Let's start this from the beginning

The Hideout

II

"As I know that the three of you are already familiar with each other, there won't be any need for introductions. However, as we have seen earlier today, just knowing each other doesn't mean you can also fight side by side without getting into each other's way, so that's what we're going to train now."

Shino nodded at his sensei's words while suppressing the until-then almost forgotten tingle of annoyance at the back of his head at the reminder of how he had almost been hit by several of Team 7's attacks during the fight. Looking back at it objectively, he and his own teammates had caused just as many problems for the three as they had for them, so it was only fair to overlook these past mistakes. Judging by the lack of reaction from the two boys at his side, they seemed to agree with that sentiment as well.

Or maybe they just didn't care. Kiba in particular was both quick to anger and quick to forgive, after all, so that wasn't too surprising. Sasuke, on the other hand, well… Maybe it's because he doesn't want to make a bad impression in front of his brother?

That could explain it, no matter how weird Shino still thought it was to think about the fact that his sensei and his friend were actually so closely related. They just had completely different vibes from each other.

"Kakashi and I agree that it makes sense to hold more joint training sessions in the future," Itachi-sensei continued from where he stood in front of them, arms crossed before his chest. "After all, you won't always fight side by side with people you're familiar with. You will have to be capable of fighting seamlessly even with someone you have never met before if need be."

"So that's why you split us up like this, then?" Sasuke asked with a vague gesture at Shino and Kiba. "To learn how to fight with people we don't usually fight with?"

"Exactly. We will rotate the groups eventually as well, but we decided it would be beneficial to start this training by putting you together with someone you're the most familiar with already."

While Shino was willing to believe that this was one of the reasons the two groups were put together the way they were, he wagered that a lot more thought had gone into the specific pairings than that.

Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke were friends, yes, but none of them was really close. When they were out with friends, Shino usually stuck closer to Shikamaru, who, despite his laziness, had a much more approachable temperament than the rest of their more chaotic friends, and by extension Chōji. Kiba, on the other hand, had probably been the closest with Naruto before landing on a team with Shino and only got along with Sasuke because he and Naruto were always together.

If the two Jōnin really wanted to create a group with people already familiar with each other, they would have put Kiba and Naruto into the same group. With Itachi-sensei being Sasuke's brother, there was no way he didn't know enough about their dynamic to realize that as well.

No, Shino felt that the main reason the two groups were the way they were was because of the composition of the other group.

Hinata had never been very outgoing. She worked just fine with whoever she was teamed up with during group assignments and could hold conversations with everyone, but it was no secret that she had had no real friends at the Academy. She probably interacted generally more with other girls than boys, though, so putting her in a group with Sakura made sense. Similarly, Shino had to admit that for all that Naruto could be seriously annoying at times, he had a way of getting along with everyone around him, so having him there as well was also a logical choice, too.

Or maybe Shino was just overthinking things and the groups had been created on little more than a whim. He definitely had a tendency to do so from time to time.

"Alright!" Kiba exclaimed from Shino's left while excitedly palming his fist, quickly joined by a bark from Akamaru, who was sitting on his head. "Let's do this!" Then, after a short pause, he added with a somewhat awkward smile, "Ehm, what exactly is it that we will be doing?"

Shino noticed Sasuke rolling his eyes and opening his mouth, probably to make some sort of sarcastic comment, to his right, but Itachi-sensei beat him to it.

"Simple," he said with the kind of smile Shino had learned was a sign that the following training session would be particularly exhausting. "You three will fight me to the best of your ability."

That doesn't sound too bad, Shino thought with a mixture of relief and mistrust. Maybe-

"And at the end of the day, we will compare how well you have done compared to the other group. Whoever did worse will then do some additional exercises as… encouragement to do better next time."

Ah, there it is.

Shino had absolutely no interest in doing any more training after this session was over, and judging from Sasuke's and Kiba's expressions, neither did they. The difference between these two and him, however, was that they were immediately all fired up while he would have preferred to first fall back and come up with a plan before acting.

