Kids with candies, ugh...' Doffy grumbled inwardly, tired from another tirade of games from the brats at the orphanage.
'Atleast Shizuka's happy...' Doffy thought with a small smile as he entered his apartment.
He thought about Shizuka, the kid that Shisui entrusted to him if something happens to him. He remembered the day Shisui asking him to take care Shizuka, saying that something big will happen and him not surviving.
A couple of days after that conversation, Shisui died. Doffy immediately went to the old man, demanding what happened to Shisui. The old man answered honestly, about the coup, Shisui and Itachi spying for them, and Shisui's plan of putting the Uchiha elders in a powerful genjutsu. He spoke about his death at the hands of Danzo, almost stealing his eyes if not for Itachi, stopping him and apprehending him for crimes of assaulting a ninja of their own.
Doffy stormed out of the Sarutobi compound, his Haki flaring, disorienting civilians and the few ANBUs patroling near him, and went to the Forest of Death to vent.
Later that night, he saw Itachi approached. He informed Doffy of the plan of killing the clan, asking him to keep Shizuka out of the compound for the day, as requested by Shisui. Doffy accepted, keeping the promise he vowed to Shisui. Doffy took her to the orphanage after staying a week on his apartment.
Three years since that day, he always keep visiting her four days a week, getting acquainted with caretaker and the big brother of the other kids. 'More like their plaything.' Doffy thought.
He shook his head, getting ready to sleep. He still has a test tomorrow.
*LINE BREAK*
Satsuki watched as his twin entered in their rented two-bed apartment. They decided that they rather buy an apartment as the compound was too painful to look at. It's not like money is a problem for the both of them, as their parents have a substantial amount of money left enough to support for the next 20 years.
They sat in silence, watching TV. before Satsuki broke the silence.
"So... how's your team?" She asked curiously.
"Hn."
Satsuki sighed sadly. She knew her brother hold some hatred against her. Years of belittling him sure etched to his mind. Satsuki regretted it. Still is, after her clan was reduced to near extinction. She's lucky that Sasuke accepted the idea of living in an apartment instead of living in their home.
She thought about her team, sad thought moved aside. Satsuki is excited to work with the twins, she knew they were strong, trained by three S-rank ninjas. She can only do her best to keep up with them, she admit that they were better than her, even if only a bit though she woudn't admit it out loud.
The silence is awkward, though Satsuki knew she's the only one who feel it. She thought of asking her brother some small talk but quickly discarding the thought. She knows her twin walks on a dangerous path, but she doesn't know how to pull him out of being an avenger, let alone help him.
She stood up before addressing Sasuke. "I'm gonna sleep now. If you want to eat there's food I left on the table, though it's cold now so just reheat it if you want. Going to bed now." Only a nod was her answer.
She decided to sleep early. There still so many things she wanted to ask to her brother, but she put those aside for now. She need to prepare for the test tomorrow, a step closer to his older brother. A step to know why.
*LINE BREAK*
Kakashi arrived at TG-7, earlier than his usual 'three-hours-late-at-everything' routine. Not because he was eager to test his team, though a small part of him is, but because his sensei threatened to burn all his treasured books if he's late for the reports after the test.
He saw his students mulling around on their own little world. Sakura is reading a book about medical plants, Sasuke's brooding as usual and Naruto was throwing small pebbles at a worm, grinning madly, like he was throwing pebbles at someone he truly hated.
Naruto turned his head slightly at Kakashi, noticing his arrival.
"Yo." Kakashi greeted and received 'good morning' from Sakura, a grunt from Sasuke, and a chuckle from Naruto.
"You're early than usual. Rumors said you're always late at everything, even for your funeral. Is that true? You being late at your funeral? Heh heh heh." Naruto asked, clearly entertained.
Kakashi's eye twitched. "As you can see, I'm very much alive, thank you very much." He supposed he should stop being late to usual appointments, he thought. He pulled an alarm clock and two bells, putting them at the post and to his waist respectively.
Kakashi explained the bell test, saying that they need to get the bells before noon.
Though he knew this test was for formality, as the Hokage said that the council's incessant pestering that they pass the two remaining Uchiha, and also concerning of Sasuke's mentality if they failed, he knows Sasuke will leave the village, with the possibility of leaving the village.
"So come at me with the intent to kill if you wish to pass." Kakashi said.
"But sensei! What if you get hurt?!" Sakura cried out.
