A/N:
to the person who told me that i needed to council's reactions in order to make the last chapter any good...
who hurt you?
yeah, anyway, this fic will VERY rarely have any POVs outside of team 7 (if there are any at all). if it does, it'll probably be an omake or a side-story or something (which: feel free to suggest these as the fic goes on). and the point is, if you couldn't tell, to tell the story through actions rather than through direct wordage (i.e.: telling you people's thoughts about the team directly instead of through actions/reactions is incredibly boring imo, and something i will not be doing! :D)
and i know i really should expect it because... fanfiction and all, but this is like the third time i'm rewording roughly the same thing: please! stop assuming things based on one chapter, because half the time, whatever you're upset about is resolved in the very next one or soon afterwards
in conclusion... the story's gonna story, guys, not be a word-of-mouth retelling of naruto with OCs
wOoOOoOoO
"No, because—"
"Stop," Hotaru says, sounding pained. "Please."
Akira leans forward and waves him off. "No, no. Continue."
"Maa," Kakashi drawls from above them, "It doesn't sound like you're working."
"We're multitasking," Kaho says with a sniff, then turns around, wearing a sly grin. Before she can even open her mouth, Kakashi puts his hand up.
"I don't want to hear about 'Mayor McCheese' or why he's related to 'The Joker,'" the man says flatly, somehow managing to perfectly pronounce the English words. That's a genius for you, Kaho supposes. "Just finish soon. Fujikawa-san seems to think I'm responsible for whatever this is, and expects me to do something about it."
"You are responsible for us," Kaho points out, and the man just blinks innocently as if he hadn't heard a thing. She rolls her eyes. "Whatever. We're almost done anyway."
And they do manage to finish within the next hour, even when Kaho continues rambling on about theories after growing bored with the silence after a whopping five minutes. Fujiwaka looks pissed, but they finished his fence, so he can't really do anything about it.
It's what threatens to shatter Kaho's patience, but for whatever reason, the very next day Kakashi steps in before the camel's back becomes concave.
"Maa, actually," the man says after the Hokage lists off more D-Ranks, "I was thinking that we'd take a C-Rank."
All at once, Kaho, Akira, and Hotaru turn their gazes on him. He continues looking at the Hokage, seemingly unphased.
"Oh?" the Hokage asks, looking over their team. "Are you sure they're ready?"
"It has been three weeks now," the man says mildly. Kaho eyes him suspiciously, because this seems super out of the blue. And, although Kakashi is hard to read on a good day, he's doing an even more impressive job of exuding off a lackadaisical air than usual.
Something flickers within the Hokage's eyes, which she can't quite pick out before he's back to smiling genially. "Very well, then," he agrees, handing over a scroll to Kakashi. The two men stare at one another, briefly, before he takes it from his hand and offers an eye-smile.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Kaho is bewildered, to say the least. When she glances at her teammates, she sees Akira eyeing Kakashi oddly, while Hotaru frowns as he stares at the Hokage.
"Well then!" Kakashi says cheerfully after glancing at the scroll, turning towards them and breaking whatever odd tension had settled over the group. "Looks like we need to pack up for a week's trip to Noodle Country. Be at the front gate in an hour. I'll check over your packs and go over mission specifics then."
And just like that, he disappears in a swirl of leaves that has a chunin cursing under his breath about self-important jonin.
"Damn," Kaho says, eyeing the pile of leaves and shelving her previous thoughts for later. "I need to learn how to do that."
From beside her, Akira snorts.
"Hey!" Akira greets as Kaho walks up to the gate, then leans to the side, eyeing her back. "Where's your bag?"
Kaho lightly smacks her pal against her pocket. "Sealing scroll. My uncle knows how to make good ones."
Akira lights up. "Your uncle? Is he like, a pseudo seal master or something?"
"Nah," Kaho answers a little apologetically. "Just practical. He says the only one who's more anal about basic shinobi skills is some guy named Ebisu."
Akira looks briefly disappointed, but a moment later, his eyes flicker with amusement. "Sounds like him."
Kaho raises a brow. "Do you know him?"
"No, it's just his whole thing," he says vaguely, waving his hand through the air. Kaho opens her mouth in understanding - because clearly this is some sort of foreknowledge thing - and just a minute later, Hotaru shows up with a bag slung over his shoulder. "Oh, hey! Do you need a scroll for your stuff? I have an extra."
Hotaru grimaces, glancing at his bag. "Please," he says, then admits, "I only know how to use Academy-level seals."
"Well, good thing I'm the seal master here!" Akira chirps, taking the bag from Hotaru as he rolls his eyes. "This one's not as good as it can get - I'm still working on it, but I haven't had much time lately - but it's decent," he explains, opening up a scroll. "It has small sections, so you don't have to pull everything out to get to one thing."
"Useful," Hotaru comments, and after Akira flashes him a grin, the two get to work putting Hotaru's things away.
"So," Kaho says after a while, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Do you think Kakashi's gonna be late?"
Akira laughs, handing the fully-packed scroll to Hotaru, who offers a quiet "Thanks" in response. "It wouldn't be Kakashi-sensei if he wasn't. Though," he adds, "I don't think it'll be too bad. Missions and training are two different things, after all."
"He could probably get away with being late if he wanted to," Hotaru points out dryly, but doesn't deny Akira's claim. "Should we be doing something while we wait?"
