-clothes paint chips in that. I had to bargain for that in the prank shop in Wind Country for that…"
The jounin seemed to have not heard it (or ignored it, a very futile attempt) though and continued, with only a vein seeming to pulse hard on his temples.
"Who wants to go next?" When nobody answered, he said, "You, with the black hair. You start off." The Uchiha only complied.
"Uchiha Sasuke. I like training and I dislike many things, above all, annoying girls and dobes. My dream isn't really a dream. It is my ambition: I wish to kill someone and revive my clan."
A stiff silence ensued for a few moments, leaving everyone else to sink into their own thoughts.
'To kill…? Who?' It made Sakura wonder what kind of person the number one rookie of the year would want to get rid of.
'Hm…I expected as much…' Kakashi kept his cool gaze on Sasuke.
"You better be training harder than you ought to then…or maybe get off from your absurd revenge…"
All heads turned to the source of the voice. Naruto was the only one who dared to disturb the silence, looking as if something that had happened or had been said made him remember a dreadful memory.
"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke spat at him with gritted teeth. Naruto only looked back at him with a calm gaze.
"Nothing. Just saying you should be careful. The life you choose will never be an easy one…" The atmosphere became a tense one until Kakashi decided to continue.
"Alright, you with the pink hair. You're next." He gestured for Sakura to start.
"Ano…Well, I'm Haruno Sakura. My likes are…" She stole a glance at someone and blushed. "…um, I like reading and I hate Ino-pig! And um…my dreams are…" She stopped at that, preventing herself from squealing. She still had a tinge of red on her cheeks though.
'Hm? A girl concentrated on her love life? Ah well…' Kakashi only stared at Sakura with a lazy expression.
Naruto's mind was wondering about something else though. 'Eh? The last time I heard, she and Ino were almost like sisters…' That sort of thing didn't bother Sasuke though.
"I guess it's my turn then!" Naruto flashed a foxy grin and started talking in a loud voice. "Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and my best friend!"
'Best friend? Who?' Did he meet someone new whom he'd become close to? This kind of thing seemed to bother Sakura for some apparent reason. Why though, was a mystery even to her. Maybe it was a tinge of…jealousy? She shrugged off the thought though as Naruto continued.
"…I hate the three-minute wait for ramen to be done and people who keep on discriminating others!"
'A ramen addict yet one who has a somewhat justified personality. I wonder how that'll fare up for this lot…' Kakashi's gaze remained expressionless as the blonde continued on to his last statement…
"My dream is to surpass all the Hokage in their greatness!" With this, Naruto did his 'good-guy pose'.
Sakura sighed and shook her head. 'He hasn't changed…'
The silver haired jounin though was wondering, yet again. 'Even with the treatment the entire population of the village gave him, he still wishes to be the one to protect this place? Hm…It must be because of his father…'
"Tch. Hokage? Keep on dreaming then." Sasuke scoffed at Naruto. After all, there's no way that supposedly 'dead-last' would be able to even become even just a bit stronger than him.
The blonde though, unusually kept his cool expression and stared at the Uchiha. "You'll see one day. Maybe by then you won't be so cocky and full of yourself at all," he said with a smirk on his face. Sasuke only glared back at him for a moment before turning away.
'Hm…will this turn out to be rivalry now? Well, thing might just turn quite interesting though…' Kakashi cleared his throat again, causing the others to look back at him.
"Alright, now that that's over with let me tell you what we're supposed to do first as a new team."
For some reason, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke couldn't help but feel quite uneasy as the jounin said that. Because as he did, a mischievous glint seemed to have been in his visible eye. Add to that, Kakashi's emphasis on some of the words wasn't exactly helping them feel comfortable under their new instructor's gaze as he seemed to be emitting some sort of intent.
And for the first time, they showed a hint of fear towards their new superior.
つづく
Well, I didn't exactly expect that to turn out like that. And with the title of the chapter too. I've decided to lighten up a little bit. Anyhow, I'm still debating with myself about a certain part so I'll have to leave it there. What? You think that's already a cliffhanger? Ha! Just you wait…you'll see what real cliffhangers are supposed to be…And please not that I've got no translation notes in this chapter. I only used a single Japanese word after all and that was already in my previous notes. I'll just go directly to the responses then.
Review Responses:
Kitsune0005-Really? Thanks! Here, one update ready and you must've seen it by now ;)
Annika-I'd say it's a good thing you're very much informed on what would be happening to you the next time I see even just a strand of your hair…-glare- Jamie…I swear you'll soon see what, ehm, Mon-chan "fears" in me…
maxhrk-chucklesDon't worry!You'll see hints of the pairing soon enough! Hehe...Already said it:D
BWOLFY-Alright, it would be NaruSaku...There, I admitted it! Ah well...although expect hints of a bit NaruHina and SasuSaku...the latter being one sided, teehee:D
Sora-chan (a.k.a kawaiiyuzumichan)-Hey, it's not much of a cliffhanger, is it? Come on…Well, I guess I'll talk to you again! Geez, we haven't seen each other for months! And is Fate just so cruel as to not allow us to meet again on this year's Family Day at school. Fate didn't let us see each other either last year! Whoever Fate may be…Ah well. I'm still glad we had at least the second place. And I swear, teachers get really weird when they get really pleasant and unexpected surprises…I'll tell you later what I mean by that ;) Please leave your new phone number! I seemed to have misplaced my copy…
Obitakuleht-Sige na, babasahin ko na rin… sana nga magkausap ulit tayo! Di naman tayo magkakita e! Sa band fest kaya namin, sa tingin mo? That would surely be great! Well, I hope you're doin' fine. I haven't heard from you personally! Sora-chan's the one updating me about you lately…;)
sara-chan-Hehe…I'm sorry that wasn't much of a reaction. I'll give you a bit of a hint. Her real reaction would be seen soon in the next chapter or the one after that, hopefully. About the pairing, you'll see soon! I hope this kind of plot would be quite realistic…:D At least somewhat.
OneWithoutEyes-I can't believe it! One of my favorite authors reviewing for my story? Whoa…this makes me feel so light inside! Teehee! You like it? Really? Waah...
Thank you all for reviewing! Hope you keep on doing it:D
PLEASE READ:
The Link: Snake and Foxby Nerva al'Thor (And soon to come: The Link: Sharingan and Diapers...teehee!)
-It's one of the best fanfics I've ever stumbled upon. I swear it's really hilarious! Nerva-neechan (as I fancy calling her) sure has a great way of surprising the hell out of me with all those sudden events…cringes All creepy yet amusing at the same time! Hats off to you Nerva-neechan! Keep on writing while I keep on boosting your ego…Hehe…;)
Anyway, I guess I'll have to be going then. Hope you liked that chapter! Please review! Reviews pump me up like chocolate does! Heehee! Take care then! I'm off to take in more chocolate! See ya later then! Ciao!
Chapter posted on December 28, 2005.
Milky Étoile ;)
P.S. Belated Merry Christmas, Hanukah, or whatever else you might celebrate this season! And advanced Happy New Year to all! Hope you have a nice vacation while I go on a three-day trip to Hong Kong! Woohoo! Take care now, mata ne!