A/n: How many butterfly references can I make in one story? I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out. I'm trying to add new bits and bobs to these chapters so they aren't all the same thing, while also not changing them completely because I did work hard on these chapters and was happy with them before I went on hiatus. So these first three chapters will be edited from the previous story with new pieces and changed dialogue.

I would say the last part of this chapter didn't see much change but I really, really, love that bit.

Chouko felt like the weight of the world had been dumped on her shoulders all at once as she dragged her tired body through the door. As soon as she entered the comfort of her home she discarded her sandals and collapsed against the door. It was funny to her that she was so tired considering the fact she didn't do anything today but argue with her team. She had some doubts about how everything was going to play out in the future. There wasn't any sign of her and Sakura getting along anytime soon, and Naruto and Sasuke were even worse when it came to their petty children's games, and then to top it off they had a Sensei who couldn't be bothered to show up on time - there was no coordination! Everyone seemed to have their own agendas and goals, which is to be expected, but no one was putting forth the mindset of working together to achieve them.

How were they supposed to accomplish anything if they didn't act like a team and work together?

Chouko sighed and banged her head against the door.

"Why me?" She groaned.

"Chou, is everything alright? You're late."

Chouko's seafoam eyes glanced up at her mother's worried face with a bitter grimace. After her meeting with Team Seven, she had walked around for a while thinking and watching the sunset. She hadn't realized how late it had gotten until she couldn't see any trace of the sun or clouds anymore, which is when she finally decided to make her way home. Her mother must have been worried sick about her. Her father and brother were most likely in bed by now, otherwise, she would have been receiving quite the scolding by the giant of a man.

She could understand the worry of her mother (her father overreacted about every little thing concerning her) as in the past there were times where Chouko had come home covered in bruises and looking worse for wear, having gotten into a fight with the local playground bullies who had too much time on their hands. It was never anything serious, just a few older kids who liked to pick on the younger generation for whatever reason. Chouko wasn't the only one who got bullied, but they did tend to signal her out more whenever they caught sight of her with Naruto.

Served her right for hanging around with the demon brat, they would say.

What did that even mean?

Chouko sighed, running a hand through her messy hair as she tried to collect her thoughts into a coherent sentence.

"Ah, yeah, you worry too much." Chouko smiled. "Everything is fine. I guess I feeling a little tired though. I have some things on my mind, and nothing went as I thought it would today. I'm fine though, really, I am! Stop being such a worrier all the time, geez."

Her mother scoffed and pushed her fist into her hips. "Do you even know who you are talking to? I'm your mother. Part of my daily routine is spent worrying about your well-being." She frowned crossing her arms over her chest.

Chihagi sighed lowering herself to her knees. She reached her hand out and gently pushed Chouko's hair from her face, smiling softly as her daughter molded against her gentle touch. Chihagi gently cupped her daughter's face and leaned forward, bumping their heads together. She took a deep breath, encouraging her daughter to do the same, and gently let it out.

Chouko sighed bumping her head against the door.

"What's troubling you, butterfly? You're filled with worry and doubt."

Her mother always knew what she or anyone else in their family was feeling and thinking. It was scary accurate at times like she had some kind of supersensory power.

"My team isn't anything I'd imagine it would be," Chouko said solemnly. "I'm happy because I get to be on a squad with Naruto, but I also have Sakura and Sasuke as teammates, too. It makes things...difficult. No one gets along. Naruto is always trying to turn everything into a competition with Sasuke, and Sakura can't function when she's around Sasuke and all she wants to do is argue with me. The dynamic is all messed up and tomorrow we have our first mission as a team - a survival exercise. I'm worried about what's going to happen. Kakashi-Sensei said only ten of us will be accepted as Genin...that means I could fail, and be sent back to the academy."

Chouko felt her voice crack. What would she do then if that happened? She had worked so hard to get to this point.

To come this far, and then be told you failed, try again next time would be soul-crushing.

Chouko scrubbed at her watery eyes trying to erase any traces of tears, trying to wipe away her frustrations an anxieties.

She was a ninja now, so she had to be strong right?

"S-sorry." Chouko hiccuped. "I just...I don't know what to say! I'm so frustrated, mama."

Chihagi sighed pulling her daughter into her arms.

"Never apologize for your emotions, Chouko. Just because you're a ninja now doesn't mean you have to bottle away your feelings. Your emotions are how you learn and grow. Your tears are there to speak for you when you cannot find the words to say yourself. The emotions you're feeling speak of your honesty."

"It feels like I'm the only one who's serious about this..." Chouko sniffled and buried her face in her mother's chest.

"Change takes time, Chouko. You told your father and I that your reasoning for becoming a ninja was because that you wanted to become a butterfly, spread your wings and break free from your cocoon...but that doesn't happen overnight."

Chihagi pulled away from Chouko and cupped her face, tilting her head up to look at her.

"Butterflies, they start as awkward little caterpillars that have to wiggle and crawl their way through life before they experience the change and growth needed to become the graceful butterfly that everyone admires, and only when they achieve that growth, can they spread their wings and fly."

Chouko felt her eyes closing as her mother pressed a soft kiss against her forehead.

"Give your friends wings time to grow, Chouko."

The following morning Chouko woke up on the hard floor of her messy bedroom. The anxieties and fears she felt the other night were put aside for now with her mother's words echoing strongly in her head. Give your friends' wings time to grow. Right. They were only genin and just starting as a team, of course, they wouldn't be perfect yet. It would take time and patient, a lot of patience...

Chouko stretched her chubby arms high above her head and scratched at her cheek cake in drool. She grimaced and wiped her hand on her pajama bottoms. Chouko groaned trying to drown out the faint sound of beeping in the background, debating whether or not she should just ignore her alarm or go back to bed, before remembering the test, and if she were to do that then she would surely flunk and her dream of becoming a ninja would be dead.

With a grunt, she smacked her alarm off her bedside table to shut it up and pulled herself off from the floor. Her blanket cape fell from her shoulders with a flourish and she smoothed down her unruly hair, grabbed her gear, and headed to the bathroom for a shower.

Chouko tried to open the door only to find it locked. Her eyes squinted as she banged on the door. She thought she could hear water running and banged on the door again, finally get a muffled response that sounded something like 'Hold your kunai!' before the door was torn open by her baby brother with a toothbrush hanging out his mouth, tousled hair, and a grumpy morning face.

So cute.

Chouko would have cooed over him but she was in a bit of a hurry.

"Move it, Chinaru."

She said grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him out of the bathroom. The toothbrush fell from Chinaru's slackjawed mouth as he stared at the bathroom door. The eight-year-old looked at his fallen toothbrush and then back at the door before his face turned red as a beet. He raised his fist against the door and started to bang on it like a madman.

"That's not fair! I was in there first, Chou! You can't keep bossing me around like this!" Chinaru yelled.

"I'm older, therefore I have bathroom rights!" She yelled back.

"Huh?! Since when?!"

"Since now! I need to shower and meet my team. You'll understand when you're older, Chi-Chi."

"Don't call me that! Ugh, when I become a ninja the first thing I'm going to do is kick your lousy butt!"

"Keep on dreaming, kid."

Chouko chuckled. She gave her teeth a quick scrub and jumped in the shower. She tried to hurt feeling a little bad for Chinaru, but those feelings were pushed aside when she finished and he practically barreled over her to get into the bathroom.

She chuckled hearing him yell about her using up all of the hot water.

Oops.

Chouko's nose twitched entering the kitchen. Something smelled...interesting. Quietly she crept around the corner and found her father slaving away over...something...at the stove, wearing her mother's apron that was far too small for him. She looked around for her mother but couldn't find her anywhere.

Chouko's face paled as she realized the dire situation she was in.

There was a reason her mother did all of the cooking.

"Ah, dad, whatcha doing?" Chouko asked easing her way into the kitchen. "Where's mom?"

Her father turned around with a wide grin on his face. His hair was pulled into his bun and his black robes were covered in flour and other things she couldn't quite make out.

"Ma' had to run some errands and left me in charge of the cooking this morning!"

Her father eagerly gestured to a pan full of looked like eggs...extra crispy, and a big bowl of black...rice.

'Mother why have you forsaken us!' Chouko's thoughts screamed.

Chouko sweat-dropped. "You look ridiculous." She said, cautiously sitting down at the kitchen table. "You're up pretty early. Do you have another mission? It feels like you just got back." Chouko asked trying and failing not to let her disappointment show.

She knew it wasn't his choice in the matter, but it had seemed like only yesterday he returned home! The last mission he was away for a whole month! She had hoped to spend a little time with him before his next big mission, at least. Now that she was a genin herself and would start going on her own missions it was hard to say when they'd get a chance to spend time with one another.

"We've talked about this, Chouko. I have my duties and now you do as well. I'll be leaving soon, but it won't be for too long this time, okay? When I return home we'll have some quality father-daughter time." Chosei saluted with his spatula. "We haven't gone out for barbeque in a while, huh? What do you say we hit up Yakiniku Q sometime? I've been craving their salted beef tongue for a while now! We can go chow down and you can tell me all about your new team. Your mother filled me in a little this morning. They sound...interesting."

