"Good morning my cute little Genin—and temporary Genin!" Kakashi greeted with his usual eye smile. He was surprised when Naruto and Sakura didn't immediately yell at him. "Sorry I'm late, I passed by some flowers, so I just had to stop and smell them."
Naruto swung upside down from a branch he was on, making a bunch of snow fall off with the movement and Kakashi sidestepped the snow that would have landed on him. "Kakashi-sensei, you really need to think of some better excuses."
"Yeah," Sakura agreed, "and where would you find the flowers to smell?" She gestured a hand to look around, "There's snow everywhere."
"M-maybe the Yamanaka's flower shop?" Kuroko offered.
"Ah," Kakashi eye-smiled, "I like you. Can't Arata trade? Mine just don't understand." Kuroko giggled a little at Kakashi's silly attitude.
Naruto and Sakura blanched, "S-Sensei!" The two of them yelled in disbelief.
"Anyways!" Kakashi said loudly—leaving his students to wonder if he was being serious or not— and transitioned to the main topic, "Today is Kuroko-kun's last day with us. We will..." he paused to create some tension, "spar!"
The kids in the clearing blinked in confusion at the lacklustre reveal.
"But Sensei that's what we've been doing already!" Naruto crossed his arms. "Can't we just do a super awesome mission or something? Rescue a fair maiden maybe?"
Inwardly, Kakashi cringed at Naruto's less than favourable word choice—it made him think of his "rival" and he wanted that green beast out of his head. "Oh, but Naruto, these aren't just any spars," Kakashi waggled his finger at his impatient student, "They are going to be free for all spars."
"Ninjutsu will be allowed?" Sasuke asked, now looking forward to it. If anyone had been looking closely enough they would have seen the small twinkle of excitement in his eyes.
Kakashi nodded, "Yes. But no fatal force." He stressed that point, and it was a bit worrying that he had to. "Other than that, it's anything goes."
"Hell yeah!" Naruto whooped, jumping into the air.
Kuroko fidgeted with the hem of his poncho, "Um, H-Haruno-san... would you like to spar?" Sakura blinked and looked a bit uneasy at Kuroko's question. "I think it would be good for you to get some combat experience in. A-also you have been practising... Would you like to see the improvement?"
"I think it would be good for you Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned and gave her a thumb's up. Sasuke even gave her a nod.
"Hmm..." Sakura wasn't sure, but her team was giving her encouragement. It wouldn't hurt, right? "Okay. I'll give it a try!"
During the fight, Kuroko didn't use any jutsu and stuck to taijutsu to get Sakura more used to close combat. Even though he was holding back—limiting himself to using only his legs except for blocking—Sakura had caught him by surprise. He had to say that she had a mean right hook.
"How..." Sakura took a deep breath, exhausted, "How did I do?"
"That was amazing Sakura-chan! I didn't know you had it in ya!" Naruto cheered her on.
"Y-You hit hard. Harder than anyone would think." Kuroko rubbed his arm where he had blocked with a couple of times. "I'm g-going to get a bruise."
"Good job Sakura." Kakashi's eye crinkled with his smile and he pat her head. "Naruto, Sasuke, you two next."
"Alright! Teme you are goin' down!" He went to sprint further in the field but stopped himself, "Nee, Sakura-chan. You think you can teach me how to hit him hard like you did to Kuroko?" He leaned forward and cupped his mouth with his hand, whispering, "His ego needs to be knocked down some pegs."
"Sorry, Naruto. But I've been working on this in secret!" she said with a proud huff, "I can't just give it away."
"Awww," he whined, "then I'll just have to beat the snot outta him!"
Sakura's eyes widened as Naruto grinned sinisterly and started punching his open palm. "Just not the face!"
"No promises!"
Sasuke huffed, "Just hurry up." He was getting impatient.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Sakura's statement. Since when was she interested in training? He should probably get to know his students a little better. Absently he compared team seven to his old Genin team. Naruto would be Obito with that energy of his, and Sasuke would be him, though he thought Sasuke was too broody to be compared to him—I wasn't that broody, was I?—and Sakura would be Rin. An idea popped into his head, it opened some old wounds, but he thought that Sakura should train as a medical kunoichi. It was right down her ally despite her... violent tendencies.
"Ahh! NO! I'm out, I'm OUT!" Naruto yelled, getting Kakashi out from his head. He shouldn't zone out when his students are potentially harming each other.
