Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 8: The Rookies

Over the past year, Yuki made it a habit to always be around Team Gai. She would go on her missions, they would complete theirs and, when it worked out, they would all be together in the forest. She saw how each of them improved, especially Lee. He worked the hardest and never gave up even when he would fall hard. He was a fighter. Tenten also improved. She was now one of the finest weapon user in the village, according to Yuki. Neji has also improved greatly, but he still did not believe that his work was worth anything. Yuki was amused by this team. They were special. They held a special place in her heart to her own surprise. At first, she was only curious about Neji as his father was the village's sacrifice for peace, but she grew to like them. She was even now able to show her face around them instead of hiding behind a mask. She was able to smile and laugh with them. Well, it was mostly with Gai, Tenten and Lee. Neji was as serious as ever. Since their talk in November, their relationship has been very formal: a greeting here and there, some acknowledgements from time to time.

"Neji, I heard you younger cousin, Hinata, has graduated from the Academy." said Gai. "Her sensei will be Kurenai."

Neji grabbed all his things and did not give any answering sign to Gai.

"I'm heading home." he said monotonously. He quickly vanished from the forest in direction of the village.

"She's from the main family, isn't she?" Yuki asked as she jumped down from the tree she was relaxing in.

Gai nodded as he was still looking in the direction where Neji headed. He too, despite his forgetful and sometimes careless personality, knew that Neji held deep grudges against the main Hyuga family. After all, his father left him when he was so young to protect those members of the family.

"Have you heard of cursed seals, Yuki?" asked Gai as he started packing his things up.

"I've read a bit about them, but I'm not familiar with them all that much. Why do you ask?"

"Neji holds one on his forehead."

"And you think that's why he can never forgive the main family?" asked Yuki.

He nodded. He was perhaps right. Neji, with that cursed seal, is reminded everyday of his fate: protect the main family if not death is upon you. Cursed seals, eh? Such a disgusting thing. Shouldn't we protect something because we hold it dear to our heart?

"By the way, " started Gai. "Have you heard? Kakashi is leading his own genin team. The Fourth's kid and Itachi's brother are in that team. It's going to be an interesting one. They are meeting tomorrow if you want to do a little recognition mission."

"Haha, I will."

The moon was still shining bright in the night sky. Yuki just finished a patrolling mission. She was back to the ANBUs' headquarter. As she headed towards her locker room, she saw Kakashi walking down the hallway.

"Senpai!" she called out.

"Oh, Yuki. Done for tonight?"

She nodded and asked:

"I heard you were leaving the ANBU squads now."

"Yes. I've been assigned to guide a team of genins. Sasuke is in there. So is Naruto."

"I've heard. Are you going to make them go through the bell test?"

He nodded as he pulled the two infamous bells out. He looked at them with sad eyes.

"I wonder if they will pass..." he said softly.

"Do you mind if I observe tomorrow?"

"I'm just meeting them tomorrow. I won't make them go through the test just yet." he said.

"Still, I want to see how they are."

"Be my guest."

Yuki smiled. Kakashi looked slightly surprised. He hadn't seen her in a while and her expressions were much softer now. There was a warmth exuding from her that wasn't present before. He smiled back.

"I'll probably be late, so do come early to spy on them if you want. After all, being incognito is you forte." he said as he waved goodbye to her.

She nodded and opened the door to her locker room. She took off her mask, undid her tight ponytail and shook her head so that her hair could loosen up a little bit. She looked at herself in the mirror. Not that long ago, when she saw the Hokage, she thought of how old he had now become. She now can notice that she has also changed. She was now older. Her eyes, always just as bright, were softer looking. Her skin was now a little tanner than it used to be. Her cheeks were not as full and plump as before. She had thinned down quite a bit. It was from all those restless nights and rough missions. She was still just as beautiful as ever. She chuckled a little bit at those thoughts. Time to hit the bed.

"Iruka-sensei! Why is a genius like me in the same team as Sasuke?" yelled a loud high-pitched voice.

Yuki was looking into Sasuke's classroom via a hole in the wall. That voice was none other than Naruto's. Of course, they would be in the same team. It is for the best. If anyone can control Naruto, it would certainly be Sasuke. And if anyone could change Sasuke's dark aura, it would most certainly be Naruto. She thought to herself while she amused herself with the chaos that was in the classroom as the teams were announced.

"Next, team 8 will be Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata."