"That's one way of putting it," Chouko grumbled. Her face softened at the thought of spending some time with her father. "Sure, dad. You just have to promise to save me some. The last time you went you hogged all the food!"

Her father faltered for a second before recovering with a nervous chuckle.

"L-let's not think about that, my little butterfly. That's all in the past now! You've got a pretty exciting day ahead of you, which I believed called for a special breakfast!"

"I'd hardly called burnt fried eggs and rice special, dad." Chouko teased. Her father pouted and grumbled under his breath about ungrateful children which made her laugh. "It's kind of wasted effort since Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat anything or else we'd throw up," Chouko added with a pout.

Stupid Kakashi-Sensei. Did he not know how important food is to an Akimichi?

Though, he might just be saving her stomach this time.

"Oh, did he now?" Her father snorted. "Well, I don't care what Kakashi said! I'm saying to eat." Chousei grumbled and switched off the stove. He poured himself a cup of tea and set a plate in front of Chouko with the most edible parts he could find. "Food is an Akimichi's life source, Chouko. Eating is what builds up our chakra reserves and keeps us healthy and strong; you can't afford to miss a meal."

Chouko knew there was no point in arguing with her father. She said a small prayer as she quickly ate the disastrous dish. She smiled through her tears and forced herself to swallow the foul-tasting lumps of rice as her dad handed her bowl after bowl.

Rinse and repeat.

Chousei snorted. "That bad, huh?" He sighed and combed his large fingers through his beard. "I'll just have to try harder next time!" He declared making her go green at the thought. "It's about time you headed out, kid. Grab some of the protein bars out of the snack cabinet on your way out for your team. I have a feeling that they're going to be needing them." Chousei winked as he sipped his tea.

"Yes, Sir!" Chouko saluted.

Chousei watched Chouko stuffing protein bars away in her weapons pouch with a fond smile. When she had finished and counted to make sure she had enough he wrapped her up in a hug, burying his face in her pretty brown locks.

"Your old man doesn't say this enough, but I'm proud of you Chouko. You and your brother. Whatever happens today I want you to know that it will never change, but I know you're going to do just fine. You're smart, and you'll figure this out. I have nothing but faith in you, my little butterfly. This is just one step towards something greater."

Chousei leaned back and flashed her a dazzling smile that made Chouko's heart swell with happiness.

Chouko was proud to say that her father was one of her biggest inspirations and driving forces in life - not that her mother wasn't - but there was just something about the way her dad spoke and carried himself that made her believe she could do anything and that maybe one day she could become as cool of a shinobi as he, and her uncle Choza, both of them were incredible shinobi to the Akimichi name.

Chouko hoped she'd be able to live up to the family name as they have.

"Thanks, dad. I'll keep that in mind." Chouko sincerely smiled and hopped up to press a kiss against his cheek." Later, dad! See ya whenever you return home - and you better come home!" Chouko yelled on her way out the door, passing by her brother.

"What's that funny smell? Oh God is Dad cooking?!"

"Good luck, kid! You'll need it!"

She snickered pulling his in a headlock and blowing a raspberry against his hair. Chinaru whined and fussed that she was messing up his hair and called her gross, but she only laughed and waved him off as she dashed out the door.

Chousei chuckled watching his daughter go. He knew better than to make promises he wasn't sure he could keep. He would do everything. He would do his best to return home to his family, but on the off-chance, something did ever happen to him, he knew that his family would be just fine.

The Akimichi clan aren't quitters.

It's their vitality and kindness that keeps them moving in this world of unpredictability.

Chouko hummed quietly to herself as she walked through the early morning streets. There weren't many people out this early and those there were out were mostly ninja. There were a few people out who recognized her. The friendlier of the bunch traded pleasantries while the other's look at her strangely, looking around for a certain knucklehead who would normally meet up with her in the morning. They didn't even bother trying to hide their satisfaction that he was not with her today.

She couldn't be bothered to entertain them as she had more important things to worry about.

She wouldn't be bothered by simple-minded people.

"Chouko, good morning."

Chouko stuttered in step and almost fell on her face when the familiar voice called out to her. She turned on her heel to come face-to-face with a beautiful, dark-haired woman. "Kurenai!" Chouko happily yelled while tackling the woman in a tight hug. "A, good morning, Aunt Kurenai! You're up early today. Training, right?" Chouko grinned, releasing her from the overbearing hug as she took a step backward, teetering back and forth on the balls of her feet in an attempt to catch her balance.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kurenai laughed and affectionately ruffled her hair. "I ran into your mother earlier. She said you'd be heading out soon and not-so-subtly hinted for me to check on you." Kurenai winked.

Chouko sighed. She's known Kurenai ever since she was a baby and the woman was practically like an aunt to her. It was because of her parent's close relationship with both Asuma and Kurenai, that she had been around them a lot growing up and had just come to accept them as part of the family. Chouko was always closer with Kurenai was Chunari admired Asuma, though he'd sooner spitfire than admit it.

"Mom worries too much. I'm fine." Chouko scoffed. "Kakashi-Sensei has some stupid survival test planned." Chouko sighed. "I have a feeling it's going to be pretty brutal."

"You should go then. You don't want to keep your team waiting." Said Kurenai trying to hold back a laugh.

"You know as well as I do that Kakashi-sensei isn't going to be waiting," Chouko mumbled remembering how he had shown up three hours late for their first meeting. "You and Asuma should come by some time! Oh, we could all go out! We haven't done that in a long time. I'm sure it would make mom and dad happy - especially dad. He was so upset when I didn't get Asuma as my Sensei, speaking of, say hi to the old goat for me next time you see him, okay? Oh, Choiji and Shikamaru, and Ino, I guess."

She gave the woman another quick hug before dashing off.

"Bye, Kurenai-Sensei!" Chouko waved as she jogged away to make it to the designated meeting spot on time.

Kurenai watched the girl go with an affectionate smile on her face. She's grown a lot since she knows her. She used to be so frail and timid as a child, and now you could hardly tell.

She had high hopes for the young ninja in training.

It surprised Chouko when she was the first to arrive at the training ground. She was sure that Sasuke would have been the first to arrive or even Sakura. She never expected Naruto to be the first one. If anything, he was probably still in bed or scrambling around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get ready. Sighing, she slumped against a tree and plopped down on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest, with folded arms to rest her weary head-on.

It wasn't much longer after when the others arrived, looking more tired than the next.

Chouko chuckled lightly and smiled at them and waved, "Morning." She whispered tiredly.

Naruto murmured a slur of incoherent words and plopped down beside of Chouko. The blond yawned tiredly and rested his head on her shoulder. She listened to his even breathing, counting the seconds turned to minutes before she felt him slump against her shoulder with his head lolled to the side and trail of drool dribbling out of his mouth and down his chin. It was gross and kind of adorable at the same time, Chouko thought while leaning against him; she was always taller than him, making it a little awkward, so she gently moved in him to lay in her lap while she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Why do you insist on treating him like a child?" Sasuke glared.

"Jealous?" Chouko smirked. "If you want to lay in my lap all you have to do is ask, Sasuke-Kun!" Chouko cooed, voice dripping with overly fake enthusiasm.

"You shouldn't be pampering him so much. He'll never stop acting like a child."

Sasuke glared at her.

Chouko glared back.

"Mind your own business, Sasuke. I'm not treating him like a child. It's just...how we are, okay? He's like another little brother to me, so of course, I'm going to look out for him."

"Another?" Sasuke stared at her. "You have a brother?"

She nodded slowly, feeling guilty for some reason.

"Yeah, his name is Chinaru. He's eight, wants to be a ninja, too. So I got to set a good example for him. He's an annoying little brat but..." Chouko trailed off feeling awkward.

Sasuke didn't say anything, only stared out in the distance.

He looked...thoughtful, almost.

He looked kind of cute without his resting bitch face.

Before either of them could say anything else - not that they would have - they were interrupted by a loud yawn and the sound of footsteps approaching them that was soon met with a pink-haired girl, dragging her body along.

"It's so early..." Sakura yawned and slumped down on the ground, "What on earth was Kakashi-sensei thinking? This is way too early!"

"The earlier the better," Chouko said stretching her free arm while the other was still tangled in Naruto's locks. "Time doesn't wait for anyone and at our level, we need all the training we can get to prepare us for the missions we'll be taking soon."

"She's right." Sasuke scoffed leaning against a tree. "Stop whining, Sakura."

"B-but, Sasuke!" Sakura gasped loudly. "This is your fault, Akimichi!" Sakura sent a pointed glared towards Chouko that just seemed to scream 'I hate you!'.

Chouko shrugged at Sakura and pulled the protein bars from her family's snack cabinet from her ninja pack.

