Chapter 52

"Itachi, you shouldn't be on the porch. I know it's summer, but today's breeze is rather cold." I called out to the figure sitting on the back porch, having just returned from an Anbu mission.

I hated to treat him like he was fragile, considering that even in this broken body, he could defeat most of the Shinobi in this village. But Itachi was never the most considerate person with his health.

"Just a little while longer Maiko. There's very little I can do at my current state, unfortunately." Itachi, being Itachi, knew exactly how to get me to relent.

I rolled my eyes and responded, "Fine, at least wear a haori." This time, Itachi didn't argue and put on the haori folded on the wooden deck.

A year ago, I showed up with Itachi and scared the crap out of the Sandaime, with Commander Nara and Tsunade-sama - should be ex-Commander and Godaime Hokage now - on the side and left them all speechless for a minute.

They looked at Itachi like a mad man when he told him the 'gift' he left for Akatsuki. The Hokage rubbed his temple, probably wondering why couldn't this wait until he was officially retired, so it wouldn't be him who had to deal with this.

Still, an agreement was reached. While the official record would still have him as an S-rank missing-nin, those in the higher power of Konoha would be informed of his return and his critical role as a 'liaison' for the 'spy' for Akatsuki. Itachi would be allowed to keep Shisui's Mangekyou, until it was to be destroyed after the jutsu had passed.

In the meantime, Itachi was free to do anything he wanted, as long as he kept his identity a secret.

Then, I dragged my older brother in front of Tsunade-sama. Within ten minutes, Tsunade-sama expressed, "I have no idea how you're still alive, with all the damage to your body."

It was a mix of the hereditary respiratory disease and all the damage he had sustained over the years as a missing-nin. Even Tsunade couldn't be sure that she could heal him from this.

"His lifespan will suffer, no matter what I do," Tsunade told me with straight words. Still, she did what she could and devised a treatment regime for Itachi, to hopefully bring his body back to a functional level.

The first year would be critical, and it would be up to Itachi to make sure that he didn't stress his body even more.

So Itachi was stuck in the Uchiha Compound for most of his time, healing, resting, and barred from high-intensity shinobi training.

It was boring, no matter how he tried to convince me otherwise.

"Just a little bit longer, Itachi, then you can go back to being a shinobi." I knelt down on the porch beside him and placed my hand over his shoulder for encouragement.

A year ago, we decided to keep Itachi's identity and return a secret for two things. One, Konoha couldn't sustain another turmoil, in the midst of a changing Hokage and a changing government. It was Itachi who mentioned that first.

Second, we didn't need more trouble from people looking for revenge, when Itachi's health was literally being strung up by spider silk. Itachi had not been kind in his missing-nin life, and he wasn't that concerned with making enemies. There were many who looked to him for revenge, let alone the major villages who would be making trouble for Konoha because Itachi had once hurt their interest. We all agreed that it was best to lay low until Itachi wasn't on the verge of dying.

Now, a year had passed, Tsunade-sama had ascended as the Godaime Hokage and had restructured her government. Itachi's health was getting better - at least he wasn't coughing up blood at night, hiding from me as if I wouldn't sense that.

"I've told you, Mai, I'm fine with life as it is," Itachi said with a smile, placing his hand over mine. He didn't care if his name could be cleared, or if he could live in the village free from disguise.

He agreed to receive the treatment because he wanted to be able to fight better when we inevitably had to face Akatsuki. But otherwise, he hadn't changed the belief that whatever was left of his life was all just stolen time.

"Nevermind that, how's your mission?" Itachi asked, changing the topic.

"It's the same thing, missing-nin and spy, what else is there in Anbu missions?" I replied and Itachi let out a chuckle.

"Moreover, Kirigakure has not responded, whether or not they wanted to enter into an alliance with Konoha on the Akatsuki matter," I told Itachi. A few months ago, Itachi received word from Kisame that they had captured the Jinchuuriki for the Five-Tail. Kisame had not even heard anything until the tailed-beast was set up for extraction, truly exemplifying what Itachi meant by the lack of communication between Akatsuki members.

The threat of Akatsuki had never been more real. Tsunade-sama decided that Konoha couldn't just sit and wait until Akatsuki came knocking. However, we couldn't very well go to the Iwagakure and just announce that their Five-Tail Jinchuuriki was captured, likely dead, while the tailed-beast itself was being used for some kind of nuclear weapon.

We couldn't explain how we got the news, we couldn't provide any evidence of the attack, and most important of all, we couldn't convince them that if something did happen to their runaway Jinchuuriki, Konoha wasn't the one behind it.

Rumours had it that the Four-Tail had a slightly better relationship with Iwakagure than Five-Tail, but he was still on an extended leave outside the village. It was logical to conclude that the Four-Tail would be one of the next targets. Tsunade-sama had arranged for Ambu teams to track the paths of the Four-Tail, hoping to either warn him or prevent the Akatsuki from ambushing him. It would be great if the news to Iwagakure could come from the Four-Tail, if we could somehow convince him of the threat and that Konoha was on their side.

In the meantime, I was sent to Kirigakure to warn the Godaime Mizukage. Needless to say, she was shocked and paranoid when I told her the existence of another Mangekyou Sharingan user, Tobi. But trust between villages only went so far, even with our supposedly friendly relationship.

"I suspected so," Itachi wasn't very surprised, none of us were. "Kirigakure is in a weaker position than all the other villages. They won't ally with us unless they are sure they can be on equal terms with us."