"Enough! Sasuke, off of him." Kakashi sighed. The boy had pinned Naruto down and stabbed a kunai into the ground by his head. Potentially harming each other. "Try not to stab him while he's down please."
"A-are you alright, Hatake-san?" Kakashi looked down to see Kuroko, he forgot that he was beside him. He was short enough that he wasn't in his peripheral. Heck, he was shorter than Naruto. Kuroko tilted his head, "You, um, spaced out... D-do you want a granola bar?"
Kakashi chuckled, Kuroko was an awkward but kind child, "I'm alright, and no thanks, I'm not hungry."
"Aww, maaaan." Naruto stretched and his back cracked, "Sasuke, damn you teme, you kicked my back super hard!"
"Don't leave your back unguarded then, stupid."
Kakashi palmed his face with a sigh, "Sasuke, stop antagonizing him." If this is what having kids is like, I will not reproduce. I refuse.
"Come on Kuroko, lets spar!"
Well, at least he could count on Naruto to jump to something else. Less potential fight that he had to worry about. Naruto was already dragging Kuroko further out into the clearing.
"O-Okay." Not that he could really say no by this point.
Kuroko bowed and did the seal of confrontation, as did Naruto.
Naruto grinned, hands forming a cross, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and Kuroko found himself seeing tens of Naruto's. One changed him and clumsily went in for a jump kick. Kuroko dodged and punched it. The clone didn't dispel on his first hit, but it did on the second. He wasn't strong enough to dispel them with a single blow. Kuroko armed himself with two kunai. If he couldn't dispel them with blunt force, a blade would be much more effective.
Naruto frowned. His clones weren't really doing anything to Kuroko. Looks like they pop more easily with a blade. Naruto changed up his tactics and made his clones attack one at a time.
Apparently, that wasn't the best course of action—because he found himself wincing and moving to hold his hand even though it didn't hurt. It would've hurt if it actually happened. A lot. When the clone attacked him, intending to punch him at his shoulder, Kuroko retaliated by jabbing a kunai into the fist of the oncoming punch. Yeah, Ouch.
Kuroko was thinking of how to dispatch all of the clones to get to Naruto. Actually... and idea came to mind, I'll let him come to me. Taking out the clones wasn't as tiring as it was before, and Naruto was an impatient person. If he held out longer, he could predict a sneak attack from the real Naruto.
There were only ten Naruto's left in a circle around him. They stayed still for a moment before battle cries erupted from the clones and they charged. The real Naruto charged with his right coming out for a right jab from behind Kuroko. His eyes widened when Kuroko grabbed his wrist, twisted it behind his back and pushed him to the ground poising a kunai at his neck, his clones bursting all at the same time.
When the smoke cleared, Kakashi determined the fight over. "Disengage Kuroko-kun." The kunai was retracted and was put back into his holster.
"What the hell is with everyone pinning me!" Naruto wriggled on the ground in frustration.
"Y-you need to protect your back m-more." Kuroko gave some constructive criticism. "You swing too wide and that gave me the opening to grab your arm."
"Oh yeah! How did you know that it was me?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful frown. "I was sure you didn't know which one was me."
"W-well, it was a guess really..." Kuroko fixed his mask, "Y-You were the only one not yelling."
"Huh. Well, I'll get you next time!" he held out his fist, and Kuroko didn't know what to do. "It's called a fist bump! It's like a... a friendship thing," Naruto grinned.
"O-oh! O-okay."
"Do you need a break before your spar with Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"Uh," Kuroko glanced to Sasuke, he looked quite impatient, "N-no... It's alright."
Kuroko and Sasuke faced each other, they did the seal of confrontation, and immediately afterwards Sasuke appeared in front of him, engaging in taijutsu. Kuroko noticed after a few seconds that Sasuke wasn't going in to end it immediately like he had originally thought. He was forcing him to continue fighting in taijutsu, wearing him down.
Sasuke predicted that Kuroko would try and disengage, and stuck his leg behind Kuroko's. He was tripped and found himself falling towards the ground. He changed his centre of gravity and spun around on the back of his heel, landing in a bridge. He kicked his leg up and pushed off of the arm Sasuke used to block.
Kakashi whistled.
Sakura blinked and looked up to her Sensei, "Sasuke really is strong, isn't he?"