"Here, you should all eat one of these." She said tossing one to each of them. "They're made specifically to build up your strength. "You two, sleeping beauty," Chouko said, flicking Naruto in the head.

"Ouch! Hey, that hurt, Chouko!" Naruto yelled groggily. "Huh, what's this?" He asked after Chouko shoved a protein bar in his face.

"Protein bars. They're good for building up your strength and energy, so they work as energy bars as well." Chouko said already having eaten half of hers.

Sakura glared at the snack. "Kakashi-Sensei said we weren't allowed to eat anything or else we'd throw up!" She placed her hands on her hips and glared down at Chouko. "You just want us to get in trouble!"

"If I wanted to get you in trouble I wouldn't be eating them too, dummy." Chouko glared. "Kakashi-Sensei is a liar, idiot. There is no way we'd be able to function as a unit with no energy. So shut up, and eat." She gave Sakura a look that left no room for argument as she shoved another bar into her hands. "You especially need these. You're too skinny. You need to build up some proper muscle and fat, otherwise, you're going to get pummeled into a pile of dust."

"Ramen would be better..." Naruto grumbled and tore into his protein bar. "Hey - these are good!" He yelled with wide eyes and a mouth full of food. "Give me another, Chouko!"

Chouko grinned handing him another bar. "Of course they're good! They're specially made by the Akimichi Clan, and we know how to make even the healthiest of things taste amazing!"

All except for herself.

Sasuke looked down at his suspiciously, eventually peeling back the wrapper and taking a bite. "Not bad, I guess. Thanks." He nodded at Chouko once he figured they weren't filled with poison.

"Uh, thanks, Sasuke." Chouko blinked. "I think?"

Sasuke had manners? Who knew!

"I shouldn't. I'm on a diet." Sakura frowned.

"What, why?! Since when did you start dieting?" Chouko was flabbergasted. "What reason do you have to go on a diet? You're perfect just the way you are, idiot. You need to focus less on being pretty and focus more on getting stronger. Now suck it up and shove that protein bar down your throat. We don't need you to go fainting on us from a lack of energy." Chouko scoffed shoving the rest of her protein bar in her mouth.

"Of course you wouldn't care about that but it's different for me," Sakura said.

Diet? The words were poison to Chouko's tongue. If she were to even mention the word diet to anyone in her clan they would think she had gone insane. Food was the heart of the Akimichi clan and made them who they were. Sometimes Chouko felt silly for feeling bad about herself and her appearance when in the eye of her clan she was perfect; the larger you are, the stronger you're believed to become.

In the case of the Akimichi clan, size did matter.

"You're too insecure. You a lot prettier than you make yourself out to be, moron."

For as long as Chouko has known her Sakura has always been fussy about how she looks. Chouko thinks she still feels insecure, she used to get bullied for the size of her forehead all the time. Chouko thought she looked just fine the way she was, large forehead and all.

She even found herself at times feeling envious of her and wished that she could have her confidence and looks.

Sakura's eyes widened as a blush overtook her face. She quickly looked away and shyly tore open her protein bar. She gave it a sniff before taking a small nibble. Her eyes widened as the strawberry flavored overwhelmed her sense; her favorite flavor.

Did she remember something as small as that?

Chouko smiled watching her eat in silence. Sakura didn't say anything more, but Chouko considered it a short-lived victory.

Kakashi watched his darling little genin from afar, with arms crossed over his chest and a masked smiled on his face. They had a long way to go but he could see the potential in all of them.

Kakashi let out an amused chuckle watching the four of them from a distance.

"Maybe they aren't hopeless after all." His eyes zoomed in on Chouko who was watching her comrades with a pleased smile on his face. "One of them anyway."

Chouko had been talking idly with Naruto when she sensed a familiar buzzing. She looked up just in time to see Kakashi-sensei walking up the path with one hand raised in the air in a wave and the other stuffed inside of his pocket. He was even later than the day before, and he didn't seem one bit bothered by it.

"Good morning everyone!" Kakashi greeted cheerily as if he hadn't kept them waiting all morning.

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.

"You have a terrible work ethic, Sensei. If you're going to tell someone to be somewhere at a certain time then you have to honor the commitment of showing up." Chouko glared at the silver-haired man. "Why bother telling us to be here at a certain time if you aren't going to bother showing up?" Chouko huffed. "Don't you think that's setting a poor example?" Chouko grumbled thoroughly annoyed by his lack of time management.

Kakashi smiled at her under his mask. "Well, Chouko, you see a black cat crossed my path, leaving me no choice but to take a long way." Kakashi's one visible eye closed with a smile.

His chakra flickered.

"Liar." Chouko scoffed.

"It's rude to accuse your elders of lying, brat." Kakashi cocked his head at her.

"Yeah, well, your chakra doesn't lie," Chouko said.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. She could tell he was lying by his chakra? Hm, now he wasn't expecting that.

His little genin was proving to be quite interesting.

"Well then, let's get started," Kakashi said ignoring his students. He walked towards a tree stump and sat a medium black clock on it, "Here we go. Here we go. It's set for noon."

He pressed the gold button on top of it. Then from his pocket, Kakashi pulled out three silver bells and gave them a quick jingle.

"Your assignment is very simple, you just have to take these bells from me, that's all there is to it."

He jingled the bells once more.

There was that flicker again.

Chouko narrowed her eyes. There was more to this test than he was telling them, but what?

"If you can't get them by noon you go without lunch." Kakashi pointed to a set of four bento boxes neatly aligned on a stump. "You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." Kakashi pointed to four posts in the distance.

Chouko leaned back with a grin on her face while Naruto started laughing. Sakura was fidgeting, obviously nervous, while Sasuke was smirking.

"Wait a minute there's four of us! How come there are only three bells?" Sakura held up three fingers.

Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, that way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy." He said that all with a smile that made Chouko sick to her stomach.

"You have to be kidding me!" Chouko groaned. "Everything we went through to get here and you'd just send us back there?!"

"Nope. Can't say that I'm sorry, either." Kakashi shrugged. "Then again, all four of you could flunk out too," He eyed all of them, "You can use any weapons including shuriken and kunai; if you aren't prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

"Those weapons are too dangerous Sensei!" Sakura cried with her arms spread wide to emphasize her point. "Someone could seriously get hurt!"

"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser!" Naruto laughed loudly.

"It's not wise to taunt your superior, Naruto." Chouko sighed. "Don't ever go around taunting your enemy is you know nothing about them. It's a sure-fire way to get you killed."

"I would expect nothing less." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them, lowest scores, losers." Kakashi stared at them for a moment. "Now when I say start you may begin."

Chouko stiffened as she felt Naruto's chakra change. It almost scared her how fast it happened, how it went from feeling like standing under the sun on a warm day, to stepping into the shade. She glanced at Naruto. His lips were pulled back into a snarl and his fingers were twitching at his side.

One step forward and Chouko was grabbing him by the back of his jacket, pulling him back to her and carefully disarming the kunai that he had prepared to attack Kakashi-sensei with; she pinned him to the ground, pulling an arm behind his back, and using placing her free hand over his head.

"Uzumaki Naruto, what did I just say?! You can't just go rushing into a fight without any thought - you'll get killed that way!" Chouko barked angrily. "Kakashi-Sensei didn't say start yet. Just calm down." She released her hold on him. "Don't let his words get to you, Naruto. You're so much better than that and you know it."

"R-right." Naruto turned his head to the side hiding his blush.

Kakashi had been impressed with how quickly she reacted. Lord Hokage has commented that for being an Akimichi she was fairly nimble and acrobatic, a trait not commonly found in the Akimichi clan who were built for brute force, and using their body mass to overwhelm their opponents.

"Well, you made and attempt to come at me with the intent to kill. I'm impressed. "Kakashi smiled through his mask, "I'm starting to like you guys."

"Is that enough to get you to show up on time, Sensei?" Chouko raised a brow.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. Her mouth was going to be trouble.

"Get ready...start!"

Everyone immediately split apart and hid from Kakashi's Sensei's view. Sakura was down on the ground hidden beneath a bush, while Sasuke was up high in the same tree as Chouko crouched low, he was only a few branches lower than her. The only one missing was Naruto. Chouko had tried sensing him out and while she could feel a bit of his chakra, she couldn't exactly pinpoint him. He was moving around a lot that she knew for sure, but why?

"What are you up to Naruto?" Chouko sucked on her cheek trying to figure out her best friend's motive.

Her eyes were drawn to the ground as she felt his chakra signature grow closer. Her curiosity turned to irritation as she watched her best friend confront their Sensei one-on-one.

Naruto was her best friend.

She loved him more than most.

But by the Gods, was he an idiot!

"You and me, Sensei! Right now! Let's go!" Naruto shouted at Kakashi.

There was no way that Naruto could take Kakashi-sensei on all by himself. He was a jonin, and his chakra told a tale of strength that none of them could ever hope to match right now. They were in a lose-lose situation. There's was no way any of them stood a chance in hell against a jonin-level ninja, unless...