"They don't look like they have their tailed-beasts under control, not the Three-Tail, who would be rebirthed god knows where, nor the Six-Tail, who was supposed to be a great power within the village." That was more of a hunch on my part. Itachi nodded, agreeing with my suspicion.

"They need to make sure they have full control of their tailed-beasts before discussing further with Konoha. It's one thing to enter into an alliance for protecting the Tailed-beast, but its nature would be entirely different if they had to ask for our help in recovering them." Itachi turned towards me and continued, "Either way, their silence meant that they are treating this threat with seriousness. Good job, Maiko, it looked like your proposal worked."

"Let's hope that Akatsuki gets stuck on finding Four-Tail's trail and give Kirigakure enough time to recuperate," I said. It was quite unlikely, considering Akatsuki had more than one team, but one could hope, right?

"Anyway, where is Sasuke? I hope I made it back in time for his graduation" I asked, noting that my younger brother was nowhere to be found.

"You missed it by a day, unfortunately, but he wouldn't fault you," Itachi said after hearing me sigh. "He's supposed to be meeting his Jonin sensei with his genin team today. He left three hours ago, actually."

"Three hours ago? I just saw Kakashi in the Anbu Headquarter half an hour ago, reading his R18 novel." Unless the world changed while I was on the mission, the list of instructors for genin teams was determined a month back and Kakashi was set to become Naruto and Sasuke's instructor.

"Ah," Itachi let out a sound of understanding. I did the same a moment later.

Naruto's impatience coupled with Sasuke's temper, Kakashi really was doing all he could to get them to explode.

"Well, this, I have to go watch," I said with a laugh. Kakashi dealing with kids, now that's something I'd pay to watch.

Itachi smiled at my words. At this point, he knew that Kakashi and I lived to see each other suffer. "Have fun, Mai. Oh, welcome home."

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

"Yo." Kakashi raised his hand to greet me without lifting his eyes from the novel. I found him hiding on a tree near training ground 15, where he left my brother and his genin teammates waiting for more than three hours.

"Do tell, Commander, any particular reason you're hiding in the tree?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the way I called him. That's right, after Tsunade-sama succeeded the Hokage's seat, she made a number of changes to Konoha's higher positions.

First, Kakashi was named the new Jonin Commander under her reign. However, given how Kakashi's ability played a major part in certain missions, on the circumstances that Kakashi was called on emergency missions, or if he needed to perform his Jonin duty as an instructor, Nara-san had agreed to take-over temporarily.

Second, Tsunade-sama reorganized her advisory council, choosing Jiraiya-sama, Nara-san, and Hyuuga-san as her council. The power of the advisory council was restricted to accessing important information and participation in discussions. Their position on the council was merely to provide another perspective. Godaime Hokage decided to gather all the military power in her hands so that cases like Danzō would never happen again.

The three advisors and Kakashi, the four of them had an equal balance of those from large Shinobi Clans, and those from lay backgrounds. It ensured equal representation to please the shinobi population. However, unlike the council members during the Sandaime's time, neither Kakashi nor Jiraiya planned to rally up the smaller clans and the clan-less shinobi as their own faction. Kakashi and Jiraiya would promise them fairness in the input, as per their job, but they would neither promise nor receive anything more.

"You never call me Commander unless you're mocking me," Kakashi said, snapping his novel shut. "I'm here to observe my dear students, as you can see. So why are you here?"

"I heard Sasuke's been out for three hours. Just got a little worried, that's all." That was a blatant excuse on my part, to which Kakashi replied an 'uh-huh'

"Doting love will get him nowhere." Kakashi nodded towards the kids below on the training ground. As expected, Naruto and Sasuke were arguing. Naruto suggested that they should just go and find Kakashi and yell at him for being late. Sasuke insisted that this was a test and called him an idiot for acting immature.

The argument spiralled from there, and it was even agitating their third teammate - the pink-haired girl I've seen sometimes at the Academy.

"I'm not doting on him. You can do whatever you want, frankly, he needs a lesson on patience and temper management, they all do." I wasn't here to reprimand Kakashi. "I just think it'll be funny to watch," I said, full of honesty.

Kakashi wasn't very impressed by my honesty. Still, a shadow clone appeared beside him and jumped down to the arena, finally greeting his students after bailing on them for three and half hours.

I watched the shadow clone Kakashi explain to the children that there would only be two bells and thus, only two people who could pass. Naruto yelled with rage, the pink-haired girl went silent with self-doubt, while Sasuke eyed him with suspicion.

"So this is how you failed last year's team," I muttered, knowing exactly what would have happened if a bunch of entitled genin would act if they had fallen for Kakashi's words.

Teamwork, comradeship, loyalty - these were the core of what Konoha raised their Shinobi to become. The bell test was a perfect test to encompass them all.

However, that wouldn't work with Naruto and Sasuke, who had grown up together and had many chances to train side by side. They might have bickered with each other endlessly to the point that I wanted to throw them both into the Naka river, but when they were against a common goal, they wouldn't waver. Which meant, the point of this test lay at …

"That girl …"

"Haruna Sakura, graduated top of her class in Shinobi Theory," Kakashi supplied helpfully, looking over the training field with a bored expression.

Naruto and Sasuke were already making plans, setting up traps and distractions for each other, working hard to reach closer to the bell hanging from clone Kakashi's pants. Sakura, however, was at a loss for what to do, having a hard time joining their plans, much less contributing to the effort.

She looked like she was about to cry, as she hid behind a tree, clutching tight on a kunai with her shaking hands.