Kakashi blinked, he didn't notice that he had whistled, "Yes, he is Sakura, but that was directed to Kuroko."
"Kuroko?"
Naruto decided to pipe in, "When Sasuke tripped him, right?" When Kakashi nodded he smiled and continued in this thought, turning back to observe the fight. "While he was falling he sorta twirled around to face Sasuke and landed in a... bridge it was called? Then he pushed off of Sasuke's blocking arm to make 'im back off."
Sasuke went for a punch and Kuroko batted it off to the side with the back of his wrist. In the same movement, Kuroko grabbed onto his wrist and pulled.
"Like right there!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke was getting irritated, but he stayed calm. It was one of his faults that he was trying to get a hold of. His anger and frustration caused him his first loss to Kuroko in the academy, and he didn't want it to be the cause if he lost this one. Kuroko was getting on his nerves. He was just too agile for him to pin down with a single hit. He looked up when Kuroko jumped, but suddenly got kicked from behind.
What.
His eyes didn't leave Kuroko for a moment. Genjutsu? Sasuke paused in his track of thought at disengaged from Kuroko. His eyes narrowed and out of his peripheral, he saw a shadow from behind him. He whirled around and backhanded Kuroko. Or so he thought because his hand passed right through the illusionary clone.
He was beyond confused, both of them had shadows, but now he knew which one was real.
Sasuke's frown turned dark, "Enough with these tricks!" He threw a series of kunai and shuriken to get Kuroko where he wanted, then aimed for his feet, getting Kuroko to jump. He ran through a series of familiar hand seals, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" and a large stream of flame spewed out of his mouth.
Kuroko was engulfed in flames and he popped up a few feet away after using a shunshin. He ended up using it too late and when he teleported it didn't extinguish the fire eating away at his clothes.
"H-hot!" He stopped, dropped and rolled, but the fire on his poncho did not extinguish. Chakra fire took much more to put out than normal fire. He tossed off his poncho and his scarf that the fire travelled to. He also took off his gloves since they caught fire when taking off his poncho. He sighed in relief, but started to panic when he felt heat at the back of his head.
"I—I forfeit!" Kuroko shouted, clasping at the back of his head. His hands burned trying to snuff out the embers eating away at his mask's band.
"Kuroko! Are you okay?" Naruto ran up to him. "Kakashi-sensei! He needs a water jutsu or something!"
"Sorry if I get you wet Kuroko-kun, but putting out those embers is essential." Kakashi went through some hand signs and a small stream of water came out from between his fingers and onto the back of Kuroko's head.
Kuroko sighed in relief, the water soaked his head and back, but the heat was gone. He looked at his palms, and they looked back at him, all red and angry.
"Sasuke. That was in violation of the rules." Kakashi looked to the Uchiha with a stern look. "That was lethal force. If Kuroko didn't escape that in the time he had, he would have been severely burned."
Sasuke had the decency to look guilty. He frowned and looked away from Kakashi and to Sakura who was talking to Kuroko.
"We should get you to the hospital to heal those burns before they start blistering," Sakura said with some concern. Kuroko had started growing on her with his awkwardness. She just wished that she could do something to help.
"U-uh, s-sure."
"Come on!" Naruto grinned to Kuroko, "If you don't get your hands fixed you won't be able to do any super awesome jutsu!"
The group walked through Konoha, headed to the hospital.
• • • • • •
"—and then dad said, "No Ino, you cannot get a boyfriend, I forbid it!", but it's Sasuke-kun." Ino paused to make sure that her teammates were listening to this important topic. "Guys?" She blinked a couple times, looking to her left, then her right. "They ditched me!" she shrieked.
Shikamaru heaved a sigh. He was a little out of breath and obviously, they weren't far enough from her because they heard that shriek. "I'll only run willingly when I have to escape from one of Ino's Sasuke rants."
Chouji laughed, "It was getting a bit out of hand, but she's going to be angry and—hey, isn't that team seven?" Chouji pointed ahead of them and, lo and behold, team seven and Kuroko were walking about a block ahead of them. They walked faster to catch up with them.
Sasuke had been fighting with himself in his head and steeled himself. "Kuroko..." He paused when he turned his head, tilting it in question, "I'm... sorry." He frowned, apologising was hard. "I got too caught up in the fight and..."