"Plan Machibuse!" Kiba exclaimed at the same time Sasuke called "Plan Okowa!" before simultaneously rushing at Itachi-sensei, and neither seemed to register that each other had not only had no idea what they were talking about but not even listened to them in the first place.

And maybe Shino should have tried to stop them, but all he could do was let out a tired – and more importantly, exasperate – sigh.

I better prepare myself for those additional exercises, I suppose…

"You know, I can't put my finger on it, but you somehow seem more, well, confident, I suppose, than you did back at the Academy."

Hinata gave the other girl a surprised look at these words. "Really?"

"Yes," Sakura chuckled, gently bumping their shoulders together. "I'm really not sure what it is, but that's the feeling I'm getting when I look at you."

"Yeah, totally!" Naruto exclaimed from the other end of the room they were in before heading towards where she and Sakura were sitting with their backs against the wall. "And it's not just you. Shino and Kiba are the same as well, y'know!"

For a few seconds, all she could do was blink in surprise. However, she quickly caught herself and gave both Sakura and Naruto a thoughtful look, searching for anything she might have missed before. Then…

"I think I know what you mean," she said slowly, her head unconsciously tilted to the side. "You two are the same."

Naruto beamed at her. "You really think so? Sweet!"

"Well," Sakura added from her left with a small, proud smile, "we did train a lot, so it's only fair that we're better than we were at the Academy, don't you think?"

Hinata nodded, but she was only listening with one ear.

It really was hard to point out what exactly it was that was different from before, but if she had to take a guess, it was probably the way they carried themselves.

Naruto, for all his bluster and endless energy, had always seemed somewhat lacklustre to her eyes. Maybe it was her upbringing, but the way he – and most of their classmates as well, for that matter – had regularly put their heads on their arms and had laid sprawled on their desks during class had always rubbed her the wrong way. Unless he had been about to spar or was playing with his friends, he had been the same on the schoolyard as well, standing slumped over and half asleep with a bored look on his face.

Now he actually stood with a straight spine and attentive expression, though. He was clearly still full of energy, judging by the way he paced through the room instead of joining her and Sakura, but he was also paying attention to his surroundings instead of just mindlessly wandering around, which was definitely a great improvement.

Sakura, on the other hand, had always been a model student. With her, finding what had changed was much harder, but Hinata thought it was the look in her eyes. Before, being good at the various subjects had likely been a matter of pride only because she could brag to her friends and family about it; similarly to most civilians, she hadn't really understood the severity of the life of a kunoichi. Her classes at the hospital had probably opened her eyes somewhat, but it was only now that this realization was truly reflected in them.

Hinata wondered what changes they had noticed in her that had given her own growth away.

It was then that Naruto brought her back into the present. "But you're really lucky to have Itachi as your sensei, y'know," he said, hands clasped behind his head. "You wouldn't believe how grumpy Sasuke was when he didn't get to be on his team!"

"I think I can, actually," she replied with a soft chuckle. "I have a little sister, too. If I were to become a sensei to one of her classmates instead of her, well…" She shrugged a little helplessly. "I don't think she would be so quick to forgive me, never mind that it wouldn't be up to me to choose my team in the first place."

The image of a pouting Hanabi brought a smile to her lips without her even noticing.

"Oh, right!" Sakura said. "I forgot you had a sister as well!" To be completely honest, Hinata had no idea why she even knew that at all. Had she mentioned that at some point during the Academy and just forgotten about it? "How old is she?"

"She turned eight just a bit after we graduated."

"Wow, so that means she's five years younger than you, right?" asked Naruto. "That's the same age difference as between Itachi and Sasuke! Who knows, maybe you really can become your sister's sensei!"

Hinata took a moment to remind herself once again that her sensei was actually only seventeen himself before she shook her head and turned her attention back to the conversation. "I don't think it's very common for people to become Jōnin at such a young age, Naruto-kun, much less a Jōnin instructor."

He dismissed her reasonable argument without a second's hesitation. "Not with that attitude you won't. I, however, most definitely will!"

"You want to become a sensei?" Sakura asked, and judging by the incredulous look she gave him, she appeared to very much doubt that.

He visibly withered under her gaze. "Well, not really, but maybe someday…?"