"Now, when will you two idiots notice?" I whispered, propping my elbow against my thigh. Sasuke thought he had seen through Kakashi's tricks, that the key was to show teamwork and not betray your teammates for personal interest. Naruto … was just following his heart.

Neither of them thought of kicking Sakura out of the team and keeping the two bells for themselves. However, actions sometimes hurt more than words.

"Sasuke-kun!"

I heard a high-pitched scream from the pink-haired girl as she knelt down on the ground, horror filled her eyes as she stared into the air.

"Really?" I turned to Kakashi, questioning his decision of putting the poor girl under a genjutsu. Kakashi shrugged with nonchalance. I guessed I couldn't fault him for that, as things currently were, that girl was the weak link of the team.

Nothing showed the true nature of a team better than when their weakest link broke.

I wondered what she saw though, to scream like that … wait a second, "Sakura, could it be that she's infatuated with Sasuke?"

Kakashi gave me a look that said I was an idiot for not figuring that out earlier. I supposed the way she kept glancing towards Sasuke for comfort, hoping that he would notice should have said enough. However, to me, Sasuke was just a brat. He was my dear little brother, but I'd be lying if I said that he had an amiable personality.

"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," I said. Once again, I questioned whether Tsunade-sama had inherited Sandaime's humour in making up teams.

Naruto and Sasuke immediately noticed their fallen teammates. With a body flicker, Sasuke arrived near Sakura, eyes turning to the Sharingan to dispel her genjutsu. Naruto stopped his harassment towards the clone Kakashi and ran over as well, standing guard over his teammates with his fists raised.

Beside me, Kakashi sat a little straighter, as if finally found something worth watching amidst this boring child's play.

The moment Sakura was back in reality, her eyes swelled up with tears. However, before she could burst out crying, she looked at Sasuke's eyes - red Sharingan swirling in preparation for the enemy - and she pushed back her tears. Her teammates were serious, already putting themselves in the shoes of real shinobi, fighting an enemy that outclassed them immensely.

Clone Kakashi 'kindly' reminded them that they had very little time left, sending another wave of agitation down their body.

Making a quick decision, Sasuke said something to Naruto, who helped get Sakura up. Quickly, they ran deeper into the forest, until I couldn't even hear what they were saying.

"Are you not going to go catch them?" I asked. By 'you', I meant his clone.

"Your brother has the Sharingan, they retreated so that I couldn't hear them," Kakashi said, happy to let the children scheme against him. There was a spark of intrigue in his eyes, as if this team was finally worthwhile for him.

"You might want to be careful. It wouldn't look good if your shadow clone got dispelled, would it?" I chimed from the side, but Kakashi didn't think they had that in them.

Well, whatever happened next, it would be a surprise for all of us.

The team came back dispersed, each hiding at different corners of the training field. For a second, it seemed nothing had changed since the beginning of the bell test.

My eyes rested on the girl - Sakura. She curled herself up by a rock at the corner of the training field. She looked down at the kunai in her hands, unsure of what to do. At this point, it looked as if Sasuke forcibly put the weapon in her hand and told her to just wing it.

Which, honestly, might not be that unlikely.

Jokes aside, I should have a little faith in my brother. They definitely had something planned. It might not be enough to fool Kakashi, but at least it aroused enough interest for him to play along with them.

As usual, Kakashi caught Sakura, playing his role of picking off the weak diligently. Sakura let out a scream as Kakashi loomed over her.

Just as it seemed like history would repeat itself, Sakura threw two kunai towards Kakashi. Her aim was going everywhere except the Jonin, but that didn't really matter. The next second, Sasuke and Naruto appeared next to the Jonin, having replaced themselves with the kunai.

Sasuke did a roundhouse kick and slammed into Kakashi's arm, while Naruto crashed his elbow into Jonin's shoulder, both knocking him back and away from Sakura.

Just then, Sakura pulled out a bundle of shuriken tied to ninja wire from her shinobi pouch and threw them all into the air. Her grips were weak and her aims were nonexistent, the shuriken flew everywhere, dragging the wires, making a tangled net in the air.

Matching her timing, Naruto made a dozen shadow clones, sending them off into the air to catch the shuriken. Each of the clones sent the shuriken flying to the edge of the training ground, etching themselves into trees and soil.

The wires were pulled taut, locking Kakashi between them like a metallic cage. Sasuke's eyes were pulsing in concentration, cautioning against a body flicker or a replacement jutsu.

This scene looked familiar, I looked on with a smile. When there was wire, Uchiha Katon always followed.

Sasuke's hand seals blurred as he blew out dozens of Katon: Hōsenka. The little balls of fire shot out in all directions, cornering Kakashi and lighting the wires aflame.

"Sasuke, let's go!" Naruto yelled, making his shadow clones pile on Kakashi, forcing the Jonin to parry him aside.

"Stop yelling out our attacks!" Sasuke managed to reply in rage before he blew out a giant Fireball in Kakashi's direction.

I thought I heard Kakashi letting out a chuckle as his shadow clone got dispelled.

When the smoke cleared, 'Kakashi' had long disappeared, leaving only a pair of bells behind.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion, while Sasuke rolled his eyes, familiar with the tactics of the shadow clones. Sakura pulled herself up from the ground, putting a hand over her heart, feeling the adrenaline rush through her veins before sinking into the depths.

I felt the branch vibrate, and the next second, Kakashi was down there, appearing behind the three genin.