Shikamaru blinked slowly in disbelief, Sasuke apologized? But what is he guilty enough of to apologize for? He started piecing things together.
"O-oh, it's a-alright Uchiha-san!"
"No. It is not," Kakashi came in, his voice stern. He looked down to Kuroko, "You need to get that self-preservation of yours checked out."
Kuroko blinked, confused. "O-okay?" He felt uneasy when Kakashi sighed. Did he disappoint him?
"Doesn't that hurt?" Naruto asked with concern, "It looks really red." Shikamaru was confused, but saw the damage when Kuroko moved his hand to let Naruto see—and now that he was closer he noticed that he didn't have his ever-present poncho or even his scarf on. "I mean, It's as red as Sasuke's ego fan." He gestured with his thumb to the Uchiha Fan on the back of Sasuke's jacket.
"Oi!"
"Don't. Start," Sakura stopped the argument before it even began, "Or do we need another person to book in?"
"I-it does sting," Kuroko didn't notice the look Kakashi gave him, sting wasn't quite the right description word for a second-degree burn, "but it's more... numb, right now?"
"If it's feeling numb then it's probably closer to a third-degree burn."
"We better hurry then!" Naruto reached to grab Kuroko's hand. Kuroko breathed in quickly when Naruto's hand hit his and he yanked his hand away. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking!"
"No, i-its alright..." Kuroko shook his head and with the motion of it the remainder of fabric that kept his mask on tore. His eyes widened and he clasped his hands over the top of his head, kneeling down in a ball. Obviously, he wasn't thinking, because the motion agitated his hands and it hurt.
"Kuroko?" Naruto looked confused and worried.
"M-mask..." Kuroko muttered out, too scared to move.
"Here." Then Kuroko felt something drape over his head, the fabric made his hands sting. He recognized the scent.
"S-shika!" Kuroko looked up from his position to him.
"Do you have an extra one?" Shikamaru picked up the mask and tied the two ends of the fabric together on it.
Kuroko shook his head. "Not on me..." he blinked in confusion when he was being stared at by the other people around him. Realization dawned upon him and his face flushed a crimson red. "Uh, um, uh..." he looked down and pulled on Shikamaru's coat to hide his face.
"Were you going to the hospital?" He saw Kuroko nod shakily in response, he sighed, "Let's go then. I'll get my dad to bring you a spare."
"O-o-okay."
Kuroko and Shikamaru walked off, leaving the others behind. Kuroko stopped and turned around, "Uh, um, thank you." He did a small bow, "I-It was nice learning under you Hatake-san." Kuroko hurriedly started walking when Shikamaru tugged on the coat on his head. "D-don't pull on it!"
"He's... kinda cute..."
There was silence.
"Who's cute?" the awkward tension with team seven and Chouji was broken when Ino came and overheard her rival.
Sakura blinked and a second later her face flushed, "I said that out loud?" The blank nods of her teammates confirmed that she did.
"Hey, forehead, I asked a question. Do you still have any manners left from being on Naruto's team?"
"Oi!"
"If anything, I need to teach him them," Sakura muttered. She sighed and fixed her hair, Ino obviously wouldn't let it slide from the look she was getting. "Kuroko."
"Kuroko? That mask kid that's older than us?" Sakura nodded. Huh, well I'll just have to see for myself.
Chouji sweatdropped. He had a feeling that he would have to guard Kuroko's back during their time together.
Suddenly Ino spun around to face Chouji, "And you two had the nerve to ditch me!" Chouji raised his hands in surrender and succumbed to the rant that came.
"Wait..." Naruto thought for a moment, "Kuroko's older than us?! I thought he was younger!"
"Stupid."
"I mean... he's shorter than me! Ah, wait. No Sasuke, wipe that knowing smirk off that dumb face of yours! I did not say that I was short!"
"Hmph, you implied it."
Nobody noticed the Sensei vanish into thin air. He did not want to get dragged into anything else.
• • • • • •
"Hello, i-is Kaminashi Haruhi in?"
The person at the help desk smiled down at the two boys in front of her, "You came at a good time, she's just got off of her break. Do you know where to find her?"
"Y-yes I do. Thank you." They walked down the white hallways and up a flight of stairs.
"I'll go call Tou-san while you get checked up on."
Kuroko smiled, "Thank you Shika."
He knocked on the door and slid it open, "Um, Kaminashi-san?"