'I'm an idiot.' Chouko mentally smacked herself. 'I should have realized this sooner! Of course on our own we don't stand a chance against him, but, if we all work together and combine our strengths as one, then we might just be able to take those bells after all! That's got to be it. This isn't a survival test. It's a test to see if we're able to work together as a team."

Chouko grinned to herself and got to work thinking of a game plan. The biggest obstacle was figuring out how to get her team to listen to her...

"You know compared to the others, you're a little bit...weird," Kakashi said with a sweatdrop.

"Oh yeah? The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto shouted and charged at Kakashi.

The Jonin made no effort to move and instead reached into his weapons pouch. Chouko paused in her celebration. Kakashi-Sensei said that they could come at him with everything they've got, but he never said if he would do the same or not. Naruto didn't stand a chance against Kakashi alone, the fool.

Naruto wisely jumped back. He glared suspiciously at the jonin.

"Shinobi battle techniques." Kakashi looked up at the sky as he spoke. "Part one: Taijutsu. The physical art."

'Hand-to-hand combat...then why is he reaching for?...'

The concern Chouko felt was quickly replaced by the dropping of her jaw. Her eyes zeroed in on the little orange book pinched between her Sensei's fingers. Chouko was at a loss for words. Kakashi-Sensei...read that kind of stuff? Her face turned red. She couldn't believe that their Sensei would reach such perverted things in front of them! Chouko was only familiar with the book because her father had the complete set and she had once accidentally looked inside it thinking it held some cool ninja knowledge; she's never regretted anything more in life.

Some things aren't mean to be seen by the ninja's eye.

Chouko shuddered.

"What the fuck?!" Naruto shouted.

"What are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi shrugged while skimming over the linked pages.

"But, I mean, why are you reading that book?!" Naruto asked confused.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course! Don't let it bother you though. With your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or...whatever." Kakashi trailed off flipping to the next page.

Naruto screamed and charged the Jonin with a withdrawn fist. Kakashi was quick to counter all of his attacks, never once blinking, never once breaking a sweat. Chouko watched with wide, starry eyes as Kakashi-sensei moved effortlessly, never looking away from the book but then he suddenly did, appearing behind Naruto with his hands locked in a seal that was unfamiliar to Chouko

"Get back, Naruto!" Chouko yelled and jumped down from her hiding spot in the tree.

Reaching into her kuna pouch she grabbed a handful of shuriken that she quickly tossed at the jonin who easily dodged them all, leaving them stuck in the ground. With Kakashi being temporarily distracted she rushed to Naruto and grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket; she yanked him backward, hands firmly placed on her hips.

"How many times do I have to say it, Naruto?! Why can't you just listen to me for once?!"

"B-bu-tt!"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Chouko yelled. "If this had been the real thing you would have been dead by now, and I would have to watch my best friend get buried! You need to think before you act, Naruto. I'm not going to just stand back and let you get yourself killed, you moron!"

She regretted her choice of words as soon as she saw him flinch away from her.

She felt it, an overwhelming feeling of anger and hurt, and a mixture of fear and regret that squeezed her heart like a vice.

Her eyes widened. These were Naruto's feelings. Why was she feeling them?

Is this...how she made him feel just now?

Chouko looked away feeling regretful of her words. She thought of wanted she wanted to say and picked her words carefully.

"Listen, Naruto, we can't keep running around acting like kids. We're not at the academy anymore, and from this point forward things are going to only get more dangerous. I don't expect you to change who you are, I just want you to be more careful, so I don't lose my best friend."

It took a minute before the words clicked in his head. When he finally realized what she was trying to say it was too late. The snot and tears poured from his face as the Uzumaki boy latched himself onto the Akimichi girl wailing and begging for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry Chouko, really, I promise that I'll be better! You're not going to lose me! I'm the future Hokage, believe it!"

Chouko smiled bumping her head against his own. "I forgive you. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Naruto." She wiped away his tears and ruffled his hair. "Ready to get serious now?" He nodded and she smiled. "Okay, so listen up, because the only way we're going to pass this test is if we use -"

"It seems you've gone and figured out my grand scheme. What a clever girl."

Chouko shivered feeling a familiar buzz in the air around her. She could feel Kakashi's breath on her neck and it rooted her to the spot she stood. Slowly, very slowly, she turned around to come face-to-face with the smiling masked jonin.

"K-Kakashi-Sensei!" Chouko laughed nervously. "Please...have mercy."

"Nope!"

'I'm so dead!' Chouko paled.

"Never let your enemy get behind you~" Kakashi sang rather eerily.

Kakashi grabbed the genin by her arm and twisted it behind her, his leg swiped beneath her knocking her to the ground and giving her a face full of dirt.

"Isn't that one of the first things they teach you in the academy, Chouko?" He smiled down at the struggling girl. "Better luck next time."

"Oi, get your hands off her, Sensei!"

Chouko internally groaned. She just knew that Sakura was in hysterics over her situation right now. She could feel it in her bones. Sasuke was probably calling her a loser under his breath, and wondering how he got stuck with a team of idiots. Chouko groaned, thrashing around trying to shake the jonin above off of her.

He responded by kindly shoving her face further into the dirt.

Why wasn't her team helping her?! Well, Naruto had tried, but Kakashi easily smacked him away.

Chouko stopped struggling and sighed into the dirt her face was shoved into.

"Will you get off of me already? You're too heavy!" She mumbled with a mouthful of dirt and grime that made the jonin above her chuckle.

"Are you calling me fat?" Kakashi mused, feigning hurt.

Chouko whined banging her head against the ground.

Why her?!

"Please, Kakashi-Sensei! This is seriously embarrassing!"

"I think I like you better this way." Kakashi chirped. "You're much more pleasant when you're not speaking."

Chouko swore under her breath

Her Sensei is a dick.

"Give you friends wings time to grow, Chouko! Yeah, real great advice, mom!"

Chouko just knew in the very depths of her heart that this was going to happen. She didn't expect it to be this big of a failure! None of them had managed to get a bell and all they had to show for their efforts was Naruto hanging upside down from a tree, Sakura unconscious, and Sasuke buried deep within the earth with only his head sticking out, also the reason why Sakura was currently unconscious.

Chouko was the only one left. She was hiding in a tree trying to think of some way to turn this hell situation around. They didn't

The question is, who did she turn to for help?

Chouko looked around for Kakashi-sensei and when she didn't see him, she jumped from the tree and ran to Sasuke's location. Sasuke was reasonable, right? Surely he would have enough common sense to realize the situation by now. At the moment, he seemed like her best option.

Chouko dropped to her knees and started clawing at the dirt in a desperate attempt to unbury him. When her nails proved useless she pulled out her kunai which proved to be far more efficient.

"Hey, Sasuke, when I get you unburied you have to go cut down Naruto, Okay? Then find Sakura and try to wake her up."

"Why waste our time on those losers? We need to worry about getting those bells, Chouko." Sasuke scowled at her. "They're only going to hold us back and you know it. You and I are the only ones capable of doing it."

"You're wrong, Sasuke!" Chouko glared. "Haven't you figured it out yet? The whole point of this test is to evaluate whether we can work together as a team or not. Think about it, there's no way we could get those bells on our own. If we want to even get one of those bells were going to have to work together."

"Then why do I have to go after those two?" He narrowed his eyes.

"It will give me time to locate Kakashi-Sensei," Chouko said. "I can distract him and then you, Naruto, and Sakura can sneak up on him and get the bells! He won't be able to stop all of us."

"Whatever." Though he was rolling his eye there was a hint of a smirk on his face.

'Finally!' Chouko inwardly cheered.

Once he was unburied Chouko gave him a hand and helped him out but in return, she was shoved to the ground as Sasuke took off to do his own thing. She stared at his back as he disappeared into the forest without so much as a word.

What...what just happened?

"H-Hey! Sasuke! Are you being serious right now, you jerk?!"

Chouko was ready to give up. What was the point in even trying now? They had already lost the test, and they would all be sent back to the academy and they had no one to blame but themselves.

Chouko sighed and shook her head. She couldn't give up just yet. If her team wasn't willing to cooperate, then she'd just have to go and get the bells for them.

Kakashi was standing in the middle of the forest with a bored expression and book in hand, "I didn't think you'd ever show up." He said to the Akimichi girl as he turned the page.

He knew she was coming.

Of course.

Chouko shot him a glare. She positioned herself in a fighting stance, though she had no real plan.

She had to do something though, right?

She couldn't just let everything they had worked for fall apart now.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Kakashi hummed, skimming through his book. "Time is starting to run out and you haven't made very much progress."

"I know that, Sensei. You don't have to remind me." She said hotly under her breath. She stared at the stupid orange book he read with a frown. "What kind of jonin are you? You don't show up on time, you insult your students, and you even read pornography in front of them! You're just a lazy pervert, aren't you?" Chouko glared at the orange book he held dearly. "My dad reads those stupid books. The writing is absolute garbage. I can't even begin to imagine what the person who wrote them is like! The characters are so bland and cliche, and it's full of overused tropes and garbage plot points."