"You … you … shadow clone, how could you?" At this point, even Naruto caught onto what had happened. The boy felt cheated, and what happened to a fair fight?

Well, Kakashi never said it was fair.

"Nevermind that, so, there are your two bells, who's gonna be the only loser then?" Kakashi asked with nonchalance, trying to keep up the act until the very last moment.

Interestingly, Naruto had an answer for that. "Since we all contributed, I think we all have a claim on the bells. That's right, we each should have ... half a bell!" The boy counted with his fingers, looking more convinced as he went.

"It's two-thirds," Sakura corrected, she couldn't stand the butchered speech. Sasuke shook his head, he had long given up on correcting Naruto. Still, it wasn't hard to see that all of them stood by Naruto's idea.

"I see." Kakashi didn't give them an answer. Instead, he asked, "Who's idea was it, to make Sakura the bait."

A hand went up weakly. It was Sakura.

To be honest, I was surprised, and so was Kakashi, by the slight raise of his right eye.

"I … told them that I'm the weakest link, it's natural that you would come for me, so I thought … I thought maybe … " Sakura said, voice becoming dimmer with each word.

Sasuke was never one to escape responsibility, nor was he tolerant of those who couldn't speak their own parts. "I taught her what she needed to do as bait" And what are you going to do about it? He asked with his eyes.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, silently applauding him for speaking so brashly. From our perspective, using Sakura as bait was the logical choice. Kakashi knew that something was up when they left Sakura wide open. That was something too good to be true, especially after Kakashi had basically told them that Sakura was an opening in their team.

Still, Kakashi walked right into it because he wanted to see how they made Sakura the bait. When it was clear that Sakura couldn't hold her own against Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto made sure that they could arrive immediately and take Kakashi's attention away.

There might have been many immaturities in their planning, but 'disregarding their teammate' was not one of them.

Kakashi stared at them and my brother stared back. Just as I thought Sasuke and Naruto would explode in the tension, Kakashi put on his lazy smile and said, "Congratulations, you all passed." The boys paused in their fiery explosion and deflated.

I couldn't help but let out a chuckle when Kakashi waved his R18 book and walked away, leaving behind nothing but a phrase telling them to meet here tomorrow for missions.

"That's it?" Naruto yelled in disbelief, couldn't believe all that excitement, all that drama led up to this. Just then, his stomach growled. Like a chain reaction, both Sasuke and Sakura's stomachs also made a sound. Sasuke turned his head away, while the girl covered her face in embarrassment.

"It's all Kakashi-sensei's fault. He told us to not eat breakfast." Naruto flopped down on the ground, looking gloomy as he rubbed his tummy.

With a sigh, I flickered down from the tree and landed in front of them.

"Mai-nee-chan!" Naruto yelled out with joy as soon as he saw me.

"Nee-san," Sasuke called out as he took a step forward.

"Hi, Naruto." I waved to the orange-haired boy before turning to my brother. "Sorry for missing your graduation, Sasuke."

Sasuke shook his head and said, "You have a mission. That's more important." A moment later, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I was just looking for you. I see that you have a new genin team now." I looked them over, seeing the pink-haired girl lowering her head timidly. "It's about lunchtime, why don't I take you guys out for some food? It'll be my treat."

Naruto nodded, no hesitation there with his growling stomach. Sasuke didn't say anything and I took that as acceptance. Finally, I rested my eyes on Sakura, waiting for her opinion.

"Of course, thank you!" The girl said. A moment later, it seemed as if she remembered something as she rushed forward, taking a bow at me. "My name is Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you!"

To that, I replied with a smile. "Uchiha Maiko, pleased to make your acquaintance, Sakura-chan."

Naruto insisted on going to Ichiraku's Ramen, Sasuke wanted to argue, but a growl from his stomach made him decide whatever.

"Are you staying in the village for long?" Sasuke asked as he got seated at a table.

"You know I can't give you a definitive answer," I said, sounding a little apologetic. Many of the missions at the southeast region of Fire Country, where the border touched with the water Country, had been given to my Anbu Team because we were familiar with the area as well as the tactics of the Kiri-nin.

Furthermore, I was also the contact between Konoha and Kiri in regards to Akatsuki, so I was always running between the village and Terumi Mei.

"But I'm here now," I said, giving him a pat on the back. I supposed the Compound was quite awkward for him without me around. Ryuu habitually tried to avoid him, to get out of his way. As for Itachi, their relationship had become less strained after knowing that Itachi's health had improved. However, they still had a long way to go.

Sasuke didn't want to show that he cared, because if he did, he felt as if he was forgiving everything that had happened before. Itachi didn't want to trouble him any more, because the idea that his existence brought us pain was rooted deep in his bones.

"Mai-nee-chan! We're gonna start on missions soon! What do you think we'll do? Fight bad guys, catch missing-nins?" Naruto's loud voice brought me back to reality. I thought back to the time when I was a genin. My team and I caught the beginning of the peaceful era, when freshly graduated genin didn't have to be sent to the war to carry messages or to recover bodies.

Instead, D-rank missions consisted of rescuing pets from trees, delivering messages, and sorting crops. I didn't think Naruto would be happy with that.

"Baby steps, Naruto, nobody starts by fighting missing-nin," I said, calming down the passion that burned inside the new genin. Sasuke let out a 'hn' and that jolted Naruto's passion right back up.

Before they could start fighting again, I flicked both of their foreheads and said, "Whoever doesn't order within the next ten seconds doesn't get food."

Nothing was more important than food for kids on an empty stomach. Immediately, Sasuke and Naruto went back to order their ramen.