The woman looked up from the papers she was reading, "Ah, Kuroko-kun! How are you doing? Uh, well not very well if you had to come here, I guess."
"I'm alright... I just got injured in a spar."
"Come, come," she patted the bed to her side and Kuroko sat down on it. "What happened to your mask, not to mention clothes?"
"I got caught in a Katon jutsu in the spar... My clothes caught on fire and my m-masks strap was being eaten away by embers..." Kuroko showed her his hands, "I couldn't take off my mask, so I tried to snuff out the embers... Hatake-san used a water jutsu to put it out."
While Kuroko explained Haruhi took a look at Kuroko's hands. Seconds degree burns... just about third degree... She couldn't tell immediately since it hadn't started to blister yet, but when she used her diagnostic jutsu she could see that it went down into the dermis and at some parts into the hypodermis.
"I'm glad that you came here right away, I should be able to heal this up before the skin cells start dying." She took out some bandages and some Vaseline with one hand while the other, coated with green chakra, engulfed his left hand. "The new skin will be tender for a couple days, so I advise keeping bandages on with a pair of gloves when training or doing any activity. Take them off when you are done to let it breathe."
The door slid open and Haruhi was about ready to throw something—she had warned those new recruits about knocking before entering—before seeing who it was. Shikamaru blinked, taken aback by the woman's sudden dark look towards him, "Uh, Kuro, Tou-san brought it."
Kuroko brightened, ears perking up from under Shikamaru's coat that was still on his head.
"That I did." Shikaku stepped in with the mask hanging on his wrist. When he picked it up before, he didn't notice, but he felt a dip in his reserves. The thing was using his chakra to fuel the genjutsu and seal on it. He'd have to get someone to look at it.
"I'm not quite finished with Kuroko here." Haruhi looked to the two Nara in the room.
"I-it's alright Kaminashi-san, they can stay."
"Are you sure?"
Kuroko nodded, smiling slightly "Mmhmm, they know."
"Hmmm," Haruhi looked at them warily, "alright." She smiled and went back to healing Kuroko's hands. She was glad that he was opening up to other people. "Any other injuries to report?" Kuroko shook his head. "Then you are free to go."
"Thank you, Kaminashi-san."
"Just remember to take those wrappings off at the end of the day!"
• • • • • •
Shikamaru sighed as his mother looked through clothing with a clinical eye. He glanced over to Kuroko who looked very uncomfortable being in this situation.
"Now which do you like better?"
Kuroko looked at the two pairs of pants that Yoshino was holding up to show him. "I can't really t-tell the difference." They were both blue and had pockets, but they didn't look too different to him.
"Honey, I'll have to teach you about clothing then." She gestured for Kuroko to feel them, "The one on the right has stronger material so it'll last longer, while the other one isn't as strong, but it's warmer."
"Oh."
Shikamaru sat down on a bench as this explanation would take a long while. Shikamaru had lost track of time in the store, he had already counted how many coats were hung up in the men's section. Kuroko sat down with a sigh, he put his head in his hands, "There is so much I don't know."
Shikamaru frowned, he felt pity towards Kuroko. He pat him on the back lightly, "There, there, it'll be over soon."
Kuroko stretched and cracked his back, "She sent m-me to find stuff that I like."
"Well," Shikamaru stood up and yawned, "If she doesn't see me moving from this spot she'll cause a scene. She's waked by me twice already."
Kuroko browsed around, thinking of things that would help in the wintertime, and clothes for training in general. He found another poncho, close to the same as his previous one—and it had pockets!—which was good. He would be getting that. Kuroko stopped for a moment.
"What is it?"
Kuroko looked over to Shikamaru, "Everything I'm getting... It's black."
"Like a true ninja," Shikamaru said sagely with a wise bow of his head. His arm was punched.
Now looking for anything but black, Kuroko looked for things that would assist in the winter time.
"Shikamaru!"
"Oh crap. Kaa-san's calling."
"I-I wish you luck," Kuroko laughed when Shikamaru did a mock salute and trudged over to the other end of the store.
When Kuroko had gotten a pile of things he liked into a little kart, he went to the cash register. He felt really nervous, never really going into stores a lot. He noticed the man at the register eyeing him warily and he retreated further into Shikamaru's borrowed coat.
"Will this be everything for you today, Sir?"
