Disclaimer: I don't own them, though I have tried to steal Sage's and Cale's souls… Hey, they would be happy with me!

GDW: ALRIGHT! Another chapter! I hope you all are liking this!

Cale: Well, we know Liquid Earth is!

Sage: Most definitely. She reviewed again.

GDW: Yeah, and I added her character in! It's not until the end, but she's got quite a bit of playing time in here so far, considering I went back and rewrote the ending of this chapter so she could be in it! So this chapter, once again, is for you Liquid Earth! Enjoy! Because I had fun writing your part… Oh, and I hope Liz is in character. If she isn't, tell me so I can change her to fit your standards.

Chapter Four

Cooper sat down on the couch, sighing as everyone else gave her some breathing room. She smiled at them, "I'm fine, I'm fine, alright? Just some cuts and bruises that will take time to heal, nothing big."

The group had taken her to the hospital, and she had been bandaged and sent home, now they were just waiting for Rowen and Naruto. Sage sat down beside her, his eyes holding worry, "Are you sure…"

"Sage, you finish that sentence, and I will make sure that you sleep on the couch tonight!" Cooper growled lightly.

Everyone's attention turned to the door only to see Rowen holding Naruto by the back of his shirt, Iruka beside him. Rowen smiled, "Iruka wanted to take him to the Ramen stand, but I insisted that they come back here."

Naruto pulled out of Rowen's grip, running over to Cooper and grabbing her in a hug, causing her to hiss quietly as to not scare him, "Cooper! Cooper! I passed!"

Cooper smiled, joy entering her at that, wrapping her arms around the boy, "Really? That's great!" She then laughed, wincing lightly, "We can now celebrate!" She whispered to him, "Cye made Ramen just for you, Naruto!"

Naruto yelled in joy, causing Spoons and Sasuke to walk into the room, wiping the sleep out of their eyes. Spoons smiled as she saw Naruto, "Naruto…" She became awake at once and ran to him. As she lunged onto both Naruto and Cooper, she squealed in joy as she noticed his forehead protector, "You passed! You passed! Yay!"

Cooper waved her arms around wildly, "Sage! Dear! Please! I can't breathe, and they are killing me! They weigh more than what they look!" As everyone just laughed at the scene, she screamed, "HELP ME OUT HERE! NOW!"

Sasuke laughed at that, grabbing his abdomen as Sage and Sekhmet quickly pulled the two other Genin off of Cooper. Sasuke then walked forward, a small smile on his face, "Now we just have to see who is on who's team."

Cooper sighed, putting a hand over her chest, "Whew, I can breathe!" She then ruffled Spoon's and Naruto's hair, "Well, we can celebrate now, you know that, and we have food and everything!"

Sage chuckled, pulling her to her feet and supporting her so she could stand, "We eve got you a little something to congratulate you all."

Cooper nodded, turning to the coffee table in the room, "Yeah, Spoons yours is the dark blue one, Sasuke's is the black one, and Naruto, yours is the orange one."

Spoons quickly grabbed her gift, looking it over quickly, "It isn't going to explode on me, is it?"

Sekhmet laughed at that, shaking his head, "No, we promise it won't!"

At those words, Spoons opened the box up, gasping. A small smile and tears came to her face as she pulled out a stuffed penguin, "Awww! Thanks!"

Cooper smiled sadly at her, "I know how much both Tinkerbells meant to you when they died, so I thought this might do until I can get you something living, eh?"

Sasuke eyed his gift, causing Spoons to poke him, "Just open it! Please?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, opening the gift nonetheless. A smile came to his lips as he pulled out the first book of Cooper's series. As he opened the cover, she had written a little note to him, saying along the lines of that he was a special part of their family and had inspired a new character in her book. She then had signed it for him.

"Thank you Cooper. I have been wanting to read your books," Sasuke smiled even more, opening to where he had last been in Sage's book, starting to read.

Cooper smiled sweetly at him, "I know, Sage told me. So, you are the first ever to get any copy before it comes out on the shelves, I promise." She then looked at Naruto, "Now, you, Naruto, and please do not tackle me in joy."

Naruto took his gift carefully, looking at everyone around him, his eyes widening as he actually opened it up and pulled out six free meal tickets to the ramen stand. As he jumped for joy, Cooper grabbed Ryo, placing him in front of her just in time to miss the Naruto slamming into him.

Cooper laughed, pointing at the struggling Ryo, "Looks like you have your hands full, Ryo!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Naruto yelled, hugging the struggling Ryo.

