(Revised 1/8/2023) Fixed some grammar issues!
"The boy knows of his tenant."
"Since when?"
The surprise on the silver-haired ninja's face was evident even with a mask covering it from the nose down.
"For some time now, how he came to know is still somewhat unclear. Being that Jiraiya was the one to inform me, all he would say was something about nightmares and the boy being smart enough to put two and two together, much to my annoyance." Blowing smoke from his wooden pipe, the aged Kage leaned back in his chair.
"How did he take it? A life-changing secret like that, to be discovered alone, I imagine it was quite a shock. By a child nonetheless, I assume Naruto went to Master Jiryia looking to appease some of the unease he must've been feeling?" The villager leader, giving him a quaint nod.
"Jiraiya had been in contact with the boy for a few years now, so when Naruto came across the information, he went to Jiraiya for answers. Regrettably, I do not know how long the blond had to wait for those said answers, as my wayward student happens to show up to the village whenever he feels like it. The important thing is he did eventually explain things to the boy, and when I found out, I made sure to call him in and explain everything again. Though, Naruto didn't care much to listen to what I had to say. Telling me whatever he assumed I wanted to hear that would enable him to leave the quickest. Any trust he had in me seems to have disappeared. I fear to think how he views Konoha as a whole the ignorant fools have no doubt made it very easy to turn to resentment." Inhaling another puff of smoke from his pipe, the man rubbed his forehead. Wrinkles on his hands show his weathered age.
"I should not be sitting here in this office today. I should be at home enjoying retirement, having fun with my grandchildren, and mending fences with my son. Picking up a hobby or two, while I wait out the last years of my life before I join my beloved Biwako in the afterlife. At peace with the village being in Minato's hands. Unfortunately, life never seems to go how we want it, right Kakashi?" The masked ninja could only nod, knowing that all too well.
"I've made too many mistakes during my second term, none bigger than with Naruto and the Uchiha fiasco. It doesn't matter how good my intentions were, I undoubtedly failed, leaving two young children to inherit far too much suffering, and as much as I liked to try and change that, I can't. Much too busy trying to keep the village afloat, while dealing with whatever brazenness plan Dazno and the council comes up with for the week. The Hokage's job is not one for much self-realization, and until I can find someone who can take this hat from me, I'll be sitting in this selfish chair. Unless you'd liked to help an old man out now?" A playful smile showed on his liver-spotted face. The masked man not providing an answer.
"I didn't think so, which is why you'll be put in charge of a genin team this year, one consisting of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. Right my wrongs, Kakashi, guide them into the fine shinobi and people I know they can be. It won't be easy, the boy has become quite stubborn and much more cynical than he had ever been before the whole Kyuubi mess. Meanwhile, the poor girl is no doubt suffering mental trauma, hell-bent on revenge against Itachi. Nonetheless, I believe in you."
"With all due respect Hokage-sama, I don't think I'm the person you need here. I've made my fair share of mistakes that I have to atone for myself. I have no business trying to guide anybody into what a respectable shinobi, let alone a person, should be." The old Kage slowly made his way out of his comfortable chair, hearing what felt like every bone in his weary body creak. Making his way over to the window overlooking the village, hands clasped behind his back.
"You give yourself far too little credit, Kakashi. No, your only sin is burying yourself in the past. We never forget those who we lost, we mourn them, but we keep living. It's time to start living again, you will be the Jonin in charge of Team 7. Is that clear?"
The masked ninja just nodded, having been a ninja long enough to know when an order was absolute. He's never met his sensei's son personally, he'd been one of his anbu protectors years ago, so any interaction they had, came while wearing a mask with a dog motif. It'd been a while since he had last seen him, forced to step down from anbu to be a regular jonin a year ago. With this assignment set in mind. The girl he knew of by name only. A deep sigh, fleeting through his body, of the things he did for the village.
"Do you know who the third member of the team will be Hokage-sama?"
Turning away from the window to meet the masked ninja's gaze. "Hmm, I do have an idea, yes, assuming all goes well and she passes, that is."
Having your last name start with the letter 'U' stunk. Everyone had already been called in to take the last part of their graduation exam except him, Sasuke, and Ino. Did Ino's surname start with a 'U' too? Or even worse 'V' or 'W'? He shuddered to think if it started with a 'Z', that'd be rough.
"Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka sensei said, emerging from the other side of the room. Sasuke gave him a look before exiting the door, waving his hand to signal not to worry before setting it back on the desk. She'd been annoyed with him all morning. The first part of the exam was a written test, followed by the physical part, Taijutsu, kunai/shuriken throwing. Today was ninjutsu which consisted of a henge, kawarimi, and bunshin. He was good on the first two, the bunshin being what he was iffy in. So he decided to wing it.
Which left Sasuke annoyed, believing he wasn't taking it seriously enough. To be fair she was half right, call him contemptuous, but he doubted they would allow their pet Jinchuriki to fail to become a shinobi over what was essentially a useless Jutsu. Still, he did have a plan per se, it just wasn't something Sasuke would ever agree with. He could produce a whole mess of the copy clones, and he only needed three. The problem is that a lot of them would come out loopy-looking. So what was the plan? Well, he'd close his eyes, create about 10-20 of the stupid things, and hopefully, three would be up to Iruka's standards.
The bigger worry for him was the whole team situation they had found out about yesterday. You get assigned by the Hokage, you don't get to pick. He really thought they'd be allowed to choose for some reason, so he had never worried about not being with Sasuke. He sincerely held no desire for being a shinobi, he was doing all this to help her and have a chance at a life he could someday call free. So the thought of being on a team where he couldn't do that was creating quite an uncomfortable feeling. Trying to rub away an oncoming headache, he glanced at the girl on his right. Maybe, Ino would be on his team. She was uh, uh, hmmm- he knew nothing about her. He let his head fall on the desk, why was everything so difficult?
Stupid Yamanaka starting with the letter Y, of course, she'd be the first to know who'd be on her team but the last to graduate. Shikamaru and Choji, a boy who dreamed about dreaming about clouds, and another who thought about his next meal while eating his ongoing meal. She massaged her temples. She didn't hate them they were just a little much at times. They'd known each other their whole lives. Their parents were old teammates, so the day they entered the academy, it'd been decided they'd be the new formation of Ino-Shika-Cho.
"Hey"
She looked to the left, where the only other person in the room was, glancing at the boy in orange, Naruto. The only thing she knew about him, were he and Sasuke were pretty much inseparable. They arrived together, sat together, ate lunch together, and they left together. This might be the first time she heard him speak to someone who wasn't Sasuke or one of their senseis.
"Yes?" He was rubbing the back of his neck, no doubt nervous around her womanly beauty. She couldn't blame him, the only interaction he had seemed to have with girls was Sasuke, who was very much a tomboy. Smirking, she twirled a strand of hair with her finger, excited to tease her soon-to-be ex-classmate.
"What's your last name?" Her face dropped at the question before looking back to the blond.
"How do you not know my last name? We've been in the same class for almost four years!" The volume of her voice rose with every word. He tried to put his hands up in defense.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm not a very attentive person. I do know your first name if that helps." He tried to smile at her. She rolled her blue eyes, before letting out a huff. "It's Yamanaka."
"Oh man, that sucks. At least it isn't 'Z' I guess." She snickered at that, having had the same thought many times.
"Why so curious now huh?" He just shrugged. "Was just curious to see which one of us would be stuck here last, and well we could be teammates, right? If we both pass that is."
Before she could retort and tell him they had no shot at being on the same team, Iruka came inside the class and called his name. He was already up and walking to the door before waving over his shoulder.
"Good luck Ino Yamanka."
She waved, before slumping back in her chair, the last person in the room. Being on his team could've been fun, as long as Sasuke wasn't there anyways. She pitied if someone was unlucky enough to get put on the same team as both of them. Constantly fighting an uphill battle to feel included as a teammate, in her opinion anyway. Blowing a strand of blonde hair away from her left eye, she went back to cursing the stupid letter Y.
Sasuke was waiting outside the academy, hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead. She had mixed feelings about the moment, but she was proud of the accomplishment either way. Representing the village didn't matter in the long run, but it was a big step en route toward their real goals. Getting a sensei who could hopefully make them even stronger was next. She knew Naruto wouldn't feel the same way. Over the past year, he had grown much more cynical towards the village, glaring back at the villagers with the same cold stares they gave him, looking over his shoulders for imaginary ghosts that he swore were always watching.