Sakura kept her eyes on him for a few more seconds before heaving an exasperated sigh and looking away.

They do have a nice dynamic, Hinata thought to herself. It seems that without Sasuke being around to distract him or start a fight with, Naruto can actually hold a normal conversation.

There was something more important to think about at the moment, though.

She cleared her throat to get both their attention. "Ehm, do you know when Kakashi-sensei will be here? We have been waiting for a while now while the others have already started training." She had actually checked on them only a few minutes ago with her Byakugan, so she knew that for a fact. Furthermore, she also knew that Team 7's sensei had been nowhere to be found, too, which was somewhat suspicious.

She didn't expect the response she got.

"Meh, don't expect him for another hour or so," Naruto said dismissively before going back to pacing the room. "Maybe two, just to be sure."

She blinked. "But-"

"He is never on time," Sakura explained with another sigh before Hinata could even voice her question. "You get used to it. It's the only way not to go crazy while you're waiting for him."

That seemed like a terrible attitude to have, Hinata thought. Especially when one was supposed to set an example to their students. She tried to imagine her own sensei doing the same, but the very idea of him being late was so strange that she gave up after just a few seconds. "So he's really always late?"

"Oh, no, not always," Naruto replied with a chuckle that, to her surprise, held no hint of humour. "About two weeks after we became his students, we realized that he's always at least ninety minutes late no matter what time we agreed to meet, so we decided that we might as well be late too."

"I didn't really like the idea, to be honest, but some additional time to sleep in the morning sounded nice, so I agreed," Sakura continued. "We were set to start training the next day at six in the morning, so we all agreed to meet at a little after seven. That meant we would get one more hour to sleep while still being early enough to be there before him."

"However," Naruto took over again, his voice getting louder to sound more dramatic, "he was already waiting for us when we arrived! The one time we're late was also the day he decided to be on time for once!"

Sakura gave a mirthless chuckle. "Needless to say, we were running laps all day."

That… actually sounded rather funny. Only because it hadn't happened to her, of course, and she would never admit it to their faces lest they got cross with her, but still!

It also sounded as if Kakashi-sensei had been baiting them on purpose just to see how they would react, which in turn would mean he had always – or at least most of the time – been around to watch them without them knowing. If that's the case, then…

Hinata was just about to activate her Byakugan to check her theory when a plume of white smoke appeared in front of them with a puff.

"Oh my, here I am, trying to give you guys some time to bond, and all I get in return is having my good name slandered? Shame on you."

So he really has been watching us, huh?

Considering that she was pretty sure he was going to give them some extra strenuous exercises for talking behind his back like that, regardless of whether he was actually offended or not, Hinata couldn't bring herself to be particularly proud of the fact that she had been proven right.

Unfortunately, as soon as she thought that, she was proven right a second time.

"Well then," Kakashi-sensei continued with a far too cheerful voice. "Who of you is ready for some good ol' fashioned endurance training?"

As Itachi had explained to the six Genin hours earlier, the Uchiha Hideout was a very easy place to defend. In ancient times, long before the founding of the hidden villages, the Uchiha with their Sharingan and a handful of trained sensor types could spot pretty much every intruder long before they could become a threat, and more recently, the addition of the likes of the Hyūga, Aburame, and Inuzuka clans made this job even easier. Unless someone truly exceptional came along, there was no way to get surprised by an attack while inside the fortress.

As their group's composition included most of these components and even had experiences Jōnin like himself and Kakashi on it, they were really not in any danger. Even if their opponents were something more dangerous than a bunch of bandits, they would most likely be fine.

There was the possibility of the people that had attacked Team 7 being just the vanguard and that there was someone more dangerous pulling the strings in the background, but according to Kakashi, who had actually investigated into their assailants' background while he was away from his team and even interrogated some of them, that wasn't the case. Itachi trusted him enough to take his word for it.

Regardless, just for the off chance that he was wrong and something did go awry, there always needed to be someone keeping guard. Especially when the rest of their group was sleeping. But that was standard practice on a mission anyway, so it wasn't as if that was some sort of additional burden. With this being their first night in the hideout, and with his team having just finished their own mission while the Genin of Team 7 had fought bandits every day for two weeks now, Itachi and Kakashi decided to give them this night off and take over guard duty by themselves.