For a moment Kakashi lost all motor function in his brain. "Y-Y-ou've read them?..." He asked with a disbelievable stutter.

Chouko's face turned red. "N-Not like that! It was an accident, I swear! I would never read that garbage purposefully, ever! Don't go getting any perverted thoughts about me, Sensei!" Chouko yelled with a heavy blush covering her chubby cheeks. "I have better things to do than read some cheesy porn book!"

Chouko in her frazzled state lunged at her Sensei in a mad dash, though he effortlessly turned out of the way. Chouko felt that buzzing sensation behind her and turned heel, narrowly missing being grabbed by the jonin. There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes that was gone as soon as it appeared. Chouko spun on her heel drawing a kunai from her pouch and turned to strike, only to meet a block of wood as Kakashi disappeared into thin air.

Substitution Jutsu.

Chouko's eyes widened as she felt the ghost of breath on her neck. She swiftly turned around and caught the kunai pointed at her throat. Kakashi stood smiling at her looking unfazed. Chouko scowled and cocked her arm back before throwing it forward into the face of her "Sensei", as Kakashi again, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Clone Jutsu.

Chouko grew annoyed believing Kakashi-Sensei was only playing games and not taking her seriously; he wasn't. Why should he? She's a low-level genin, with no real combat experience, riding off the high of her anger and frustrations and not thinking clearly.

The hair on her arms stood straight warning her of his presence. Chouko performed a backward handspring just as Kakashi-sensei had reappeared, moving rapidly towards her with quick jabs that she could barely keep up with. An electrifying feeling filled the air behind her and her eyes widened as the Kakashi before her disappeared.

Another clone?!

She turned around, the moment she did a devastating blow was aimed straight into the core of her gut that launched her in the air, followed by the jonin grabbing her by the wrist and twisting that made her cry out in alarm and pain. Chouko flipped mid-air and was sent spiraling into the ground with a loud crash that shook the area around them. Chouko groaned as an aching sensation washed over her; her body tingled and refused to move, exhausted, and thoroughly beaten.

What...the hell just happened?

'I got my ass kicked.' Chouko answered her thoughts.

"Nice try. You were able to successfully dodge more than one of my sneak attacks. I'll give you an A for effort, for an otherwise mediocre performance. He said, ruffling her hair. "And I'll have you know that Icha Icha Paradise is a passionate tale of a fiery love between a man and a woman with undertones of humor and enjoyable slice of life moments."

Chouko sweatdropped. Was he really going to go into a full-blown review of his stupid book?

Despite her situation, she smirked up at him.

"Neh, Neh, Sensei, maybe if you focused on finding a real flesh and blood woman, then you wouldn't have to read such cheesy porn books, yeah?" Chouko snickered. "Or maybe your dates always leave because you never show up one time?"

Kakashi sighed. "You really are a pain in the ass, you know that?" He said before knocking her unconscious with a strike to the back of the head with what she knew was a cocky smirk on his dumb, masked face.

Her Sensei was a dick but was undeniably a skilled jonin.

...And pretty cool, too.

She'd burn in hell before she admitted that to his face.

Chouko was really starting to believe her Sensei had it out for her...

Not even ten minutes later after her and Kakashi's mini-fight did she find herself waking up, tied to the promised post that Kakashi-sensei had warned them about and not only that, her mouth was gagged and she just knew that was to add insult to injury. It wasn't even fair! Why was she the one tied to the post?!

She was the one who did everything right!

"You guys look really hungry!" Kakashi-Sensei gleefully taunted them. Chouko's stomach growled on cue making her groan. "Oh, by the way, the result of this training session is in and...none of you will be returning to the ninja academy."

Chouko didn't like the tone of his voice...

Sakura blinked. "What? But all I did was scream and faint. That was really okay?" She asked.

"Then does that mean?..." Naruto trailed off already becoming tearful.

Sasuke and Chouko were silent. Something felt off.

"Yup! You four should pursue different careers because you're not cut out to be a ninja." His voice was even and his eyes sharp. "All of you are just a bunch of little punks who don't deserve to be a ninja."

"Quit being a ninja?!" Naruto yelled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, huh?!"

Chouko clicked her tongue and used it to push the gag out of her mouth. "That's a little harsh, isn't it? I know we weren't able to get the bells, but still! We've worked so hard to achieve!" She yelled with tears brimming her eyes.

Why had she worked so hard just to be told she failed?!

"Let me say it again: none of you deserve to be a ninja," Kakashi repeated.

Chouko didn't even have the energy to sigh as Sasuke charged at Kakashi with a kunai drawn. He had been pinned down rather quickly and was left squirming under Kakashi-Sensei's hold.

"See? You're all just no-good kids." Kakashi sighed.

"DON'T STEP ON SASUKE!" Sakura shrieked.

"Do you all think being a ninja is easy?" Kakashi-Sensei asked sharply. "Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"

Chouko hung her head with a defeated sigh.

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned.

"In other words, three of you didn't understand the value of this test." Kakashi eyed the solemn Akimichi in the front. "Only one of you was able to determine the answer to this pass or fail test..."

"Only one?" Sakura whispered.

She looked from Naruto and Sasuke and then finally Chouko, who was silently crying with gritted teeth.

"Geez, are your brains empty? You really don't understand why you're in a group?" Kakashi said.

"What's the big deal about people being in a group?!" Naruto yelled. "Are you going to tell us or what!?"

"Teamwork!" He said sternly. "The four of you working together may have gotten the bells. That's too bad."

Sakura blinked and thought for a minute.

"Wait a minute! What's the point in teamwork when there are only three bells? Even if we were to work together and get the bells, one of us would still fail! A group conflict would surely occur instead of teamwork." She yelled jumping to her feet in defense of herself.

"You're missing the point!" Chouko yelled. "That's the whole point, Sakura. The point of the test is to purposefully pit us all against one another. The purpose is to see whether we can prioritize teamwork before ourselves...but obviously, we found out that answer."

Chouko scowled. She had tried getting them to listen to her all afternoon but not one of them had - not even Naruto! It was incredibly frustrating to know that she couldn't even depend on the people she was supposed to trust her lives with, in a basic training exercise.

"Sakura! You were only concerned about Sasuke even when you didn't know where he was." Kakashi barked. "You didn't even care about Naruto who was right beside you the whole time! You were too focused on Sasuke and your selfishness!"

Sakura blushed hanging her head.

"Naruto! The whole time you were just running around by yourself." Kakashi said. "There were several times were Chouko had to step in and intervene to stop you from getting yourself hurt, and in the end, you still ignored everything she had to say and acted without a thought!"

Naruto gasped and looked to Chouko who was eying the ground with half-lidded eyes.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi glared at the boy pinned beneath him. "You labeled the others as hindrances and acted as on your own. You assumed the others would just get in your way, and even turned your back on your teammate when she reached out to you for help; the worst thing you can do in a situation like this."

Sasuke twitched underneath the jonin gritting his teeth.

Kakashi sighed. "Chouko," He called, startling the girl who refused to look at him. "You tried to get your teammates to work together, and for that I applaud you, but when you deemed everything hopeless you gave up and started acting brash; there were several times where you let your guard down and I was able to ambush you."

Chouko bit the fat of her lip fully aware of the fact she was crying.

"The duties of the village are done by a squad," Kakashi said. "There's no mistaking that ninjas need unsurpassed individual skills...but what's even more important is "Teamwork". Individual actions like you all carried out today can disrupt your teamwork and throw your comrades into crisis and even death."

Chouko stiffened at the thought of one of her teammates dying because of her.

"For example..." Kakashi reached inside of his ninja pouch and pulled out a kunai. "Sakura! Kill Naruto, or else Sasuke dies!"

"What?!" They - including Chouko - yelled.

"You see? In the event of a hostage situation, you are faced with two impossible choices and end up being killed." Their Sensei said as he twirled his kunai before stuffing it back into his pouch. "Every mission is a life-risking assignment.

Kakashi got off of Sasuke but the genin hesitated to move. He beckoned them towards a stone that was filled with names.

"Looks at this, the numerous names carved onto this stone," Kakashi said somberly. Chouko frowned picking up the sadness hidden in his voice, and the deep undertones of regret. "These are all ninja who are called heroes in the village."

"That-that-that-that! I like thaaat!" Naruto yelled. "I've decided to get my name carved on that stone too! Hero! That's what I'll become! I'm not going to die like some kind of dog!"

"Naruto!" Chouko snapped. "Your name will never be on the stone!" She hissed, eyes wide and full of fury as she stared down the confused blond.

"Huh, but why?" He asked innocently. "Don't you believe I can do it?"

"Naruto...that's not..." Chouko sighed and shook her head.

"These aren't normal heroes." Kakashi sighed.

"Then what kind of heroes are they?!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

"They are heroes who were killed in action."