Yuki shifted her eye from Sasuke to that person that was called Hinata. That was Neji's younger cousin that they were talking about the other day. She seemed sweet, a little shy and lacking of confidence. She didn't seem like the type of person that Neji would normally resent, but obviously their feud took roots way deeper than appearances. After all, a death was involved in all this. Another person in that group caught Yuki's attention: Shino. She met him before, a long time ago, on a rainy day. Although the encounter they had did not last for a long time, it left a strong impression on her. He was one of the only person whose presence she could not sense. He, in a way, sneaked up on her. He seemed as quiet as before, as calm...

"Finally, we have team 9: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji."

The girl of the group seemed annoyed of the fact that those two were going to be her teammates. Meanwhile, Shikamaru seemed bored and couldn't care less. His expressions haven't changed at all. Those eyes definitely tell me that he doesn't want to be here. His eyes are not even looking at the front of the class but rather at the sky. He did always love the sky and its clouds.

The break finally came and they all began clearing the classroom. Kakashi, indeed, didn't come yet. Yuki began walking around the Academy. She did not have much memories here. She barely spent anytime at the Academy and if she was present, her mind was somewhere else. She headed to the rooftop where she spent most of her time if she was present. When she got there, there was already two people standing by edge. One of them was a woman. She was quite beautiful. The other was smoking and gazing off into the distance. They looked about the same age as Kakashi, not that she could really tell how old Kakashi was with his mask on. She could only assume that they were soon to be the senseis of one of the team she saw today.

"You are about to lead the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho. How do you feel, Asuma?"

"I don't know. I will know when I see them. I heard from Shikaku that his son doesn't seem to have any motivation or ambition. I wonder if that will hinder him in anyway."

Yuki couldn't help but chuckle a little bit startling the two jounins. They did not sense her presence at all. She, now, concealed her presence automatically even when it isn't needed. When they saw her, they smiled and gave her sign to join them.

"You are Yuki, right?" asked Asuma as he threw away his cigarette. "The Hokage's adopted granddaughter?"

She nodded as she came closer to them.

"That's the girl you talked to me about, Asuma?" asked the woman with a kind smile. She turned towards Yuki and asked: "You are the infamous kid who became an ANBU without actually going through the Academy and the training needed. right? I'm surprised you are here today."

"I was curious about this year's rookies." she replied.

"It is indeed an interesting year." said Asuma as he looked to the sky again. "You laughed when I spoke about Shikamaru. I assume you know him?"

"I wouldn't say that I know him. That would be a bit of a stretch, but I've met him briefly before and what you said about his lack of ambition is quite true, yet false at the same time."

"Why would you say that?" asked Asuma.

"He, indeed, couldn't care less about his rank and how good of a ninja he might become, but I can sense a strong willpower from him to protect this village. He might say the contrary, but he loves this village." Yuki replied as she also began looking at the sky. "I think he likes seeing the sky the most when in the village. It looks the best to him when he's home."

"I've long heard about how wise you are for your age. I got the chance to witness it first hand today." said the woman softly.

Yuki couldn't help but blush a little. The bell rang to announce the end of the break.

"I'll let you two get going, I'm going to go find Kakashi. He is going to be late to meet his team if he still doesn't show up." Yuki quickly said as she disappeared in a whirlwind of snow.

If there was one place you could be sure to find Kakashi, it would be where the stone in memory of those who were killed in action stood tall. He was indeed there. Yuki approached him in light steps. He had his eyes closed, his fists clenched and he was obviously reliving each of those painful memories, yet again. When she got close enough, gently, she tapped him on the shoulder and said:

"I think it's time for you to meet your team."

He nodded and opened his eyes slowly.

"How are they?"

"I think their personalities are pretty obvious from the get-go. You will see."

"I have an idea. The Third took me to their places."

Yuki smiled. It was in an ANBU's nature to get an impression of one by how they live. Naruto's place was probably messy but showed warmth. Sasuke's place was probably neat, but cold and lonely.

They both made their way to the Academy and walked up the stairs that lead to the classroom where they were all waiting. They were already half an hour late. Instead of opening the door to the classroom where they would be, Kakashi went into the classroom where Yuki, earlier, was using to spy on them. There was only Naruto's team left in there.

"Where is he?" she heard Naruto ask impatiently. And then she heard him giggling.

"Naruto!" she heard a female voice yell out. "Sensei wouldn't fall for such a dumb prank."

Kakashi sighed: "Time to go meet them now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck."

"Oh, join me later on on the rooftop to meet them."

"I'll be somewhere nearby to listen in."

He smiled and left for the other classroom. Yuki headed out to where Kakashi told her to meet him. These rookies were bound to very interesting, after all, they all are interesting characters.

End of Chapter 8

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.

xoxox

Krystal