"Don't worry, Sakura. He's a jounin, and even if we accidentally killed him, he'd be late passing on to heaven or hell, as usual, and there would be plenty of time to revive him heh heh heh." Naruto joked.
Sakura forgot her worries, biting her lip to stop bursting out of laughter and Sasuke covered his laughter with cough.
"Right..." Kakashi began, eye twitching violently. "...begin."
Sakura and Sasuke jumped on to the forest, probably planning on their own to get a bell, with still standing in front of him, hands in his pockets and grinning as usual.
"The bell test. Clever, very clever." Naruto said knowingly.
'So he already knows the meaning behind the test.' Kakashi thought.
"I can just sit here and for the two to show up, you know. But that'd be boring. Why don't we do something that would prevent us dying from boredom, eh?" Naruto didn't wait for an answer as he dashed forward.
Kakashi raised his guard, despite not recieving training from his parents, he knew he didn't get the Rookie title just by fooling around.
Naruto threw a kick to his side, with Kakashi blocking it with his left arm, reeling a bit as he didn't expect the power from the kick. He grabbed his leg before he could attack his second one and threw him across the field.
Kakashi saw something unusual. Some force held Naruto before he hit the ground, allowing him to land on his feet.
He doesn't know how he did that, and he didn't have time to think about it as Naruto rocketed towards him again.
At the last moment, Kakashi crouched down, planting his right hand on the ground used both feet to kick Naruto on his stomach.
His plan didn't work again, as Naruto floated away, as if drifting with the wind. Naruto delivered a kick to his back. Thinking quickly,Kakashi pushed his right hand, evading the kick and landing on his feet.
Both stopped, and Kakashi took the time to observe his student as he landed softly on the ground. He thought of using his Sharingan to see how Naruto seemingly float in the air, but decided not to, as Naruto spoke.
"As expected of the star student of the Hokage, and the son of the White Fang. You really are strong, an Elite Jounin." Naruto grinned, seemingly satisfied after the short bout.
"Oh? You've heard of my father?"
"Old Man Sandaime told stories about your who was said to be a candidate for the position of Hokage. It's a shame that the village is full of idiots, even back then." Naruto said, his grin smaller than usual, no doubt at the dislike to the villagers.
"Ah." Kakashi muttered. "Well, you're definitely strong, as expected of the Rookie of the Year." He complimented lightly, relaxing his stance. "I guess you already know about the purpose of the exam, right?" He asked quietly.
"Well, the Old Man kept babbling about his ancient stories about the Shodai and Nidaime teaching him and his teammates about teamwork. Said it will be the foundation of the ninjas of Konoha." Naruto replied.
"Can you wait for some time? I'm gonna test your teammates as well."
"It's not like you'll fail us, what with the old fossils at the council hounding you if you did. But, it'd be boring... whatever. I'm just gonna find that worm again." Naruto replied, shrugging. Kakashi sweatdropped, seeing that malevolent grin at the thought of the worm again.
"Right..." Kakashi said as he went into the woods. He thought about Naruto. He was good, better than most genin he saw. He is sure he can fight some of the chuunin, and maybe some jounin as he felt he was hiding his full strength.
He looked around for a moment, before noticing some ninja wires. He decided to play the trap.
Kunais launched towards him, assuming this was Sasuke's handiwork. He substituted with a log, not wanting to be a pin cushion, and ducking as Sasuke surged towards him with a kick.
Kakashi evaded, and they engaged in a bout of taijutsu. Sasuke broke away, going through a series of hand signs, a fireball, Kakashi thought.
"Fire release: Fireball jutsu!" Sasuke threw the Uchiha clan's signature technique.
Sasuke expected a burnt body or a log, but nothing remained. He kept his guard expecting an attack. 'Where is he? Behind? Or maybe from above?'
"Below." Kakashi dragged him to the ground, only his was seen. "Earth release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique." He said calmly.
"You're good, Sasuke. You could've been the Rookie this year, but, well, there's Naruto." Kakashi said, taunting him lightly. "Ja ne". He gave him a two-fingered salute and disappeared in a Body Flicker.
*LINE BREAK*
Doffy woke up at the sound of the alarm clock blaring. He stood up and saw Kakashi and his teammates walking to the post near him.
"So, how'd they do?" Doffy asked.
"They failed." Kakashi simply said. Sakura lowered her head and Sasuke clenched his fists, clearly upset.
"You failed." Kakashi repeated. "You failed to grasp the meaning of the test."