Well, by themselves and their summons, that was. The hideout was quite big, after all, so two pairs of eyes really wasn't enough to cover it all effectively. Having Kakashi's ninken and their noses on the ground and his own crows keeping an eye on the situation from the sky made things much easier. They would probably continue to help out in the following nights when the Genin took over guard duty, too.

He didn't know how long they would stay here exactly, but it would likely be several days at least. Kakashi seemed to think this place suitable for the little test he wanted to conduct, conveniently making use of the bandits they had run into, and Itachi didn't make a habit of hampering with his fellow teacher's methods.

Anyway, since it was the middle of the night, the only ones who should still be awake were him and Kakashi. The rest of their group should be dead asleep in the living area deep within the building. It was, after all, not only a fortress but a place intended to serve as a retreat for the Uchiha Clan should they ever need it. Therefore, it only made sense that there were areas designated for them to live in.

Due to their group's small numbers, they didn't even have to sleep in one of the newer sleep chambers meant to accommodate as many shinobi as possible built after ownership of the building was transferred to Konoha but could instead actually all sleep in separate rooms that were normally made available only to high-ranking officers. Of course, much to everyone's chagrin, Itachi had insisted that at least two people had to share a room for security reasons anyway.

However, the real reason why he did that had nothing to do with security at all.

No, he merely used this pretext as an excuse to create the right conditions to speak with two of his students in private without anyone else noticing.

Itachi entered their room without bothering to knock, and as expected, both of them were still wide awake.

"I am glad to see that you remain mindful of your surroundings even now that we are in apparent safety."

Shino and Kiba looked back at him from their respective resting places, the former having apparently been the one fortunate enough to score the bed for the night while the latter had put the bedroll he shared with Akamaru at the other end of the small room, and neither of them seemed surprised at his appearance. Considering Itachi hadn't done anything to hide his scent and did notice the bugs stationed in the corridor on his way here, he hardly found that surprising.

"You told us to always remain alert, Sensei," Shino said.

"Yeah," Kiba agreed with a nod. "Not that we think you and Kakashi-sensei would let anyone get this far anyway, mind you, but staying alert at all times has kinda become second nature to us by now, y'know?"

Akamaru gave a soft bark in agreement before rising to his feet and slowly waddling over to him.

"That's nice to hear," he said as he closed the door behind him before moving over to the sole chair in the room to sit down, absently scratching Akamaru's head but keeping his eyes on the two boys. "A teacher is always happy to hear that his methods pay off."

Much to his amusement, both of them grimaced at that.

Not that he could hold it against them. Having him – with the permission of their families, of course – appear in their rooms in the middle of the night to pour cold water over them was probably not their fondest memory. Similarly, finding themselves laying on the training ground hours after sunset because they hadn't noticed he secretly put them into a Genjutsu during training couldn't be nice either.

These methods obviously worked, though, so it had at the very least paid off. That was the most important bit.

"I assume you can both guess why I am here, don't you?"

Judging by the expressions on their faces, they could, but it was Kiba who actually spoke it out loud. "This is about our fight against Gouzen, right?"

Itachi nodded. "We already broached that topic when we discussed the mission in general, but that was only you telling me how events unfolded from your perspective. I would like to know what you think of your fight now that you had actually some time to really think about it."

Neither of them seemed excited by the prospect, but he ignored that. While he wouldn't go as far as to say they had been brooding, it had been clear to everyone that their moods had been rather subdued after their fight. They were obviously unhappy with their performance. Unnecessarily so, Itachi thought, but as he remembered never being quite happy with his own accomplishes when he was their age himself, he really wasn't one to judge.

Shino was the first one to find his words.

"In my opinion, we made a few mistakes but ultimately did as well as could be expected," he said in a calm and analytical voice. "We should have avoided getting worked up about his remarks. While it wasn't to the point that we stopped thinking altogether, and even though we used his tactics to our advantage by pretending to be more affected than we actually were to catch him by surprise, it was already too much to get riled up at all. On the other hand, we managed to coordinate well with each other and develop a strategy in the heat of battle to beat him while also succeeding in our goal to protect our charges, so I would generally consider this fight as an overall success."

