Name (II)

And now we're grown up orphans
That never knew their names
We don't belong to no one
That's a shame
But if you could hide beside me
Maybe for a while
And I won't tell no one your name
And I won't tell 'em your name

You grew up way too fast
And now there's nothing left to believe
And reruns all become our history
A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio
And I won't tell no one your name
I won't tell 'em your name

Goo Goo Dolls

"Why do we have to set up the tents? Why can't you help?"

Jeez, why is that idiot always whining? Of course they aren't going to help. They're jonin, we're genin. Therefore, we get the grunt work, they get the glory, Sasuke thought to himself in annoyance. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but it wasn't the work that was making him grumpy: it was the rain. He'd read a lot of books, where the tragic - yet sensitive - hero loved the rain, because it reflected his mood, or something stupid like that. Not that he would admit reading those kind of books to anyone, ever. For his part, Sasuke hated the rain: it was wet, and cold. He'd take a sunny day over the rain anytime. Kasumi, on the other hand, seemed to adore the rain. Then again, she was from the Water Country, so she had to be used to it at least.

The coat helped, much as he hated to admit it. He didn't like going around without the symbol of his clan displayed proudly on his back, but he even if he'd had one, he wouldn't have thought to bring a big heavy coat like this from home. It slowed his movements a little - which was worrisome, but unavoidable - but he'd take that as a trade-off for being cold and wet any day. The only downside of the coat was that he had to admit, even if just to himself, that Kasumi had been right, and that she wasn't necessarily a horrible person.

Although she had certainly made things awkward between him and his teammates…

That wouldn't have bothered Sasuke in the least, not so long ago. He'd always thought he worked better on his own, and in those first few days together as a team, it had certainly seemed that the other two just kept getting in his way. But after that first trip to the Wave Country, when he'd nearly died, he'd had to admit that sometimes they could be useful. Well, Naruto could, at any rate. Sakura was just annoying.

Except that now Kasumi had made those relationships - subtle and strange as they were - complicated and just downright impossible. And all with a few little words. Now he couldn't even glance - no, not even glare - at Naruto without the idiot going into a rant about how he, Sasuke, was in love with him, Naruto, and how that was just sick. It didn't matter that Kasumi had come right out and said she was "only kidding, honestly Naruto-kun, can't you take a joke," the blond boy still went into a fit if Sasuke came within ten feet of him.

He wouldn't have minded the imposed distance from his teammate - Naruto could be even more annoying than Sakura, at times - if not for one thing: tents. They had two of them: one for three people, one for two. No matter how Sasuke divided up the group, it looked like he was going to be stuck with Naruto. Which, knowing his teammate, would occur to the other boy in five… four… three… two…

"Hey, hey! Kakashi-sensei! I'm not sleeping in the same tent as that freak! He's got to sleep with the girls, since he is one."

"Idiot!" was Sakura's contribution, right before she punched Naruto.

The jonin looked up from where he had been crouched by the fire, cooking supper with an expression that suggested he'd never done such a thing before. But he must have, right? Even he was a genin at one point.

"Calm done, Naruto," was all he said. As though that's ever been enough to shut Naruto up.

Kasumi looked up from where she was crouched next to Kakashi. "If you three are finished, supper's ready." Alone of the five of them, she was as dry as though she'd spent the day sitting inside instead of trudging through the rain and mud. Once he'd noticed it, earlier in the day, Sasuke had watched for how she did it. But she didn't do anything. The water had just seemed not to touch her. Now he thought of it, the fire wasn't hissing the way it should be in the rain, either. Is she really that powerful?

"You know what this reminds me of?" Sakura said quietly while they were eating. The others had been too absorbed in their food to listen very much to her attempts at conversation so far. "The Forest of Death."

Sasuke closed his eyes. Why did she have to mention that? The very thought of the second test of the chuunin exam made the curse seal on his neck sting. And when the curse seal stung, he remembered the times he'd used it: when it had worked, and when it hadn't been enough, and how Naruto had been the strong one instead. All in all, the chuunin exam was not something he liked to hear mentioned.

"What was the chuunin exam like for you, Kasumi-san?" Sakura continued.

I never thought of that. Often, it seemed like the jonins and chuunins he knew had always had that rank: he never thought of the exams they must have gone through to achieve them. Kakashi had never mentioned his exam, although Sasuke knew he had become a chuunin at a very young age. Even younger than that man.

"You must have tested about the same time as…" come on, you can say it… "Itachi."

Kasumi looked down. "A year earlier, actually." She stirred her stew pensively. "It's probably one reason Kisame-senpai was so suspicious of me."

"When did you become a jonin?" Sakura wanted to know.

"Just before I turned twelve. I suspect Kisame-senpai sent for Itachi-kun almost immediately after."

"Eh? You became a jonin when you were eleven?" Naruto demanded. "Even Kakashi-sensei didn't become one until he was thirteen."

Idiot.

"Every village tests jonin on a different basis," Kasumi said, in a way that indicated she didn't want to discuss how the Hidden Mist evaluated its shinobi.

"What was your chuunin exam like?" Sakura asked, obviously keen to continue her probing for more information about their companion.

Kasumi sighed. "If I tell you three, do you promise to go to bed right after? The real work on this mission starts tomorrow."

"We promise, we promise," Naruto said. "Come on, let's go sit in the tent where it's dry."

By the time the others caught up to him, after clearing up the fire and the dishes, he was already tucked into his sleeping bag and squirming with impatience.

"Alright," Kasumi sighed. "My chuunin exam."