"What meaning?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.
"Teamwork."
"Teamwork? What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"You're supposed to work together to get the bells, you know." Kakashi answered.
"But you said whoever gets a bell passes this exam?!" Sasuke argued.
"And you're supposed to keep your personal interest to accomplish the objective. And did you really think you could beat me, an experienced jounin, who is serving for years before you were even born?" He questioned rhetorically. He walked towards the memorial stone.
"Someone once said to me that 'those who abandon the rules are trash, and I can't deny that, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash." Kakashi said. "Meet me here tomorrow 8 in the morning."
"Y-you mean, w-we passed?" Sakura asked confused. Kakashi nodded.
"Luckily, Naruto learned the meaning of the exam." Kakashi vanished as both Sasuke and Sakura heaved a sigh of relief. "Dismissed."
"Well, see you tomorrow, you two." Doffy said to the two, but he was stopped by Sakura.
"Would you like to eat in a restaurant? Us three, I mean. Like celebrating as a new team?" She asked hopefully.
Sasuke looked ready to deny, but he shrug, "I guess I have some free time now."
"This sounds fun, so why not?" Doffy said, grinning.
They arrived in a restaurant and ordered. They talked about themselves, with Sakura as the main chatter and, for once, not proclaiming her love to Sasuke. Sasuke himself looked comfortable, the most relaxed Doffy had ever seen Sasuke since the massacre.
After their meal, they decided to head when a thought came to Doffy.
"Sasuke, you have some time? I'm gonna introduce to you to someone, and she's been dying to meet you, you know." Doffy said, grinning. He knew his words would elicit a reaction from the pink-haired girl, and he was not disappointed.
"Who is she?!" Sakura demanded.
Still grinning, he replied, "If you wanna know, you can come with us. I'm sure Sasuke would like her once they meet. Heh heh heh."
Sakura grabbed Sasuke's arm dragging him, telling Naruto to move. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked at Naruto as if willing to burn him alive as Naruto was clearly enjoying his plight.
"Don't look at me like that, Sasuke. All I can say is not all of it is lost." Doffy replied as he began to lead them in front.
"You better make this trip worth my time, blondie." Sasuke said, confused at the last part of his statement.
After a ten-minute walk, they arrived at the orphanage. They waited for a moment as Naruto knocked on the door.
Sounds of a pair of feet running could be heard from the other side of the door, and as Naruto opened it, a black blur hit him on his stomach, dramatically falling to his knees, clutching his stomach as if he was in pain.
"Oi, that hurt, you know, Shizuka?" Naruto asked.
"Well, you didn't visit earlier like usual, Naruto. Only Konohamaru-nii did." Shizuka whined.
"Sorry, sorry. But I have news. I'm a genin now!" Naruto exclaimed, opening his arms wide.
"Oi Naruto, who's this?" Sasuke asked.
Shizuka finally saw Naruto's companions this time.
"Oh, this is my teammates. The pink-haired one is Sakura, and the black-haired boy is Sasuke, who you said that you really wanted to meet. Sakura, Sasuke, this is Shizuka Uchiha." He said, smirking knowingly at Sasuke.
Sasuke just stared at the girl, who couldn't be older than 10. Black hair and eyes, the usual physical appearance of an Uchiha, but something nagged at the back of his head at the hair style and facial structure of the girl, though he couldn't pinpoint who.
They just stared at one another, Sakura's greeting was ignored, and after a minute of their pseudo-contest, the girl broke the silence.
"Duck-head!" Shizuka blurted out, before covering her mouth. Naruto laughed like a madman, enjoying Sasuke's face twisted at the unintentional insult, and Sakura was torn about laughing and shouting at the girl. So she decided to stay quiet and bit her lip.
Sasuke's eyebrow is twitching uncontrollably, glaring at the brat that insulted him. Though inside he was frozen, he didn't expect this and Naruto's words made sense now.
'Not all is lost.'
He finally found back his voice.
"What did you say?" Sasuke ground out. Here he was, happy to see that their blood still alive, besides his sister, but all he got was an insult from a girl who was profusely apologizing, telling him she didn't mean it.
"Fine, apology accepted..." Sasuke said. "...squirt."
"Thank y- WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SQUIRT, YOU DUCKBUTT?!" Shizuka roared all the while Naruto enjoying the banter and Sakura, not able to hold back the floodgates anymore, burst in a fit of giggles as well.