"K-Killed in action?" Naruto gulped.

"It means they died in battle, Naruto." Sakura frowned. "This is a memorial to them."

The atmosphere around them grew heavy with the thickness of melancholy. The five of them shared a moment of silence as they remember the lives of the heroes who fought dutifully for their village, and never returned.

"The names of my friends are also engraved on here," Kakashi said breaking the silence. "I'll give you one more chance. However, afternoon it will be a harsher battle to take the bell. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch. But, don't give any to Chouko."

"Why do you hate me?!" Chouko whined. "S-Seriously, Sensei? Isn't that kind of unfair?" The Akimichi's stomach grumbled in response. Chouko groaned and slammed her head against the post. "Fine, sure, whatever! I don't even care."

Her stomach rumbled again. Chouko scowled and told it to shut up.!'

"Consider it your punishment for being a mouthy little brat." Kakashi smiled through his mask.

Chouko doubted that. She knew that it was really because she insulted his dumb book.

"Anyone caught giving food to Chouko will be disqualified on the spot," Kakashi said while handing out everyone's bento boxes. "I am the rules here. Got it?"

Chouko was right all along.

This day turned out to be utter hell.

Chouko stiffly sat with her back to the post and her bottom planted on the ground, enviously watching as her team enjoyed their delicious smelling lunches. Her stomach roared at every given chance, demanding a sacrificial offering of food that she wasn't allowed to have. She hadn't eaten anything today. Proteins bars and her dad's concoction hardly counted as food.

Naruto looked at her pitifully. He looked from his lunch to Chouko who was trying her hardest not to let her hunger show. He opened his mouth but was silenced by Chouko shaking her head and grinning largely at him.

"Stop worrying about me, Naruto. I'm fine. This is no sweat at all!" Chouko laughed. Her stomach disagreed. "Uhh...ignore that, that's just from my dad's cooking! It was really bad so I've been having really bad stomach aches all day! Yeah, that's it..."

It wasn't...a complete lie, but no one believed her.

Sasuke looked at the quivering Akimichi while remembering the days earlier events. He sighed and held his bento box out to her.

"Here." He said, shoving it in her face. "Eat this so your stomach will shut up."

"H-Hey Sasuke! Sensei said that!..." Sakura said, trailing off in search of Kakashi-Sensei.

"It's fine. There's no sign of him now so it should be fine." Sasuke said. "After lunch, the four of us are going to work together to take those bells like we were originally supposed to do. Without food, she'll just be in the way and that will only hurt us and besides, we need her. She's able to pick up on his movements better than the rest of us."

"S-Sasuke!" Chouko's eyes widened.

'Never knew he had it in him to care about someone other than himself.' She thought with a sad smile. 'Maybe I've been misreading them...I need to put more effort into this team, too.'

"Hey! I'm the one who is going to feed Chouko, believe it!" Naruto pointed angrily at Sasuke. "She's my best friend and you're just trying to steal her, aren't you?!"

"That's not it at all, you moron!" Sasuke yelled back prompting an argument between the two.

Sakura looked down at her bento before a determined expression took over her face. She picked up her bento and sat down in front of Chouko with puffed cheeks and a light blush. "Here, Chouko." She said shoving the box forward. "Hurry up and eat it before Sensei comes back."

Chouko stared at her.

"What? Just eat it already!" Sakura yelled.

"No." Chouko glared at her. "You need it more, idiot! And don't you dare even give me that diet excuse because I thought I already told you, that you're perfectly fine just the way -"

"SHUT UP AND EAT!"

Chouko yelped as she knocked her over the head with her fist.

"Ow, that hurt, Sakura!"

Sakura growled shoving a chopstick full of rice into Chouko's mouth. The Akimichi gagged and forcefully swallowed the lump of rice that was quite good. She bet that her mother made it. Sakura had parents who were wonderful at cooking.

'You could be more gentle." Chouko blushed. "But...I appreciate it, so, thanks." She said, looking away bashfully. "You can be cool sometimes I guess..."

"Just sometimes?" Sakura smirked.

The two shared a smile before realizing it and quickly looking away. Sakura was preparing another bite for Chouko when a thick cloud of smoke filled the area and their lungs; Sakura gagged fanning the smoke away from her and the bound Akimich's face.

The buzzing was now a loud rumbling.

Kakashi had found them, and he was mad.

"What is this?!" Kakashi yelled. "You went and defiled my rules so you know what is coming!..." He said as he prepared hand signs that formed a heavy stormcloud above them black as night.

Lightning rumbled around them and shook the area with a ferociousness that Chouko had never seen before.

"Do you have anything to say?" He asked the shaking genin.

"Hey. don't blame them, Sensei! It's not their fault. They were only trying to look out for me!" Chouko yelled. "You have to punish me instead of -"

"No, that's not how it works." Sasuke cut her off. "We're a four-man squad, right?" Sasuke smirked at Kakashi. "Iruka warned us that we were going to have our troubles cut out for us, didn't he? So we have to learn to deal with them, together."

"That's right! The four of us are one, so you can't punish one of us for looking out for the other!" Sakura nodded.

"That's right! That's right! That's right!" Naruto yelled. "You better believe that we're a team and that we're going to look out for each other regardless of what you say Sensei! Right, Chouko?!"

Chouko looked away from her grinning teammates with watery eyes. "Man, you guys are so damn corny." She sniffled. "But yeah! Their right! How can you expect us to just sit back why our comrade is suffering?! It's unconventional and goes against everything you just told us, Sensei! It's like..."

Chouko gasped.

Then sweatdropped.

And finally, sent a pointed glare at their Sensei that just screamed: "I hate you, asshole!"

"Oh, is that so?" Kakashi-Sensei asked as he crouched in front of them who all crowded around Chouko ready to defend her. "Well, then, you pass!" Kakashi said with a closed-eye smile and his hands held in the shape of a heart; Chouko wanted to vomit.

All four of their faces were bewildered as they stared at their Sensei like some kind of new species.

"We passed? Why?" Sakura asked puzzled.

"You guys are the first," Kakashi said as the sky above them cleared to reveal fat, puffy clouds that Chouko temporarily got lost in; she wondered if Shikamaru saw them too. "Up until now, it was just dunces who would meekly listen to what I said. They were just a bunch of morons. All ninja must see underneath the underneath. Listen to my next words closely, you four."

Chouko leaned forwards having broken away from the clouds. She listened closely, wondering what their Sensei was going to tell them, unaware that it would forever change the path of her future as a ninja.

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

Chouko looked down at the ground with a soft smile on her face. There was no chance in hell that she would ever abandon her friends, even if they did get on her nerves like no other.

"He's...he's...kind of cool," Naruto said with watery eyes. Chouko agreed with him.

"That's the end of the training!" Kakashi stuck up a thumb. "You all pass. Team Seven starts their first mission tomorrow!"

"Yes, Sir!" Sakura and Chouko chirped.

"I did it! I'm a ninja! I'm a ninja!" Naruto cheered tearfully.

Sasuke looked at him with a sigh, but there was no ill intention behind it; he too was happy, just more subtle than the others.

"Let's go home!' Kakashi chirped walking ahead with a chittering Naruto and smirking Sasuke.

Chouko stared at them. They weren't really leaving...were they? Okay, Naruto she could believe would be simple enough to forget her...Sasuke too, maybe...

But Kakashi?

No chance in hell.

"Hey! What was the whole emotional monologue about teamwork for, if you're just going to go and leave me behind, you jerks?!"

Chouko yelled trying to reach her kunai pouch; the ropes were snuggled secured and refused to budge.

Chouko cursed Kakashi's name under her breath and hoped that the jonin suffered greatly in terms of a little orange book suddenly combusting into flames.

"Stop wiggling around so much! How am I supposed to cut through the ropes if you kee fidgeting so much? Geez, calm down."

Chouko stopped. She was surprised to find that Sakura had stayed back. She was sure that she would have taken off after Sasuke in a desperate attempt to get him to go on a date with her, or something. She would have never expected her to stay back and help her more than she already did.

"Just about...there!" Sakura smirked, holding up the broken rope. "Wasn't so hard, was it?

Chouko sighed happily and stretched her achy bones. She glanced at Sakura with a blush.

"Thanks, again, I guess." She pouted. "I could have probably gotten myself out of there, eventually." She huffed knowing it was a bluff. "But, I'm glad you stuck around. I can't believe those jerks just left me here!"

Naruto was going to get an earful later!

"Consider this my way of apologizing...for today, I mean. Don't think this makes us friends or anything, Akimichi!" She yelled with a pointed finger.

"You and I? Friends? Wouldn't dream of it, Haruno." Chouko laughed.

Sakura stared at Chouko before a thought dawned on her. She rummaged around her weapons pouch for a moment, before pulling out a yellow, dirty ribbon. "Here, this got lost during your scuffle with Kakashi-Sensei. I found it after I woke up." Sakura said, pushing away some of Chouko's hair to tie the ribbon back in place.