"Order whatever you want, Sakura-chan, don't hold back." I turned to the other girl, who was quiet since the beginning. Sakura looked over the menu and picked the smallest portion.

"Wait, were you watching the bell test," Sasuke asked suddenly in the middle of gulping down his meal. His eyes widened as if the thought just hit him.

"...Yes," I answered. No point in hiding it now.

"With Hatake? The two of you appeared in the same direction," Sasuke asked again. Ah, Kakashi, it's not my fault if they are too smart. I didn't answer that, but Sasuke already made his guess.

"It's Sensei for you, by the way," I told Sasuke, who rolled his eyes at me.

"He's your Jonin Commander too, and I never hear you call him Commander Hatake," Sasuke muttered under his breath. Huh, can't deny that.

"Wait, then what do you think of our fight! Did you see us cornering Kakashi-sensei at the end?" Thankfully, Naruto interrupted Sasuke and me, eyes gleaming, clearly asking for praise.

"That was quite clever, I'll admit," I said, putting down my chopstick. "After all, you all were failing until that point."

The children fell silent at my words. Yes, they'll get praises, but at the same time, I didn't think they really understood why Kakashi let them pass.

"Why do you think he let you pass?" I asked, waiting for their answers.

I nodded at Naruto first, who scratched his head and said, "We used teamwork to beat his ass?" That's getting there.

Sakura was next. "I think it's our teamwork, isn't it? The two bells are supposed to divide us, but we can't fall for that."

At last, I turned to Sasuke. "It's because everyone contributed, isn't it? Sakura is the weak link, but we need to turn that into our advantage." Sasuke never masked his word, calling it as it is, even if Sakura was sitting right there.

"You're right, the answer is always teamwork and comradeship, that's the core of Konoha Shinobi." I said to the children, finally settling on my little brother. "So even if Sakura is someone you don't know, someone you've never worked with, or someone you deemed to have less skill and experience, you shouldn't write her out of the team without actually knowing what she can do."

Naruto disagreed with me in an instant. "I never wrote her out!" He argued.

"Really, then where is she, what is she doing, what is she planning, before you found her in a genjutsu?" I asked. Naruto opened his mouth, but nothing seemed to come to mind. "You guys are lucky that Kakashi gave you a hint. If he hadn't decided to pick on Sakura, the two of you blockheads will never figure it out."

Sasuke had a lot of pride. A pride that came from his history, his ability, and what he had seen. Certainly, I played a role in that. I needed him to grow up faster than normal children, I needed him to learn more so that he could protect himself to some extent because danger fell upon us simply because of who we are and what we were born with.

He tolerated Naruto by the sheer familiarity built in his body, but he never thought he needed anyone else. Today, it was Sakura, and in the future, it could be other teammates on his missions or even his teammates in Anbu if he ever joined.

Sasuke didn't need to establish a deep bond with them, but at least he needed to have respect for them as his teammates.

"Have respect for your teammate, no matter who they are, especially when you haven't even taken the time to talk to her or to plan with her," I said, let the word sink into the two boys.

Then, I moved on to the third person of the team. Sakura stared at her laps, seemingly more convinced that she was the weakest link of the team by each passing second. Unlike Naruto and Sasuke who needed a lesson on respect, she needed a reality check.

"Sakura-chan. The Academy is a starting place, genin is when you learn what it's truly like to be a shinobi. Genin are tolerated in their mistakes. They have Jonin Sensei to lead them and they are given the time to learn. After that, for the safety of your other teammates and the reputation of the village, only those that are skilled enough to contribute will be given missions," I said to the girl, who listened with care.

Shinobi was a real job and a true commitment. Flimsy reasons wouldn't get anyone far down this road.

In this team with two passionate teammates who had been practicing to become strong Shinobi since they were young, Sakura would have to have the resolve to catch up and be someone, otherwise, every day, she would feel the pressure of being inferior.

I didn't have to say more. From the bell test, I could tell that Sakura was smart and quick to learn. Moreover, today, she got a taste of what it was like to be targeted by the enemy. It would happen more often until she couldn't make herself stronger. She could either live with it and make it her advantage, or break under the pressure.

"So why did Hatake … Sensei give us the pass then?" Sasuke corrected himself under my gaze. There was genuine confusion there. If I could tell that he and Naruto - whether intentionally or not - barely respected Sakura as a teammate, then there was no reason why Kakashi couldn't tell.

I chuckled, despite Sasuke's annoyance. "It's because at least you guys care about Sakura."

My tone shifted to a more serious one as I continued. "I've hunted missing-nin who had used their teammates as bait, forcing them to wear explosive tags, leaving them injured in front of the enemy. They had no regard for their teammates, just so they could survive and reap the benefits." Pages of these shinobi filled the Bingo book from all villages, and every week, Anbu hoped to cross out a few pages.

"As I said, the village is lenient towards genin to give their time to learn. But neither Kakashi, nor me, nor Konoha, will want to raise Genin who will become missing-nin."

Naruto and Sakura went home after the meal. Leaving just me and Sasuke sitting at the table.

"Sasuke, can you go buy some Dango from the shop down the street?" I asked my brother as I pulled out my wallet and started to count the bills.

"Why do we have to buy that sickening sweet stuff every other day?" Sasuke complained, but despite that, he asked as he left the shop, "What flavours does he want this time?"

"Just the regular ones this time. Thank you!" I watched him leave the shop and turn the corner, before turning my attention to the figure walking towards me.