Dais smiled as Sasuke walked forward, smiling at them all. He had noticed the boy rarely smiled around anyone other than them. He ruffled his hair somewhat, causing Sasuke to frown up at him, "So, I take it you enjoy Cooper's books, eh?"

Sasuke nodded at that, "They are quite interesting, but I could never get a copy, and Sage actually let me read his. I was automatically hooked, but I never got to finish it…"

"You know that she plans to have twenty books in total, right?" Rowen smiled down at him, walking over to them. "She told us that once, and I believe it."

888

Spoons giggled as she sat down beside Sasuke, "I wonder what teams we will be on!"

Naruto sat down on the other side of her, a smile on his face, causing Spoons to giggle even more, "Just watch! We will have the best teams!"

"I hope we are all on the same team," Spoons sighed dreamily, knowing that it probably wouldn't happen. She knew that in the series Sakura was the other member of their team. She started wondering who she would end up with, knowing that it would probably be an unknown team.

Iruka came into the classroom, smiling as everyone hushed, waiting to hear who would be on who's team. Spoons sighed once again, but this one was full of sadness. She placed her arms onto the desk in front of her and leaned her head against it, watching Iruka but not really paying attention. Sasuke looked down at her, worry in his eyes, "Spoons, what's wrong? Are you feeling alright?"

Spoons grunted as an answer, and Naruto looked at her as well, putting his hand on her forehead, "Are you running a fever?"

Spoons pulled away from him, frowning, "I'm fine, you two, just shut up and listen to the teams. Tell me what team I'm on, alright? I really don't have the heart to listen anymore."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance at each other before looking back down at Iruka. Spoons felt her heart clench, knowing that Sakura was going to be on their team and that she wouldn't see Sasuke very much anymore.

As she buried her face into her arms, letting a few of her tears fall, Iruka announced team seven, causing Sasuke and Naruto to smile at each other. They were on the same team, something that they thought would please Spoons greatly.

After Iruka had announced every team, Naruto nudged Spoons, smiling greatly, "Hey, hey, hey, Spoons!"

Spoons looked up at them, sadness in her eyes, "Well, what team am I on? Who are the two others that I have to deal with?"

"Sasuke and I are on the same team!" Naruto smiled at her, keeping her still feeling saddened.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, hitting Naruto upside the head, "Forget what Naruto said, Spoons, I'll tell you what team you are on." Spoons watching him closely, noticing that Sakura wasn't anywhere near them. Sasuke smirked, putting his hand on hers, "You're on team seven, Spoons…"

"Yeah! Yeah! With us! You're on our team!" Naruto smiled, bouncing around in his seat.

Spoons' jaw dropped as she looked at both of them, "Uh, are you sure?"

"You don't see anyone else with us, do you?" Sasuke smirked at her, causing her to squeal in joy and grab him in a hug. He waved his arms around, "Hey! Hey! Come one now! Not in public!"

As he pulled her out to arm's length, Sasuke noticed Spoons was crying lightly, turning her head away from them. She quickly wiped at her eyes, "How?"

Sasuke shrugged, and Naruto laughed, lunging onto her, "What does it matter? We're on the same team!"

Spoons nodded, a smile appearing on her face, "Yeah, I guess you are right." She then noticed everyone had left except for them, "Uh, what are we waiting for?"

"Our Jounin instructor," Sasuke shrugged sitting down in a seat by the front of the classroom. "We are to wait for them."

Spoons smirked evilly at that, turning to watch Naruto trying to rig up a trap. She then cleared her throat, "Uh, Naruto, why don't you forget about that? I know he is making us wait, but trust me when I say this isn't going to help us in the long run, alright?"

As Naruto frowned at her, she quickly grabbed the eraser out of his hands, throwing it into his face and causing chalk dust to poof everywhere on him. Spoons laughed hysterically at Naruto as the dust cleared to show him completely white.

Sasuke snickered lightly, but held most of his laughter in. As this whole display was going on, someone entered the room, watching the three patiently. Spoons looked up from her laughter to see the person, and she blanched. As her laughter quickly died and she pointed, Naruto turned, "What's gotten into you, Spoons?"

Spoons worked her mouth, trying to say something, but nothing came out. Standing there, leaning against the doorframe was Kakashi, his eye smiling at her. He chuckled as he pushed away from his support, "Well, we meet again, Spoons, don't we?"

Spoons glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest, "I still think you are stupid!"