Kuroko blinked and looked behind him, Sir? Oh, they meant me! "Y-yes! Th-that's it."
"Then the total comes to 10,284 Ryo."
Okay, that came up to what I was expecting... B-but when they say it, it sounds more expensive.
Taking his wallet out—he had gotten it just recently, his old one tore—he brought out the necessary bills and coins.
"Your change comes to 400 Ryo."
"T-thank you..." Kuroko tried to put his change away as fast as he could and grabbed his bags. He was in the way of the next customer. He sat down on a bench to wait for Yoshino and Shikamaru.
Kuroko jumped up from his seat when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he looked around quickly and relaxed when he saw a familiar spiky ponytail.
"Tired?" Kuroko nodded. Shikamaru yawned, "Me too. Kaa-san said we should go out and grab a snack. She'll be out in a couple minutes."
"Okay." Kuroko grabbed his three bags.
"Here," Shikamaru put out a hand, and Kuroko tilted his head in question, "Give me a bag to carry."
"T-thank you Shika." Kuroko smiled and gave him one of the bags.
• • • • • •
Shikamaru watched Kuroko eat with a raised eyebrow. They had gone to a nearby food stand and got some fish. He thought it was good, but Kuroko was seriously enjoying it.
"You look like you're enjoying that." Yoshino laughed at Kuroko who nodded. He was most certainly enjoying the fish on a stick he had.
"I got one f-for you too." Kuroko held out the other one he had gotten out to her.
She took it with a smile, "I appreciate it, thank you. But don't fill up yet, I'll be making dinner when we get home."
The walk back was chilly as the wind picked up, but they got home just in time for the snow to start falling again.
"Come into the living room, I've got something for you two."
She reached into a bag and pulled out an outfit for Shikamaru, and Kuroko. "I know I can trust you two to get clothes for your shinobi duties, but I got some winter clothing for you two." She handed Shikamaru his, which was composed of a light and dark green coat, beige cargo pants and a new pair of shoes. Lastly, at the bottom of the bag, was a long-sleeved shirt that covered up to his knuckle and had those thumb holes.
Shikamaru looked over the clothes, his mother knew him well. He liked his greens, and the shoes were also just what he needed. His older winter boots were run down and had a hole by his toe. It would let in the damp snow and soak his foot.
"This is just what I needed, Kaa-san."
"Honey, I know what you need before you even know you need it." She quirked a smile and messed up her son's ponytail affectionately. Shikamaru let his mother do what she wanted and grumbled as he fixed his lopsided hair after the assault.
"And for you, Kuroko-kun." Yoshino smiled as she handed him his.
Kuroko thanked her and pulled out the first item, a pair of dull blue pants. The material was smooth and water repellant, lining the inside was a thicker fabric to keep the cold out, and the heat in. A shirt was next, long sleeved like Shikamaru's, but white in colour. His eyes widened at the next item, it was a light icy blue sweater jacket, the fabric similar to the pants. What made him love it was the fluffy, furry lining on the inside of the jacket and hood.
"I thought that you would like that." Yoshino laughed. She learned that Kuroko loved soft and fluffy materials from that black blanket he adored. "Lastly are your new shoes, they didn't fit in the bag." She took them out from behind the chair she had taken a seat on and presented them to Kuroko.
A pair of black boots nicer than any pair of shoes he's had for years. They had pockets built in on the outside of them and were done up with laces.
"I... I can't thank you enough..." Kuroko couldn't even describe what he was feeling. He was just feeling so strongly... he felt tears well up in his eyes. He sniffed.
Yoshino knelt beside Kuroko and gave him a hug. She looked to her husband in the doorway, Shikaku raised an eyebrow and walked over, doing the same. Now it was just Shikamaru.
Kuroko sniffed and looked up to see Yoshino's quite terrifying look directed to her son. His eyes drifted to Shikamaru who grumbled as he scooched closer and reluctantly put his arms around with the tangled others.
Shikamaru looked down to Kuroko, his mouth was closed tightly in an effort to not laugh. Shikamaru felt laughter bubble up inside him, "Pfft."
"Hahahaha!"
A dam burst and the two of them started laughing hysterically.
"Alright boys, after dinner get those clothes on. I want to see if they fit, and then we'll go feed the deer."