Inwardly, Itachi smiled. As analytic and to the point as always, I see. Not that this was a bad thing, of course, but in Shino's case, that was less something he did to remain objective – although that was certainly part of it – and more something to hide his true thoughts and feelings. However, what he said wasn't wrong per se, so Itachi didn't say anything about it for the moment. Although it is a bit sad. He had recently made great strides in being more open with his feelings. Real change comes only with time, I suppose.

Next, he turned towards Kiba with a questioningly raised eyebrow.

"Not much I can add to that, really," the boy said with what was probably meant to be nonchalance. "Falling for Gouzen's trap was mostly my doing, though, so you can't blame Shino for that." At these words, he threw the other boy an annoyed look which Shino returned in kind, leading Itachi to believe that might be something the two had argued about before and had yet to come to an agreement on. Then, Kiba continued, "I guess it was rather idiotic to keep trying to break through his guard with the same general approach, but it's not like we had much of a choice on that matter. That was our strongest combo, after all, so if that didn't really work, nothing else in our arsenal would have either."

"It has to be added that it did ultimately work, however," Shino said, and although he was technically still talking to Itachi, his eyes were actually focused mostly on his teammate. "It wasn't perfect, but due to Kiba and Akamaru using that new attack of theirs towards the end, it worked out. None of my attacks would have had the power to do the same, so it's only fair to say that we won thanks to them."

"Don't be ridiculous," Kiba scoffed while Akamaru jumped up from Itachi's lap, where he had been laying till then, and rushed to his partner. "I might have broken through that stupid armour of his, but I didn't beat him – you did!"

"And the only reason I could do anything at all was that you destroyed his armour. Yours was the most important role in our plan for this very reason."

"A plan you came up with! Do you think I could have done that?"

"That's not the point. Why? Because even though I was the one who came up with it, it all depended on you." There was a short pause. Then, "Besides, the plan didn't really work out either. In the end, we still would have died if Sensei hadn't interfered."

"You-"

"I think this is quite enough," Itachi interrupted the two, and judging by their surprised expressions, both of them had apparently all but forgotten about him till that point. "Fighting between ourselves won't help anyone, don't you think? Let's instead break down what you have said so far. It is clear to me that both of you are unhappy with your own performance in that fight but also believe the other did well. If you ask me, however, you're both wrong."

"But-"

"Sensei-"

He held up one hand to make them both fall silent. "I say you're both wrong because neither of you has been solely responsible for carrying that fight. As admirable as it is that you try to make each other take the credit, it's important not to undervalue yourself and to remember that this was a team effort above all else. You" – he pointed at Shino – "came up with the plan and seized the opportunity Kiba provided you with while you" – he pointed at the other boy – "not only realized that Shino would be more suitably for coming up with a strategy but also unconditionally trusted him when he did and then lived up to your words by actually breaking through Gouzen's armour.

"As far as I'm concerned, both of you did very well in that fight. Much better than a pair of green Genin could reasonably have expected to, in fact."

That were Itachi's true thoughts on this matter. The main reason he had arranged for them to fight Gouzen was that his previous observations of the man had convinced him that his abilities were enough to give them a good challenge; strong, but not too strong. Had he known that he actually possessed Crystal Release, well, he might have thought twice about letting them fight him. The only reason he didn't immediately interfere when that little secret was exposed was that he had been confident he could do so at any point without endangering his students' lives and because he wanted to see how they would fare against him.

"That's nice and all, but it doesn't mean much if I fall unconscious every time I use that technique…"

"You still had to save us in the end, though…"

Kiba and Shino blinked in surprise when they spoke up at the same time, and while Itachi found the sight rather amusing, he suppressed his smile lest they got the wrong idea and thought he was making fun of them.