"I hope you don't mind my little lecture. You're great at many things, Kakashi, but giving clear explanations is not one of them." I said, watching Kakashi casually sit down in front of me.

"That's true, I'm more of a learn-as-you-go kind of teacher," Kakashi admitted with ease. "Save me some trouble, no? If they are able to figure it out sooner."

"That'll be my only lecture. I promise. I won't interfere with your teaching again," I said. At the end of the day, Kakashi was their teacher and I wasn't.

"That's not the problem," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "But there's a reason that we don't let family members teach each other. You worry too much about Sasuke, and you're too concerned about making sure he never takes the wrong path."

I paused a little at his words. A moment later, I said, "Can you fault me, after everything he had been through?"

"Yesterday, I asked them what their dreams are, what they wanted to become." Kakashi decided to tell a story, which confused me a little. "Naruto, of course, said he wanted to become the Hokage, no surprise there. Sakura … probably needs some time to figure that out. As for Sasuke, take a guess."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. For a second, I didn't know what he wanted for his future. What did he want now that we discovered the truth behind our clan massacre, now that I made Itachi come home?

I looked up and met Kakashi's eyes, it was clear that I had no answer.

"He told me that he wanted to become Konoha's Hokage."

Now that was an answer I had never expected. My little brother … wants to be the Hokage?

"I didn't bother explaining why I passed them because I know that that kind of disgusting thought had never passed through their mind, and I believe that they never will." Kakashi said, adding after a moment, "Also because I don't think their little brains can plan out anything that's against their instinct." That made me laugh. He was right, their actions spoke about their nature loud and clear.

Perhaps, I was a little too worried. Just a little.

Kakashi slipped away before Sasuke came back with a bag of dango in hand.

"Are you still not done counting the bills?" Sasuke eyed me with suspicion.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something and got carried away." I gave him an apologetic look and quickly placed the money on the table.

"I forgot to say it earlier, Sasuke, but congratulations on becoming a genin," I said on our way back to the compound. "You're going to be a great Shinobi."

"Of course I will," Sasuke muttered under his breath, but the tips of his ears were turning red.

This is my dear little brother, with big, grand dreams.

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

Three chains of fire dragons soared through the sky and locked onto the wooden post. A moment later, they crashed into the target with precision, sending the wooden post aflame.

"Now that's Katon: Enryū Tensa. It's perfect." I eyed Sasuke and announced my judgement. Sasuke raised his head a little, eyes full of excitement.

"Can I learn another jutsu now?" Sasuke asked, not willing to rest for a second in his pursuit of knowledge.

"What do you want to learn?" I asked. His Uchiha Katon reservoir was slowly catching up to mine, and he had already gained good control over most of the commonly utilized ones.

"Your Hama Ya," Sasuke answered in a low voice as if embarrassed by the fact that he had asked for such.

I furrowed my brows a little, not that I didn't want to teach it to him, but rather, I questioned if he could ever learn it.

"Sasuke, it's not that I don't want to teach you, but rather than Katon, Hama Ya falls closer to Inkaton, a combination of yin chakra and fire chakra. The user needs both a large proportion of Yin-chakra in their body and the ability to manipulate it safely," I explained to my brother. Inkaton, a combination of Inton (Yin release) and Katon (Fire release), was the name that Itachi came up with, for the class of techniques that I derived from the Uchiha Kaenjin.

"Can't I at least just try?" Sasuke asked, not giving up that easily.

What's the harm, I thought, so I pulled out my tantō and placed the blade horizontally on my hands.

"The key of Hama Ya is to be able to knead Yin-chakra in to mend the concentrated Fire-chakra, so that it's stable enough to be shaped, but maintained its power. So the first step is to try to manipulate your yin-chakra, kind of like this," I explained, letting my Yin-chakra fill the blade until it glowed silver.

"Now you try it." I gave the blade to Sasuke and he took it with care. I instructed, "Yin-chakra is a natural part of your body's balance. It corresponds to the soul - the mind, emotions, and memories. Think about letting your soul take free reign, don't deny it." To be honest, I had no idea how it worked exactly, so I was just going by my experience here.

Sasuke stared at the tantō with a fierce expression. Ten seconds passed. Thirty seconds passed. A minute passed and the blade remained silent. Sasuke deflated, handing the tantō back to me.

"Don't mind it, Sasuke. One day, you'll be able to develop your own jutsu and nobody will be able to do it better than you," I comforted my younger brother, who just nodded. "So, anything else you want to practice before you have to meet your team?"

Sasuke tilted his head and thought about it. "Maybe genjutsu, I suppose."

"I might not be the best person for that. Even I have to ask for help from someone else." I glanced towards the back porch, where Itachi sat and observed our training sessions.

Upon seeing who I meant, Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and refused to look his way. Letting out a sigh, I directed him back to the main house and said, "It's getting close to your meeting time anyway. You should get ready."

"What's there to get ready for? All we're going to do is find a runaway cat." Sasuke muttered under his breath. That was something he would never say in front of his teammates and Kakashi because doing so would mean he was stooping as low as Naruto, who complained endlessly about every D-rank mission they went on.

"When I was starting out as a genin, I used my Sharingan to sort crops," I told Sasuke and saw the disbelief on his face. Yeah, that was something I was pretty embarrassed about myself.

"Itachi used to rescue cats stuck on rooftops and trees," I added, determined to drag someone down with me.

The sheer disbelief made Sasuke look at Itachi for confirmation, who nodded and said, "These missions may be boring, but as a shinobi, you're still able to complete it faster and more easily than normal civilians. There's a reason they are posted as missions. They don't exist just to torture genin."