Kakashi shook his head, walking towards them, "Well, my first impression of you was that you were stupid as well…"

Spoons screamed at that and lunged onto Kakashi, startling him as she started to hit him and bit him. "I am not stupid! I graduated! You are stupid! You can't even beat Sage!"

Kakashi glared at Spoons, pulling her away from him, "How did you find out about that?"

Spoons smirked at him, "Sage was bragging about it around the village… well, not really, but as soon as I found out, I bragged it around the city!" She then giggled, "You should see your face, Kakashi!"

"Meet me up on the roof," Kakashi growled, dropping Spoons and disappearing.

Naruto laughed, pointing at Spoons, "Kakashi-sensei doesn't like you!"

Spoons crossed her arms over her chest and walked out of the room, anger building in her. Sasuke walked after her, but not before hitting Naruto upside the head. As Naruto asked him why he had done it, Sasuke glared at him, "You made fun of Spoons, Naruto. That wasn't very nice."

888

Cooper rolled over in the bed, snuggling closer to Sage in her sleep, the bearer of Halo wrapping his arms around her even tighter. The two hadn't gotten out of bed yet, content to be in each other's arms. The others in the house had let them sleep under Cale's orders.

The door slammed open, causing Cooper and Sage to pull away from each other, falling out of the bed as well. Screaming ensued then, and the two that had come into the room quickly retreated, slamming the door shut once again. Cooper blinked as she rubbed her head, which had slammed off of the floor, "Uh, what was that? Has Talpa come back?"

Sage laughed as he stood, naked, "No, I just think Spoons has returned…"

"Ahh! My eyes! They burn!" Spoons' voice was heard from the other side of the door. "Sasuke! I can't see! I'm blind!"

"Speak for yourself!" Sasuke yelled back at her. "I saw it too! Why didn't you tell me they did that?"

"How was I supposed to know that they slept…" Spoons yelled. There was then silence before she spoke again, but her voice was a whisper, "naked…"

Cooper stood up, storming over to the door, not caring that she wasn't wearing anything at all. She opened the door, her eyes full of anger, "Maybe next time you will knock or not enter at all, squirt!" With that, she slammed the door shut, turning back to Sage, a blush on her face. She sat back down on the bed, moaning lightly as Sage started to massage her back, "Not the way I wanted to wake up this morning."

Sage smiled down at her, "Relax, at least they both know not to do it again… anyway, where was Naruto?"

"No! No, Naruto! Don't! I beg you!" Spoons' voice screamed.

"Why not? I want to tell Cooper who our sensei is!" Naruto's hyperactive voice stated before the door started to open.

Cooper turned to look at Sage, and both wore faces of shock. Both dove under the covers that were left on the bed just as Naruto bounded into the room. Cooper nodded, "Naruto, you could have knocked."

Naruto tilted his head, "Why are both of you still in bed?" He grabbed the covers and started to pull on them.

Sage yelled at him, "Stop Naruto! You don't want to pull this sheet off of us, understand?"

Spoons' head popped into the room, but her eyes were closed, "Naruto, get out of there now! Cooper and Sage are…" She shuddered before whispering, "naked."

Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly jumped out of the room, slamming the door. As he leaned against it, his eyes were wide. Sasuke smirked despite the situation, "What was that, Naruto? I thought you were going to tell Cooper who our sensei was!"

Sekhmet came walking by, and he stopped for a moment, "Oh, don't bother Sage and Cooper, please, you three. They are still sleeping, and Cale wants them to get as much sleep as they can…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "They aren't doing much sleeping, I can tell you that…"

Sekhmet turned away from them, not wanting them to see his smile at that. He then walked away, shaking his head, "Never mind. Why don't you all go help Cye? Dinner should be soon, and he will probably want the help…"

All three ran to the kitchen, hoping to forget what they had just seen. Sekhmet came back to the room, knocking on the door. He heard Sage's grunt as an answer to come in, and he opened the door, a smirk on his face. He nodded at the fully clothed couple, "I hope you weren't doing anything when they walked in, you two, that would surely scar them for life…"

Cooper glared at the Warlord, "We were sleeping, Sekhmet, just…" she started blushing, "without… clothes."

"Well, all three are down in the kitchen at the moment, helping with dinner. I hope you enjoyed your nap…" Sekhmet laughed, shaking his head and walking out of the room.

Both Sage and Cooper followed him, knowing that the three younger ones would try and stay away from them for a while. As they entered the living room, the heard Spoons' voice coming from the couch. "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei said that we shouldn't eat breakfast and that we could bring any weapons that we had…"

"Really now? Well then, I might have to give you your birthday present early then!" Cale laughed, sitting down in the chair opposite of the couch.