• • • • • •
Kuroko woke up early in the morning to complete the regimen that his Sensei left for him to do while he was gone. He was on to the next stage of the regimen, which was more focused on flexibility, stamina, and balance. It didn't need any specialized equipment and it wasn't weapon oriented so he could do it safely in the backyard instead of going all the way out to the training fields.
When he was done, he quietly entered the house and took a shower. He was covered in sweat and felt gungy. Covering himself with a towel, he looked both ways in the hall and got out, going to his room.
"Kuroko? Is that you?"
Yoshino's voice startled him and he jumped, "Y-yes! I, uh, just took a shower!" he squeaked and bolted up the stairs to his room.
Closing the door behind him, he dropped the towel and started getting dressed.
There was a knock on the door and Yoshino's voice was heard on the other side, "It's going to be cold out today so wear something warm."
"O-okay!"
Heeding Yoshino's warning, he doubled up on the layers. Long johns under thick black pants, and two long sleeved shirts. Looking through his drawers, he took out a pair of thick, fluffy socks. When he was done, he pulled out his bandages from his bedside tables drawer to wrap his injured hands. He usually looked like a mummy anyways, so it wasn't anything that different. He put on some fingerless gloves and tested it out. His hands still stung when he moved them with the fabric rubbing against it, but the cream he applied helped. If it got worse he had painkillers that Haruhi prescribed—which reminded him that he had to take those antibiotics during lunch.
Before he left his room, he grabbed the last two layers he would be wearing, his new scarf and poncho—it had a hood on it! His eyes widened and he went back into his room, he forgot the thing he needed most, his mask.
He halted before going down the stairs. He forgot where team ten met up. He cracked Shikamaru's door open to check up on him and, predictably, he was still fast asleep. Walking up to him silently, he gently shook his shoulder, "H-hey, Shika?"
"Mmmn... Wha-what is it?" Shikamaru rubbed his sleep filled eyes and turned around to see Kuroko kneeling beside him all dressed up in layers, looking like he was about to go outside.
"Um, where does your team meet up again?"
Shikamaru groaned and turned back, getting comfy in his bed again, "The Yamanaka flower shop."
Kuroko pat Shikamaru's head and closed the door on his way out.
His socks were so fluffy that he almost fell down the stairs because they just had no traction whatsoever. With a little giggle, he slid down the main hallway to the entryway.
Shikaku blinked and cracked a smile when he saw Kuroko whiz by the doorway from his chair in the living room. He got up and looked to see what he was doing, "Heading out?"
Kuroko looked up from his seat on the ground, "I'm going to see if the mission's office n-needs me to deliver anything." He slipped on his other boot and tightened the laces.
"Would you be able to drop this off at the intelligence department?" Shikaku handed him a scroll.
Kuroko put it into his bag, "Okay."
"You're training with Shikamaru's team starting today, Azuma's good with daggers, I think it's something that you would be good with."
Kuroko smiled and put on his mask, "Thank you Shikaku-san, I'll ask about it."
• • • • • •
Kuroko shuffled around the doorway, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A man with short platinum hair and glasses greeted him. "I, um, have something for the intelligence department f-from Shikaku Nara." He held out the scroll and the man took it. He saw only one other person in the room. It was early in the morning, not a lot of people worked at the time.
"It's about time the report on that felon came in. Thanks, kid. Tell 'im to bring it himself next time, that lazy bastard."
"O-okay!" Kuroko bowed and left to the mission's office.
"Who was that?" A black-haired woman asked from behind her work.
"Ah, that new Masked Messenger kid." He closed the door and sat down on his desk chair, "He brought that late report of Shikaku's."
"Him? I thought he was just a new rumour that came about in the Chunin lounge—and that man needs to lay off the sake."
"Too late, it's infused in his blood now. If vampires existed they would sell his blood like a fine wine."
The woman gave him an incredulous look, "You need sleep, and maybe a mental check up if your thought process has gone that far down the rabbit hole."
"That I do... That I do," he yawned, "I'm done when my replacement comes in anyways. Then I gotta report to the head and then I'm done."
"Gonna veg for the rest of the day?"
"You got that right—and I do not need a mental evaluation. I've just been up for two days."
"Awe, muffin."
"If I had enough energy I'd glare at you."
The two information specialists looked to the door as it opened. "Hey, did you know that the Messenger kid's real?"
"Yeah, he was here a while ago."