Instead, he turned towards Kiba first. "There are many techniques that come with a variety of side-effects. I'm admittedly not an expert in regards to Inuzuka techniques specifically, but I did talk with Hana and your mother after accepting you as my student, so I know that you will eventually be able to use that technique of yours for much longer and without falling unconscious after every use. Until then, you just have to determine whether it is worth using or not." He paused for a bit, considering how much he should share exactly, before continuing, "My own trump cards come with much worse side effects, too, if that makes you feel any better."

Immediately after speaking these words, Itachi could feel renewed interest from both boys as their eyes suddenly looked at him much more eagerly – although Shino at least tried to be subtle about it.

"Your trump cards, Sensei?"

This time, he didn't bother suppressing his smile at Kiba's question. "Indeed. They are my strongest techniques by far, but you can count the number of times I have used them" – at least in this timeline – "on one hand and still having fingers left at the end."

"Really?" Shino asked, his voice only barely more controlled than his teammate's. "Are the repercussions that bad?"

"I would say so, yes. You see, aside from consuming a lot of chakra, to the point where only using them only two or three times would already totally exhaust me, repeated usage will ultimately result in blindness."

He could tell that they hadn't expected that. Their shock was understandable, though; it was no secret that blindness was one of, if not the worst thing that could happen to a Dōjutsu user. Potentially even more so than even death.

Well, at least they're no longer so gloomy.

"Kiba," he said, intent on bringing the conversation back on track, "I understand that you're disappointed, but you will only get better from here. Continue to train hard and you will have that technique – as well as many others – down in no time."

The only thing the boy could do in response was to nod.

"I think you need to hear the same thing, Shino," Itachi said next as he turned to his other student. "I know that me arriving at the end to save you bothers you, but you have to realize that getting as far as you two did against a superior opponent like Gouzen was very impressive."

He realized that he might have chosen his words poorly the moment they left his mouth, but there was no taking them back now. While what he had said was nothing but the truth, being so blunt about Gouzen being stronger than them was the last thing Shino needed to hear right now, and the way his shoulders sacked at his words proved him right. Yes, being able to handle the truth even if it was uncomfortable was important, but at the end of the day, shinobi were still humans. There were times, especially with young Genin, when a softer approach was more appropriate.

"He had every advantage over you in terms of physical strength, experience, and his arsenal of techniques, but you still forced him to his absolute limit and even almost beat him," he continued without letting his thoughts show in his voice, trying to emphasize on their accomplishments in order to mitigate some of the harm of his previous statement. "As you know, I have been watching the entire fight, and yet I only interfered at the very end. Why do you think is that?"

"…because you didn't need to do so earlier?"

He gave him an encouraging smile. "Exactly." Seeing Shino's still-dissatisfied expression, he then added, "I'm aware that nothing I say really matters unless you want to believe me, and I'm not going to try and force you to change your mind. If you really want to insist on your performance being unsatisfying, you may do so. However, what I can do is tell you that I – and, as we have clearly seen earlier, Kiba as well – think you have done great and that your contribution was essential in you two being as successful as you were."

Kiba nodded enthusiastically from his bedroll, and that in combination with Itachi's words was enough to make Shino flush and turn away.

Once again, Itachi was reminded of how fortunate he was that his team went along so well. From what he had heard from Sasuke, Shino and Kiba might have been part of the same group of friends for years but ultimately ignored each other for the most part; they were friends, but no close friends. Since they had become his students, there had been frequently little fights between them whenever their personalities clashed, but somehow, without Itachi having to do anything about it, these fights quickly evolved into something more playful than anything else.

And when they did occasionally become more serious, Hinata was always there to put a stop to it before it could escalate for real.

Yes, he had really gotten lucky by getting these three as his students. Shino and Kiba trying to shoulder all blame by themselves while supporting each other was proof enough of that.

For a short while, no one said a word. Then, however, Kiba apparently decided that this had gone on long enough and that he needed to lighten the mood.

"So, Sensei," he said teasingly with a shit-eating grin, "you said earlier that you talked to my sister about our clan's techniques, right? Is there anything else you talked about that you want to tell me?"

For some reason Itachi didn't quite understand, even Shino seemed oddly interested in his reaction.

Well, if they can already joke around like again, I suppose they must be feeling better now.