Ryo laughed, "Yeah, I guess we are going to have to give you your birthday presents early, that's all."

Cooper smiled as she dropped herself on the couch beside Spoons, causing the girl to scoot away from her, "What's the matter, Spoons? And what was so important that you had to barge into our room to talk to us without knocking?"

Ryo winced at that, laughing lightly, "Oh, that's not good."

Rowen smirked lightly, "Saw something you didn't want to see? That's why you always knock when the door is closed."

Spoons blushed as Kento laughed, "Maybe you will feel the same way after you get yourself someone!"

Sasuke blushed as well as Spoons looked over at him sheepishly and then looked down at the floor. Dais smirked at the option, "But you are too young to be thinking of something like that! Gods know that Sage wouldn't allow you to be with a boy until you are at least twenty!"

Sage chuckled at that, sitting down beside Cooper, "Yeah, I agree with Dais!" He then nodded at Cale, "And I think Cale wouldn't let you be with anyone until you were at least thirty." He then put his hand on Sasuke's head, ruffling his hair, "You didn't catch us doing anything, you two. No, we were just sleeping."

Cooper laughed as Spoons scrunched up her nose, "Squirt, when you get to my age and you are sleeping with someone, let me tell you that since you did it to me, I am sure as hell going to do it to you! If not me, then my kids! Take that one!"

Spoons stuck her tongue out at Cooper, "Well, Kakashi-sensei is going to flip when I tell him what I saw!" She then started laughing, liking the idea of telling her sensei what she had seen, "Maybe then we will pass the test that he is going to make us take, right guys?" She jumped up off the couch, nodding, "Yeah, I just tell him about Cooper and Sage! Oh, he won't be able to concentrate then!"

Cooper's eyes went wide, "Kakashi is your sensei?" She then shook her head, "Shit! This is not good!" She looked at Sage and then at Spoons, "He is going to be fair to you, isn't he?"

Spoons giggled, "Yeah, he was just mad when I told him that I told everyone that Sage had beaten him!"

Cye came walking into the room, a smile on his face, "Yeah, he is jealous of Sage, that is for sure, and I am not totally sure why. I mean, Cooper was not a good match for him anyway, and Sage won her heart fair and square." He then nodded, "Dinner's ready guys, come on, time to eat…"

"Food!" Kento chanted, much like Naruto was, "Food, food, food!"

Both Naruto and Kento ran for the dinning room, both racing each other to see who could win. Sage moaned as he heard a crash and then Naruto's and Kento's yells. "Who put this chair here?"

"What about the table?"

"Where's the food?"

"Yeah? Where's the food? I'm starving!"

Cooper giggled lightly, grabbing Sage's arm and pulling him up, "Well, come on then. Dinner calls and it won't wait for us with both Naruto and Kento in there!"

As dinner progressed, Ryo laughed at Sage as Cale said something to him, "You're in trouble now, Sage! His daughter isn't something you can take for a ride!"

Sage glared at Ryo, but Cooper beat him to the punch. She took a spoon full of rice and flung them at Ryo, squarely hitting him in the head. She laughed in victory, thrusting the spoon upwards, a triumphant look on her face, "I have beaten the almighty Wildfire! Whoop, whoop!" She pointed at him as he wiped the rice off of his face, "That will tell you never to mess with my future husband while I am in the vicinity, Ryo, won't it?" She then smiled even more, "Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I have invited someone over for after dinner. I met her in the store this last weekend, and I wanted to get to know her better."

"What's her name?" Sage smiled.

"Her name is Liz, and she seemed great! I mean, we hit it off right there! She likes to read, and when she saw me, we started talking about my books. Wow, she is a great fan…" Cooper sighed dreamily.

888

A knock at the door had Ryo standing from the couch, "I'll get it." As he went to the door and opened it, his jaw fell.

A young woman was standing there, smiling. She was around five feet nine inches, her dark brown hair layered. "Hi!"

Uh…" Ryo mumbled, trying hard not to blush as her blue green eyes surveyed him closely.

"Ryo, is it Liz?" Cooper's voice entered his ears, causing him to shake his head and come back to reality.

"I'm here!" the young woman called from where she stood, giggling lightly at Ryo. She held out her hand, "My mane's Liz…"

Ryo took her hand gently, shaking it, a goofy smile coming to his face, "I'm Ryo." He noticed she wore Jounin pants and a white vest, signaling her as an ANBU member. He moved to the side, "Come on in, we were waiting for you!"