"Huh. Well, I'm here to relieve you Soumei-san."
"Thank Kami-sama." He pushed himself up off his desk and grabbed his coat, "I'm outta here. Remember to organize the fine cabinet Kanna, you've put it off for too long. Oh, and I'm off for the rest of the week, so when Kuronuma comes back just send the documents to my place."
• • • • • •
The Nara in the mission's office looked over Kuroko as he organised the next run of deliveries. He noticed that he was being careful with his hands and every once in a while when he bumped his hand, he flinched, "Kid."
Kuroko paused in his task, "Y-yes Nara-san?"
"Please, we're going to be seeing each other a lot, call me Reiji. Your hands alright?" Hiruzen glanced over from the Genin team he was briefing and kept an ear open to listen. He was curious himself.
"Ah, y-yes... o-or they will be. I got them injured in a spar. I wasn't able to avoid a katon jutsu."
"Ouch." The Nara winced, he used fire techniques himself, so he knew the kind of damage they could do.
"I'll be back in a little while t-to get the last run." Kuroko made sure that the parcels were in order and ran out of the building.
Reiji leaned back in his chair, stretching and popping his joints. "Hokage-sama, have you heard of the rumour?"
Hiruzen's mouth quirked up into a smirk, "Of the Masked Messenger?"
"He's building a reputation among the Chunin and the civilians. No one knows his name so they just gave him that." He chuckled, "Kotetsu's trying to find the person behind the mask."
"What about Izumo?" The amusement in the Hokage's voice could not be hidden. All this paperwork was the bane of existence, he had to keep things entertaining somehow.
"Oh, he's just trying to keep Kotetsu on a leash so he won't go overboard. Though... it may be a little too late for that because of his title." Reiji chuckled and got back to work when another team came in to be briefed.
Fifteen minutes later and Kuroko was back at the mission's office to get the remaining packages. He hadn't been able to come in and do them for most of the time of him being on team seven, so they had piled up. Kuroko was the new messenger in the Shinobi ranks even if it wasn't official. It wasn't on paper, but the other Shinobi knew not to take delivery missions within the village or they would suffer from a curse of bad luck—false, obviously—and the rumors grew stronger when a Chunin took a parcel and had a flower pot almost fall on his head on the way to drop it off, and on the way back icicles fell from a roof and rained down on them.
Both coincidences, but the rumours blew up. Kuroko didn't even know of his alias.
He hummed something that he heard from Yoshino while she was cooking and got the last of the packages in order. He read over the address of one of the smaller parcels and blinked in surprise that it was the Yamanaka's flower shop. He was going to go there anyways, so he made a new route to accommodate to the final destination. Satisfied, he bowed his head to his Kage and Reiji, and went off to finish his job.
"Have a good day Kuroko-kun." Hiruzen bid Kuroko goodbye and resumed his work. He sighed when it was about time to go back to his office. The mornings were more relaxing, he could converse with his subordinates. Once the afternoon came around, he was in his office, swamped with paperwork.
Reiji smirked after he waved a little goodbye to Kuroko. He was going to add things to the rumours subtly and drive Kotetsu crazy. Izumo was going to hate him.
• • • • • •
Heya! I hoped that you guys liked this chapter! This chapters longer than my usual cus I wanted to get some more interactions and finish up the Team seven training!
I hope I kept them in character, well, I tweaked some things, adding in stuff—like adding more depth to Kakashi's teaching and getting Sakura to try and better herself—and Sasuke too! I hope it isn't bad. This story is somewhat AU anyways. I mean, it's winter in there, just because I thought it was different. Oh yeah, Soumei and Reiji are Oc's that I may or may not dabble in. I'll be using them, but they'll be like... supporting, supporting characters. Their names relate to their personalities. xD
Soumei means sagacious—basically a synonym for intelligence or shrewd.
As for Reiji, it's the romaji for the word lazy. xD
The random lady I named Kanna, and I looked it up and coincidentally it can mean Planner. Ironic because it's the intelligence division.
I also drew a picture of Shikamaru and Kuroko in the winter clothing that Yoshino got them!
Next chapter will be Kuroko invading team ten, and other things that I haven't entirely thought of yet!
As always, any feedback is appreciated! Very much so! I'm posting this rather late and I'm tired. I've looked this over a couple times, but I'll check it again with a fresh, awake eye.