Chouko quietly stared into Sakura's emerald eyes. Why did she care if the ribbon got lost or not? It's not like it held the same sentimental value to Sakura as it did Chouko...right?

"Ah, I didn't notice. Thanks."

"Why do you even still wear this? It's so old..."

"It's my lucky charm."

The words came out before she even realized she was saying them.

"I-I mean, just forget what I said!"

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, sure." She smiled, pulling her hands away. "Be more careful. I gave you that for a reason. It's looks pretty on you."

"R-right..." Chouko looked away. "We should get going now. You might still be able to catch up with Sasuke if you try hard enough."

Sakura's eyes widened as a shrill squeal tore throughout the training grounds. "SASUUUUUKEEEEE!" Sakura cried dashing off in the Uchiha's direction.

Chouko tugged at the ribbon in her hair that was tied extra tight so that it wouldn't come loose. She smiled, thinking back to the day Sakura gave her the ribbon as a declaration of their friendship.

She missed when they were friends.

Chouko sat in a field of tall grass surrounded by flowers and a veil of trees that stretched into the heavens. She sat with her legs crossed and arms folded neatly in her lap, one hand cupping the other; the wind rustled around her softly, caressing her face as the fallen leaves of the trees danced around her in a hypnotic dance. Her eyes were shut tightly and her body was relaxed as she focused on her surroundings and breathed easily, never moving an inch, the only sound coming from her were the softs sound of her breathing.

Chouko inhaled and exhaled in slow sessions. She felt the movement passing through her body from her head to her shoulders, as well as her chest and belly; her attention to her surroundings drifted to the creaking of the branches as they swayed in the afternoon wind to the tune of the songs the birds were chattering. She drifted away from the forest and to the stream of gentle water that ran through the meadow fields. The sound of the babbling brook brought a sense of comfort and ease to her that was welcomed after a long, and tiresome day. She contemplated breaking her meditative trance to peer up at the unending crystal-blue sky, sprinkled with cotton candy clouds and peaks of sunshine; streaked with soaring birds, and the squeaking chatter that followed them.

Maybe she would dip her feet into the ebbing water, where a fresh batch of the cutest yellow ducklings she had ever seen, recently made their home.

Chouko believed that every ninja and civilian in the world had a place to call their own, where they could go and forget the world around them; Shikamaru had the grassy hill with the best view of the clouds, and Naruto had Ichiraku ramen, while Ino had her family's flower shop, but this place - this little meadow hidden within the hidden- is her special place, where she comes to clear her mind and forget the world around her.

It had become a ritual for her to come to meditate and train. After meditating to clear her head she would work on her stretches and then ease into her daily training routine. Chouko inhaled and exhaled once more, feeling the tension leave her body as she clapped her hands together, and allowed her eyes to flutter open to being greeted by the afternoon sun.

Chouko smiled to herself and pulled her hair into a tight, short ponytail that sat lop-sided against her head. Chouko's eyes burned with a newfound fire as she stretched out her muscles; she slowly fell into a position of one leg pressed forward and the other bent backward as she leaned forward with her hands pressed tightly together. The position was far from comfortable and her joints and muscles groaned in protest as the sweat gathered on her forehead, but Chouko pressed on, holding the position for a couple of solid minutes before releasing.

She thinks back to her earlier days in the academy where they would all whine and protest whenever they had to do their daily stretches and warm-ups, and laughs, realizing how silly she had been. Stretching is an essential part of training her body, allowing her to increase her overall flexibility and accomplish more without getting tired too fast. It also helped with preventing injuries to her joints with the strain of training and helping better her posture which admittedly, wasn't the greatest.

Not only that, over the years she found that she liked to explore her athletic capabilities.

At times, she would stick a leaf to her forehead while training, to focus on her concentration and push herself a little bit harder; it wasn't the most difficult task in the world, but sometimes her mind liked to wonder, so it always helped to keep her focused on those days where her mind seemed too clouded for her own good.

Chouko spent around thirty minutes doing her stretches before deciding to move onto something else. She patted her double ninja packs that were stuffed with many ninja tools such a kunai, shuriken, makibishi spikes, and much, much more - an overly prepared weapon nut, Asuma had called her. Chouko couldn't disagree with him. She had always had a slight obsession and fascination with weapons, and began collecting them at an early age; she had a wide variety of tools and trinkets in her collection that she took pride in.

Chouko stared out in the distance of the meadow where a set of crudely made, wooden dummies stood, teetering on their flimsy sticks that barely supported their bodies made of fallen logs. She had made them tp help improve with her target practice, but they were beginning to wear and would soon wither into dust. It made her sad, as she had spent a lot of time making them just right and impaling them with her weapons; she'd miss them.

Her hand had just wrapped around a kunai when the air around her stilled, and the natures remedy that had filled her ears until that point stopped, and the echo of fallen twigs snapping on the ground brought her attention back to reality as she gripped the kunai tightly, and spun around to strike the one who dares try to sneak up on her...

...Only to fall flat as she stared into the wide eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, who looked on the verge of tears with the sharpened blade pointed directly at his throat that bobbled, with every swallow he managed through quivering lips.

"H-Hey! Take it easy Chouko! It's me, Naruto! The future Hokage, and your best friend who you would never stab, he-he-he, eh, r-right?"

Chouko stared at Naruto in surprise for what felt like a solid moment before she dropped her kunai with a heavy sigh. "Don't go sneaking up on people, Naruto. Hey, how did you even find me here?" She asked, knowing that she had never shown Naruto this spot before.

As much as she loved him, there were times where she desired to be alone.

Naruto scratched his cheek and pointed behind him to where Sakura and Sasuke stood.

"Sakura showed us! We looked all over for you and couldn't find you anywhere, so Sakura brought us here! She said that you would be here and I guess she was right!" Naruto smiled and nodded as the pieces clicked together.

This didn't surprise Chouko. The only other people who knew of this spot were Sakura and Ino. There was a meadow none too far away that they would go to collect flowers and play when they were little. Their own little world, they would say. Chouko frowned at the memories of three little girls sitting in a field of flowers, making crowns and ragging on the boys of their class and discussing their dreams for the future.

What happened to all of that? How did it ever get to this point?

Chouko shook her head and sighed while tucking her kunai back into her pouch.

"Oh, so now you remember me, huh? You sure weren't thinking about me when you left me tied to that post, Naruto." Chouko poked his chest with a visible pout. "How the hell could you just leave me behind like that, huh?!"

"It was an accident! I was so excited about the mission and then I got hungry and started thinking about ramen and, well, ya know..."

The blond chuckled sheepishly as Chouko hung her head. She feared that there would be a day to come where Naruto would be forced to pick her or ramen, and honestly, she wasn't sure which one he would choose, but it left a bad feeling in her stomach.

Sakura clicked her tongue and smacked her fist over Naruto's head. "Idiot! Do you ever think with your brain and not your stomach?!" She glared, hands on her hips and firm glare on her face. "Anyway, we were looking for you because...we wanted to apologize, for everything that happened earlier. We should have listened to what you were saying."

Sakura grumbled, a heavy blush on her pale cheeks.

"S-So I'm - errr, I mean - we're sorry, okay?"

The pinkette finished with a sigh that had Chouko grinning.

She'd never admit that it brought her a sense of joy to see Sakura have to push aside her pride.

"Oh yeah?" She looked over at Sasuke who had one hand tucked in his pocket while the other held a small pink box. "You too, Sasuke? Wow. I'm flattered." Chouko grinned, enjoying the way his eye and body twitched. "The great Uchiha Sasuke cares about little Akimichi Chouko! Oh Sasuke-Kun, I'm so happy!~"

Sasuke scowled and turned his head away from her. Is he blushing?

Hah! The bastard does have feelings.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and thrust the pink box into her face. "Take this, dummy. Consider it an apology gift from all of us, or whatever." He said, letting his free hand fall into his other pocket.

Naruto and Sakura elbowed Sasuke who looked away with a visible twitch.

"S-Sorry, I guess."

"S-Sasuke you're apologizing?! To me!? Are you sick?" Chouko pressed her hand to his head. "You feel kind of warm. Might be time to see a doctor."

"Knock it off you twit!" The Uchiha scowled smacking her hand away.

Chouko laughed. There's the Uchiha she tolerated!

Chouko chuckled and looked down at the box that had been forced into her hands.

Chouko blinked. "A gift?" She mused opening the lid. "You didn't have to go out of your way and - DANGO?!" Chouko squealed, eyeing the colorful dumplings strewn on a stick. "Ah, mochi, too?!" She drooled, eyeing the plump little cakes. "How did you know these are my favorite?"

"We used to eat these all the time, remember?" Sakura smiled. "We'd eat these and have little tea parties whenever our mothers were visiting with each other. Ino used to get so mad at you for not using proper table manners."

"She stills yells at me about that." Chouko grinned sheepishly.

"We got them from that fancy bakery that you're always eyeing!" Naruto grinned. "It was really expensive so I hope they don't taste like shit!"