As Liz entered the house and came to the living room, Kento looked up at her. He smirked, pointing at her, "That's Liz? Man, Cooper! I would have thought you would have picked someone that could defend herself…"

"Let me guess… Kento?" Liz smirked, rolling her eyes. She then looked at Cooper, "Just as you described him… He looks like a garbage disposal just from his looks!"

"HEY!" Kento yelled, jumping to his feet. As he lunged at her, she quickly disappeared, causing him to slam into a confused Ryo.

Ryo grunted as he saw Liz appear by Sage and Cooper, laughing uncontrollably. "Kento, get off me!" As he shoved Kento off of him, he looked at Cooper, "And you find this amusing?"

Indeed she did. She was laughing, grabbing onto Sage for dear life as she couldn't get air into her lungs. She quickly nodded her head before quelling her laughter and turning to Liz. She nodded, "Liz, I'd like you to meet the guys…" She quickly squeezed Sage's shoulder, "This is Sage…" She then nodded to Rowen, who was watching from his seat across the room, a book in front of him, "Rowen…" She looked at Ryo and Kento, "Of course Kento… and who could forget the Ronin leader Ryo?" She then swept her gaze to the three Warlords, who were standing and leaning against the wall, small smirks on their faces, "Oh, my father Cale… Sekhmet… and Dais!" She then seemed to remember something, "Oh! And Cye is in the kitchen, probably planning what the kids are going to have for breakfast tomorrow."

Liz's blue green gaze swept over everyone and stopped on Ryo, a small smile appearing on her face, which then she started giggling, "It's nice to meet you all! I'm Liz, as you already know!" She then looked back at Cooper, "So, are we up for tomorrow still?"

Cooper nodded, "Yeah, we are still to do rounds, all of us! This should be fun, what do you say?"

Liz nodded, "Yeah, it should be, I mean, these boys look like they can take care of anything!"

"You have no clue," Cooper smiled slyly to her, causing both of them to laugh quickly.

"So, who does Spoons have as her sensei?" Liz asked, curiously.

"Kakashi," Cooper mumbled.

Liz gasped, shaking her head, "Oh man, they are dead unless they know the underlying meaning of his test…"

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked, walking towards her.

Liz smiled sweetly at him, "Well, Kakashi is all about teamwork, and when his test starts, he tries to break down the team so they fight amongst each other. I'm afraid no one has passed his tests in the history that he has been an instructor…"

"How do you know this?" Sekhmet asked, pushing from his resting place.

"Well, I live in the same apartment building as Kakashi, and we are friends, well, sort of. I mean, the man keeps to himself and reads those dirty novels. But don't worry. From what Cooper told me about her cousin, she should get through it fine." Liz giggled.

Cooper smirked as she watched Ryo eye Liz, "Hey Ryo, why don't you go with Liz? I mean, I promised that one of us would go out with her tonight, and as much as I want to, I can't. I have to get the kids ready for tomorrow. You're the only one who could keep a cool head, so what do you say?"

Liz looked at her and secretly smiled. Ryo blinked as he looked at Cooper, "You're serious?" At Cooper's nod, he laughed lightly, shrugging, "Well, I can't go against your judgment."

Cooper smiled as she leaned towards Liz, "I promised you a date, didn't I? Well, here's your chance, have fun with him…"

Sage laughed lightly after the two had left, pulling Cooper closer to him, "You are one in a million!"

"What?" Cooper asked, appearing innocent, "They were eying each other the entire time! I had to do something! Besides, Ryo secretly wanted her, you know it! You can't deny it!"

Sage laughed, shaking his head, "I have no comment!"

Cooper pointed at him, touching his nose, "Exactly!"

888

GDW: There you have it! And it seems Ryo has the eyes for Liz! Ha ha! Aww, isn't it sweet?

Sage: You know that he is going to defend himself if he hears you saying that, right?

GDW: shrugs: You'll be here to take care of me…

:Ryo walks into the room: So what if I have a crush on her? Can't a guy have one? I mean, seriously! Sage and Cooper seem to have a relationship going on, why can't I have one?

GDW: Who said you couldn't? I think it is adorable that the almighty Ronin leader has a crush! Don't worry Ryo… you'll see how things turn out.

Cale: Well then, now that that is taken care of, can we proceed? Read and review people, I just love seeing her dance in her dorm room.