"I know that," Sasuke said back to Itachi with defiance, who smiled and said nothing more. Unfortunately, that seemed to piss off Sasuke even more.

Just then, I felt a burning sensation on my arm. I looked down, and my Anbu tattoo was burning bright right. Itachi noticed the summoning as well and a moment later, Sasuke too.

"Captain." Ryuu popped up from behind the Shōgi door. It was clear that he had also received a summon from the Hokage.

"We need to go. Stay safe," I said to Itachi and Sasuke before leaving the compound with Ryuu.

I found the rest of my team assembled in the Anbu Headquarter. Falcon, Owl, and the newest addition, Moth, who was a reformed Root agent reintegrated into Konoha's shinobi force.

He was also the ink-ninjutsu user that was sent to Amegakure to retrieve Danzō's treaty with Hanzō. Before, his code name - and his only name was Sai. After Root's disbandment, like many Root agents, they kept their codename as their chosen name because it was the only name they knew.

See, this was where I started to think Tsunade-sama's humour in making up teams was inching closer to Sandaime. However, I do have to agree, Moth's ink ninjutsu was very useful in both reconnaissance and communication. The only thing that was creepy about him was his endless attempt to perfect his fake smile, but that was nothing the mask couldn't hide.

We all bowed towards the Anbu Commander in front of us, who was waiting to take us to the Hokage. With him here, I didn't need to be reminded twice of the serious nature of this summoning.

"Hokage-sama," The six of us greeted in unison as we slipped down from the Anbu tunnel and arrived at the Hokage's office. Tsunade waved his hands, telling us to get over the formality.

"Team Kō, I have summoned you here for matters within the region close to Kirigakure." Tsunade-sama didn't waste any time getting to the mission. Beside her, Shizune-san, who had become her aid, pulled down a map hanging on the wall.

With permission from the Hokage, the Anbu Commander moved to the map and marked a point near the coast, situated at the borderland between Fire Country and Water Country.

"Five days ago, an Anbu team running a mission in that area reported finding more than a dozen corpses of Kirigakure Anbu shinobi on their way. The battlefield looked fresh, but no other party was found," He said, pausing a moment before continuing. "For safety and diplomatic considerations, the Anbu team left without engaging in further investigations, but Based on the current event happening, we suspect that the Kiri Anbu were either killed by Akatsuki members or by the Six-Tail Jinchuuriki."

More than a dozen Anbu were defeated and slaughtered, which spoke of someone with S-rank skill. Whether it was Akatsuki or the Jinchuuriki who did this, that didn't bode well for Kirigakure, with the former being much worse than the latter.

Tsunade-sama nodded at the Anbu Commander, before turning to us. "Based on the fact that Kirigakure hadn't said anything about this to us so far spoke of the Six-Tail Jinchuuriki being the more likely possibility." That was true, Kirigakure may have their pride and paranoia about recovering their Tailed-beasts, but if Akatsuki had given them such a detrimental blow, there was no way they wouldn't send the news to drag us down with them.

Therefore, if they had kept silent on this, then this was more likely the work of their own Jinchuuriki, who was trying their best to evade their capture.

"Therefore, I want Team K ō to scout around the area, to confirm who the missing party was and mark their more recent location," Tsunade-sama announced at the end.

"Only to scout and not to engage, am I correct, Hokage-sama?" I asked behind my mask and Tsunade nodded.

"There is too much uncertainty involved if it was the Six-tailed Jinchuuriki. We knew very little about their history with Kirigakure and therefore, we could help very little in Kirigakure's recovery effort. Ultimately, whether it was Akatsuki or the Six-Tail, it's Kirigakure's business. At this stage, I don't want to have unnecessary deaths from Konoha Shinobi for something that Kiri might not even appreciate." The Hokage explained and I bowed in confirmation.

"That's not the end of your mission objectives," Tsunade-sama said all of a sudden, and I raised my head in surprise. "This trail of information happened days ago, so there may not be anything worth following. However, this came just yesterday and represents a more concrete matter."

Tsunade-sama waved his hand and Shizune immediately pulled out a bingo book, flipping it to a certain page, before handing it to me.

It was a Kirigakure bingo book. The page showed the famous missing-nin from Kiri, Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Misi.

"Zabuza was sighted near the coastal region by our Anbu information network. He is getting too close to Fire Country's border for our comfort. Furthermore, the area he was sighted in was in the vicinity of the potential trail of the Six-Tail. Therefore, the 'main' mission of Team Kō would be to eliminate the Kiri missing-nin Momochi Zabuza as he ventured too close into Konoha's watch. Side objectives include scouting the identity and trails of the dangerous party reported by our Anbu team. The nuances, I'm sure you know what I mean."

Tsunade's plan was well thought out. If Kirigakure Anbu found us wandering by the border, looking for something, we could just tell them our mission was about Zabuza. They couldn't fault us for trying to eliminate a threat that had come too close for us to ignore.

"Understood, Hokage-sama." I nodded in confirmation and my team members followed suit.

"Stay safe, Team Kō, I have given you a difficult mission," Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair. "For the protection of Konoha."

We answered the pledge. "For the protection of Konoha."

(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~

"Okay, Team 7, the target is approaching. Stay in your positions and strike at once when the target is within distance." Sasuke heard their Sensei's words mixed with static through the earpiece.

His teammates confirmed one after another, so he had to do the same.