"NARUTO!" Sakura scolded slapping her head.

"You idiot." Sasuke scowled. "That's not the point." He rolled his eyes and looked back to Chouko who had stuffed a ball of mochi into her mouth; her fat cheeks were puffed out, and she practical stars shining in her eyes as tears collected like raindrops in her vision.

Sasuke twitched. He felt this was going to become a habit around these three.

Chouko swallowed the lump of cake and gave a wobbly smile. "It tastes amazing! Uh, thanks, guys. It wasn't necessary though." Chouko said. "I wasn't exactly perfect either, and could have done a lot more, but I gave up when it got too hard." Chouko clenched her fist and stared at the ground.

She had to do better next time.

Sakura sighed. "There's no use sitting around and playing the blame game. We're all just going to have to do a lot better from now on, right? We're a team now, and that means we have to look out for each other." Sakura smiled and held out her pinky to the confused trio. "Let's make a promise, okay? That from now on we'll do our best to get stronger and become the kind of ninja that Kakashi-sensei is."

Chouko cringed. "If we leave out the perverted part, then I guess I can agree to that." She said, stepping forward and holding out her pinky...she hesitated, before curling it around Sakuras. Their eyes met, and they shared a small smile.

"I'm going to become an even better ninja than Sensei, believe it!" Naruto yelled joining in. "I have to do better because one day I'm going to become the Hokage and everyone is going to respect me and look up to me, right, Chouko?" Naruto said excitedly while wrapping his pinky around Chouko and Sakuras.

"That's right! Everyone trusts their lives to the Hokage, and they'll be counting on you to lead them and protect them, Naruto." Chouko said.

Naruto giggled to himself imagining all the fans he would have when he became Hokage. Sakura sweatdropped and nervously called out to Sasuke but the worlds faltered on her tongue as she looked away, blushing and mumbling to herself. Chouko snorted, not bothering to call out to the Uchiha, instead she grabbed him by the scruff oh his shirt while ignoring his swearing and insults, as she pulled him into their circle of magical friendship.

"You're either in or out. Are you going to get stronger too, are you going to sit back on the sideline and be bested by Naruto?" Chouko smirked knowing she hit a sore spot.

Sasuke glared and slapped her hand away. "This is pointless." He huffed but offered out his pinky that the others greedily snatched. "As if I'd ever be outdone by this loser." He smirked Naruto's way, gripping his pinky tighter.

Naruto stood stunned for a second, a blush on his sunkissed face. Reality came rushing back him as the others called out him; he'd been staring for a solid minute, and they were getting worried. Sasuke had turned away, face flushed and eyebrow twitching.

"S-Shut up, bastard!" Naruto huffed. "Alright then! From here on out we're going to become the best ninja the village has ever seen!"

They silently counted to three before throwing their hands into the air with cheers that echoed throughout the meadow, that for so long Chouko had hoarded to herself.

Maybe, just this once, she could share her place of happiness.

Chouko smiled and picked up her box of treats. "You know, I can't eat all these by myself." She lied. She could very much eat them by herself. "So I guess you guys are just going to have to help me!"

Sasuke was the only one to object.

More for them, then.

Chouko was huffing and trembling. A gurgled cry pushed through her swollen lip that dripped blood as the wind was knocked out of her lungs, as she was sent flying backward onto her ass. She scowled and lifted her legs to flip back onto her feet. Her seafoam eyes were set in a glare towards the Uchiha bastard.

Her body ached, but she pushed forward

Sasuke smirked. "Is that all you can do? How pathetic. And here I was beginning to think you weren't completely hopeless." Sasuke fanned his hand in a come-hither motion that made her twitch. "I guess all the rumors about the Akimichi clan are true then, huh, tubby."

Chouko stiffened. She knew he was trying to get a reaction out of her...and it worked. She lunged at him with her fist drawn back and went to strike; Sasuke preempted her move and dodged out of the way. He grabbed her by the wrist and twisted it behind her back, ignoring her pained scream as he shoved her face into the ground.

Wow.

This felt all too familiar.

Chouko groaned. "Oi, get off! Damn it! You win again, Uchiha." Chouko huffed rolling away from the ravenette who released his hold on her. "I'll kick your ass next time though." She huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Oi! Naruto, you doing alright there?"

Sasuke and Chouko focused their attention on Naruto and Sakura who were locked in a kunai spar. The two were heavily going at it with Sakura using her charm to her advantage, which eventually won out causing the blond-haired boy to falter and miscalculate his next move, allowing Sakura to kick the kunai from his hand and pin him.

"Chaaa! I win! Did you see, Sasuke?!" Sakura squealed doing a twirl. 'I kicked his ass!' Her inner-voice cheered, pumping a celebratory fist.

Chouko was mildly surprised. Sakura was able to hold her own pretty well in a fight...when she wasn't distracted by Sasuke, that is.

"Tch. Not bad." Sasuke smirked. "You really are a loser to get defeated so easily by a girl."

"SAY THAT TO MY FACE, BASTARD!"

"I just did, moron!"

Chouko sweatdropped as Naruto and Sasuke delved into a heated argument. She figured that they just needed to kiss and make up already. She busied herself by wiping the blood from her mouth and patching up her wounds with the medical supplies she kept in her pouches.

She looked at her team with fondness, thinking that they were starting to come together...albeit slowly, they were taking baby steps to become something greater, she thought.

Give their wings time to grow, huh?

She felt that today, they had grown just a little.

"NARUTO! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF SASUKE!"

"BUT SAKURA!"

Just a little.

Sasuke and Naruto had settled their little debut in a fight that left Sasuke the winner, and Naruto a grumbling mess as the two sat on the ground watching the sparring match between Chouko and Sakura; Naruto was conflicted. Who did he vote for? The so-called love of his life or his very best friend? The Uzumaki boy fidgeted in his spot mumbling under his breath, annoying the Uchiha who flicked him in the head.

"Shut up you loser. Focus on the fight." Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto flipped Sasuke off and went back to watching the fight with a pout on his face.

Sakura threw up her forearms in an offensive stance as Chouko flicked her fist towards her in fast, repetitive jabs that left the pinkette short-winded as she hurriedly ducked left and right, surprised by the ferociousness the girl was hitting her with.

Sakura waited for the moment that Chouko's eyes left her and struck, but her fist met empty air as the Chouko before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sakura gasped and whirled around, finding the real Chouko charging at her while preparing hand signs that when completed, had her flickering out of sight and behind the pinkette who realized too late; she felt a heavy blow to the back of her head that had her stumbling forward.

Sakura caught herself and whirled around, lifting her leg high and slamming her knee forcibly into Chouko's face. The chubby girl let out a gurgled cry as she stumbled backward, surprised that Sakura had been able to recover so fast from her surprise attack. The attack left Chouko disoriented and her vision fuzzy; her head was throbbing, and she knew that she was going to have the worst headache later.

Chouko shook herself back into action and dived out of the way as Sakura charged at her with a kunai; she twisted her body, grabbing Sakura by the wrist and throwing her body onto the ground. Chouko pinned Sakura's arm behind her back and dug her knee into the small of her back to keep her still as her free hand held her head down; she announced her victory with a smirk.

It was refreshing to be the one on top for once.

"THAT WAS AWESOME CHOUKO!" Naruto cheered for his friend. "Uh, sorry that you lost, Sakura. I totally thought you had her for a minute!" The boy quickly said with reddening cheeks.

Sasuke scoffed. "The victor was obvious from the moment the fight started," Sasuke said, walking over to Chouko and giving her a hand up while Naruto helped a bruised and groaning Sakura to her feet. "Not bad, tubby," Sasuke said with a smirk and raised fist.

Chouko laughed. "Yeah? Thanks, grumpy." Chouko pounded his fist and wiped the sweat and blood from her face. "Man, she doesn't look like much but she can really pack a punch," Chouko mumbled, rubbing her swollen and bruised cheek. "Sakura, you okay? Didn't kick your ass too hard, did I?" She asked, genuinely feeling concerned.

Sakura waved her off arching her stiff back. "I'll live." She sighed. "I thought I was going to win, chaaa!" She growled pulling at her hair. "Next time you won't get so lucky, Akimichi! I'm going to beat you good, got it?!" Sakura yelled with a fire blazing behind her smoldering green eyes.

Her chakra felt strong.

It excited her.

"Not a chance, Haruno."

In one of the tallest trees, the meadow had to offer sat Hatake Kakashi, leaned back against the thick and sturdy bark with his favorite little book pinched between his fingers. He sat in the shade of the tree watching as his squad trained feverishly. He felt a fondness growing for them as they beat each other senseless.

"I really am starting to like you morons." He said with that signature smile of his as he went back to reading his book.

Kakashi's face twitched as Chouko called him a lazy pervert.

That one is still a work in progress.

EndNote: God I missed this. I really love writing about these nerds, too.

I swear not all chapters are going to be this long!...I think, hopefully?