Akira shrugs, then brightens, hand lowering to his scroll before he pulls out a deck of cards with a flourish. "Wanna play?" he asks hopefully.
Kaho's lips stretch into a grin. "Oh," she says with an ominous chuckle, "You're on."
"I feel like I should be worried about that!" Akira says cheerfully, though begins passing out the cards nonetheless.
"What game?" Hotaru asks, eyeing his deck.
"Poker," Akira answers easily. "Know how to play?"
Hotaru stares at him blankly, and the other boy laughs.
"Don't worry, you'll learn!"
"I hate this," Hotaru claims in a flat tone. It almost looks like he's pouting.
Akira laughs, while Kaho flashes him a shark-like grin. "You did well," the former - who surprisingly has the best poker face she's ever seen in her life - says, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Especially for your first time playing."
Hotaru looks unimpressed at that, which only serves to make Kaho grin wider. "You're both awful."
"Why thank you," Kaho says, mimicking Kakashi's trademark eye-smile.
"Ah, Kaho-chan, you're stealing my brand here," a familiar voice says, and it takes everything she has not to jump.
"Kaho," she corrects, then turns around to eye Kakashi, who's a little over forty minutes late. "What's the excuse this time?"
" Excuse ? Such little faith in your sensei…" Kaho stares at him flatly, and he eye-smiles back at her. She's fairly certain that he exaggerates it more than usual, almost like he's showing off his mastery of the skill. Prick. "Maa, I wanted to come earlier, but there were these cute little ducklings struggling to cross the road with their mother, so I just had to take the time to help them out," he says, sounding genuinely apologetic.
Kaho continues staring at him with a neutral expression, even though she desperately wants to learn how in the world he's so good at manipulating his expression - especially with three-fourths of his face covered - and tone.
"You're lucky I wasn't gone longer. The mother duck wanted me to stay over for dinner as thanks, you see, but I told her that I couldn't leave my cute little genin waiting anymore. Anywho~" he continues cheerfully, seeming pleased by the expressions that follow his previous statement, "Let's see what you all have packed, hm?"
Kaho and her teammates each share a glance before holding out their scrolls, which Kakashi eyes with slight surprise.
"Impressive," he says, eyeing the seal designs. He checks out a few sections in each of the scrolls, then hums. "Looks good, from what I can see. Though do note, for the future, that it's not unwise to keep a few items on hand, just in case."
"Noted," Hotaru says a little dryly, still eyeing Kakashi like he can't believe the man actually acts the way he does.
Kakashi hums and claps his hands together. "Now, before we go," he says, shifting his stance and holding up a finger, "It's time for a debrief. First and foremost, this mission shouldn't last longer than a week. Of course, there's a little bit of wiggle room on both sides, but that's the (frankly generous) estimate. It's doubtful that we'll need to take more than two to three extended breaks, but let me know if you can't handle continuing. I'd rather have you spend time resting than recuperating later on."
Kakashi holds up a second finger, then points it at them. "We will not be doing anything but delivering a missive. That does not mean we will not have time to relax, but do avoid any political discussion, if you can. And finally," he says, looking a little more serious and causing Kaho - along with her other teammates - to instinctively straighten, "Do not leave my side unless I specifically tell you that you may. I know I said the mission will be easy, and it should be, but something can always go wrong, so we'll be taking a few precautions just in case. Understand?"
Kaho and her teammates share a look before turning back towards the man. "Yes, sensei," they all say at once.
After a moment, Kakashi's posture loosens once more, and as he drops his hand to the side, he regains his eye-smile. "Good!" he says cheerfully, and although it's a bit embarrassing, Kaho is relieved to see him back to 'normal.' "Of course, there are other things we'll have to go over on our way there and back, but that's all we have to go over for now. Now, follow me."
With that, the man turns around and begins making his way closer to the gate. She follows behind after a glance back towards the village, raising her gaze towards the gate that towers over her.
Despite herself, she feels nervousness settle in her gut. She's never been out of the village before - never had a reason to be. And she'd obviously gone through all of the drills in the Academy, but going out in Konoha's forest and out into the wild were two different things.
"Hey," Akira says quietly from beside her, causing her to startle. She turns, and she sees the boy looking at her with a soft smile, while Hotaru looks on curiously. "It'll be alright, yeah? We'll handle this together."
Kaho stares at him for several seconds, then huffs, trying to hide her slight smile. "Sap," she says, picking up the pace. Akira squawks in outrage, and Hotaru snorts.
"I was trying to be nice to you," Akira whines, causing Kaho to snicker. "You're so mean to me all the time . Right, Hotaru?"
Hotaru, her new favorite teammate, turns his gaze onto him and blinks innocently. "Hm? Sorry, what'd you say?"
"You…," Akira says, jaw dropping. "No! Not another sensei !"
Said man turns towards them with a raised brow. In response, Kaho flashes a grin.
Maybe, she decides, looking over her team, this mission won't be so bad after all.
obvious last line segue is obvious
initially, this and the next chapter were one big chunk together, but it was awkwardly written so i separated the two
so... either the next chapter or the one after that will *also* be in Kaho's POV :D
also, if it wasn't entirely obvious due to my lack of specifics and general misuse of wordage, i've never played nor seen anyone play poker in my life
anyways
I don't have much to say other than "hopefully this is at least semi-decent" and, as always...
Thanks for reading!