A moment later, Tora the cat landed on the forest floor and the net bursted up from the ground. But of course, why would they have so much trouble with this stupid cat if it could be caught by a simple trap.

The cat jumped over the net and made a run for it. However, already anticipating this, the three of them pounced on Tora, sealing his exit. Naruto immediately went for the cat, grabbing it by the body and lifting it to his chest.

"Ouch!" No surprise there when Naruto got a scratch on his face.

"Good job, everyone. That's a mission complete." Hatake appeared a second later, saying cheerful words with a laidback smile.

Sasuke thought that this idiotic version of Kakashi-sensei might be bearable if he didn't already know the serious Anbu he was before. But as of now, Hakate just looked like he had given up on life in general.

"When are we going to do something more exciting?" Naruto muttered with a pout as he carried Tora towards the Commission center.

"Why? I think this is plenty exciting, look at how engrossed you were, setting up traps and all." Hatake noted from the side, eyes not leaving his R18 novel.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined. Eventually, Hatake did put away his novel, but that was just because they were near the mission desk and the Hokage's aid, Shizune-san was manning it.

Sasuke witnessed Tora being manhandled by Fire Daimyo's wife in the name of love before they were ushered by Hatake to the mission desk.

"Shizune-nee-san! Can we have a C-rank mission, please! It's been ages." By 'ages', Naruto meant two weeks. However, Sasuke agreed with him on this one. Itachi could say all they want about why these missions exist, but that didn't explain why they had to suffer through missions like 'finding Tora'.

"Naruto-kun, you're still genin. D-rank is the highest allowed for shinobi of genin rank." Shizune-san explained with patience. Sasuke wanted to raise an eyebrow at that. Maiko-nee and Itachi both had C-rank missions before they passed the Chunin exams, so there definitely was a way, they just had to prove their capability.

"But … but … how will we grow if we don't push ourselves?" Naruto tried to argue back, scratching his head to come up with logical responses. "What was that word she used? Right, baby steps, we all need to take steps forward!"

Sasuke was pretty sure that was not the context Maiko-nee used it for - she used it to convince him to stay steady and not get impatient. However, before he could roll his eyes, a burst of laughter sounded behind them.

"Baby steps, huh." It was the Godaime Hokage. She walked past them and sat down behind the commission desk.

"So, you want to take a C-rank mission," Godaime said as she examined Naruto, then Sasuke, and finally Sakura, with her eyes.

"Of course, Hokage-oba-" Sasuke clasped Naruto's mouth with his hand and stopped him from finishing the sentence. Ever since Jiraiya-sama let it slip to Naruto that Godaime was actually over fifty, Naruto stuck with calling her obaa-chan. The last time he called that out in front of Tsunade-sama, only by sheer will did the Hokage not throw him down from the tower.

Godaime raised an eyebrow as if daring him to continue that sentence. It seemed that memory had started to return to Naruto, as he covered his slip-up with a nervous laugh and said, "I mean … I mean, Hokage-sama."

"I see. Well, if you want a C-rank mission, I have one for you, fresh from the client." Tsunade said and immediately that got Naruto bouncing in excitement.

"Come in, Tazuna-san." Upon hearing her words, the door to the conference opened, revealing an old man with a bottle of sake in hand.

"Team 7 will be taking on the C-rank mission of escorting Tazuna-san to the Land of Waves. Protect him from dangers along the way, and to see to it that the bridge he's been building is finished."

"Bridge?" Sakura muttered in confusion, as Naruto yelled out, "Land of Waves?"

"It's an island country situated between Fire Country and Water Country," Hatake explained as the Tazuna took another sip of the sake.

"That's correct, I'm a bridge-builder from the Land of Waves," Tazuna explained before turning to Godaime Hokage. "Are you sure they'll be able to take on the job? They are just kids."

"Trust me, you have no idea how great of a deal you've gotten." Tsunade-sama said with a laugh, "Besides, Hatake-san is a Jonin, so he is more than enough to take on the C-rank mission with his students."

Hatake nodded, looking as unenthusiastic and laid back as ever. He didn't quite inspire confidence in his current state, as Sasuke came to realize.

However, it seemed that the decision was final as Godaime threw the mission scroll to Hatake and nobody dared to object.

"Well, Naruto-kun, it looked like you got what you wanted," Hatake said as they left the commission centre. "Let's meet our client at the East Gate in two hours, there should be plenty of time for you to back up and get ready. Oh, and Naruto," Hatake called him out at the last second.

"You said you will use the C-rank mission to push yourself to grow, right? I hope you stick to your words, and that goes to all of you."

A/N: Right, so this is the last chapter I had in stock, so the rest can be left to fate I supposed.

Anyways, Naruto had officially begun, lol. Storyline is definitely changed, but some events, I really want to keep, like the Zabuza/Haku mission, cause I really liked them, but things will change, we'll see. As for Team 7, since much has changed in this alternate timeline. While they still have their problems, they may not be the same problems as before that they have to resolve as a team. At this point, Sasuke and Naruto are so used to each other that Sakura will have a hard time fitting in. I don't hate Sakura though, I just think the original anime was kinda ... thin when it came to her characterization, which didn't get much deeper until later in Shippuden. I know she's not as down and timid as this in the actual anime, but imagine you were first in highschool and came to university and found that everyone around you is so much better. But you know what I do, I put characters in less than ideal situations and they'll just grow, maybe ...

Also, Utakata, my man, I sat through a whole filler arc just to see him get killed. I think he deserved better, that's all.