Sasuke wanted to be annoyed, if not for the girl insulting him but on his two teammates filling their fun. But he couldn't, as he was too happy to have more family, that he wouldn't truly be alone with his sister. He have something worthy to use his power, even though it looks like Naruto already claimed her as his(a/n:family, and don't think about it), not to use against 'that man', but to protect his last living family.
He supposed he would repay Naruto someday, thankful that not all is lost.
*LINE BREAK*
Kakashi arrived at the tower only a few minutes late, surprising his colleagues that muttered something about the world is ending, and saw his sensei nodding to himself and heaving a sigh of relief as if his prayers were answered.
He rolled his eyes. Not caring about the reactions as Minato called out to start their report starting from Team 1.
Most of them failed, with only Twams 7, 8, 10, and 11 passed. Minato gave them what to expect on their responsibilities and expectations for their teams.
They were soon dismissed but the eye contact he got from his sensei made Kakashi stayed put, expecting a more thorough analysis from his test. Kushina also stayed.
"Alright, Kakashi, how's your teams' performance? I already heard from Kushina about Satsuki, so what about Sasuke?" Minato asked. Though Kakashi got a feeling that he also wanted a report involving his wayward son, so he gave him a report based on his team.
"Well, Sakura is not ready, physically and mentally. She's a fangirl of Sasuke but she got a good head based on the report from the academy." He heard a 'tsk' from the side, but he plowed on. "I think I can carve that out of her in no time, and based on how her teammates operate, she can be the support for them, whether a medic or a genjutsu user, I can't say right now."
Minato hummed, and then nodded for him to continue. "Sasuke is good. He's got a great knowledge on their family's taijutsu technique, though the Sharingan is still needed, but still good. His chakra is also higher than most kids in his batch, and he's able to throw a decent-sized fireball at me earlier. Overall, he's ready, though I guess my only concern about him is his mentality."
Minato nodded, regret visible in his expression as well as Kushina, no doubt remembering her friend, Mikoto.
"Naruto, on the other hand..." Minato winced, and Kakashi couldn't blame him. "... he's strong. I can say for certain that. His raijutsu is great, mainly focused on the use of his legs. He didn't used any jutsu earlier, but I can only assume that he has some on his arsenal. As I said he's strong..."
"But..." Kushina pressed on, her face void of emotion, though inside she was quite intrigued about her son.
"But..." Kakashi exhaled, trying to find words to describe what he saw. "...earlier in our short bout, something unexpected happened. One time when I threw him across the field, his descent slowed down, like some force held him from impacting hard. And another when I attacked him when he was mid-air, he evaded," he ground out the word, "mid-air, like the he was floating. I don't really understand, maybe if used the Sharingan, maybe I could've discovered how he did it." Kakashi finished.
Minato was silent, staring at Kakashi. He knew his sensei was trying to decipher what he said.
"Are you saying he can fly?" Kushina asked in disbelief. Her eyebrows rose as she stared at Kakashi.
"Yes, for now, let's call it flying." Kakashi said, nodding.
Kushina nodded back, slowly, before commenting. "Maybe he has using some wind jutsu. Minato has a wind affinity, though it's only a minor."
"Maybe, but if he really is using a wind jutsu, I bet it'll use a large amount of chakra, and I didn't sense any, other than Naruto reinforcing his limbs." Kakashi replied.
"Maybe you're both right. Like the Nidaime, his control of his water was astounding, maybe Naruto's the same, except with wind?" Minato contributed, though he sounded not sure himself. "It doesn't matter for now. Good job, Kakashi. I can finally shut those elders about the Uchiha twins." Minato said to Kakashi. "Dismissed." And Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"What do you think?" Minato asked his wife.
"Hm? Oh it's surprising, really. But the twins still better than him. I gurantee that to you."
"You're really hate him huh..."
"Hmph."
Minato sighed at his wife's attitude. He knew she wouldn't admit that she was amazed of Naruto, but her pride is always stopping her.
He regretted what he had done back then. But he knew they were the ones at fault. He couldn't take back what happened, it's all in the past. He could only hope that his son would forgive them someday. He knew Kushina enough that she really want Naruto back, if inly she wouldn't let her pride in the way to admit it.
It's all in the past now, I'll just wait to see what lies in the future for us.' He thought, getting back to his work, and his headache came back at the sight of the his paperwork. 'Maybe Naruto cursed these papers for my punishment.'