Surely he would see no accomplishment today. Any time spent longer here was a moment too long for him. No matter how much he knew, they weren't yet ready to face the difficulties ahead of them when they made that leap. Assuming the weirdo even passed, he'd wing it, he said. His aloofness towards something this important had begun to agitate her. Add the news regarding the teams, and Sasuke had not been having a good last few days. Letting out an exasperated breath, she ran her fingers through her long raven locks to try to ease some of her tension.
She spotted his blond mop of spikes trotting out the academy, no hitai-ate insight. Never expecting him to be wearing it for all to see, she didn't panic. Seeing him pull something silver out of the pocket of his hoodie and wave it at her before sliding it back where it was. She felt relief pass through her body. One less problem, she'd take it.
Walking out the gates of the academy for the last time, she felt his footsteps fall in sync with hers. Before turning to him, waiting for the tale he'd spin on how he passed. He smirked, jogging ahead a few feet before walking backward, facing her with both hands behind his head.
"I winged it. I mean Iruka was confused but rules are rules. There were three replicas of me among the trash." He said with a sheepish grin. "So when do we find out our teams?" She shook her head, hoping he would trip, just a small one. Idiot.
"Iruka-sensei said we'd find out Monday with everyone else who was able to graduate." Nodding, he waited for her to catch up before pivoting to walk forward again. As they wandered through the dirt roads of the village, taking a peek at her blond companion, Monday couldn't get here fast enough.
She and her new teammates were waiting for their sensei. The other students were escorted out hours ago by their non-tardy sensei. Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. The raven-haired and blond hadn't said much of anything since they'd begun waiting. The boy was writing on what looked to be a scroll, and the girl was lazily watching him. They didn't seem too bothered about their sensei potentially forgetting he/she was supposed to be in charge of their team.
Sakura liked to say she was taking it in stride too, but that'd be a lie. The first hour she could maybe have understood, they were high-ranking ninjas, duty called. After the second hour, she'd lost any patience she was holding onto. Now with hour three approaching, she felt the need to hit something, preferably her soon-to-be sensei. Finally, the door to the classroom opened, and a tall man with white hair and a mask cloaking all but his eyes walked in.
"Seems that I'm a bit late. I'll try to be warier of the clock next time." She couldn't see his face, but the way his eyes crinkled felt like he was in on a joke they weren't. He proceeded to walk towards a desk in the middle of the room, hopped on it, and took a seat. "From what I gathered, usually sensei pick up their prospective kids before taking them somewhere and having a short team introduction. However, since we seem to have this whole room to ourselves, I guess we'll do that here instead."
Sakura looked to her sensei, then back over to her two teammates trying to assess their reaction. Thankfully they all seemed to be on the same page. Confusion, this was the man who was supposed to teach them how to be ninjas. The masked ninja was staring at them, with what she guessed was a lethargic look. Letting out a sigh, he motioned with his hands toward the desk in front of him. "Come, come, all three of you make your way down here. I'll have to put up much less effort to listen if you're all bunched up in front of me." The rest of Team 7 made their way down to the front, she quickly accompanied them. She was on the left leaning against the desk, Naruto took the middle deciding to follow suit of their sensei taking a seat on the desk, and Sasuke was to his right standing with her arms crossed.
"Good, now when I point at you, you'll tell me something about yourselves. I suppose I'd better start to give you some sort of idea. Let's see-" He began to scratch the back of his head. "Best to start with a name. I'm Kakashi, but you can call me Kakashi-sensei." Naruto raised his hand. Kakashi pointed towards the boy. "Can I call you Kaka-sensei?" Kakashi rubbed his chin before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, now no more interruptions. As I was saying, I'm Kakashi, I enjoy reading-" He proceeded to pull a small orange book out of his pocket. "Preferably this book here, something I dislike is when I can't read this book. Hmm, a goal I have is to memorize every volume of this book, eventually being able to read them all in my mind, so I'd never have to risk any of them getting damaged from outside my home."
All three students' faces fell. It was clear without ever meeting any of the other sensei, there was something off about theirs. The man proceeded to point toward Sakura. "You're up Princess-Bubblegum." She glared at the man before beginning. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like learning new things. I dislike being underestimated and Ino-pig. My goal is to be a respected kunoichi." Kakashi eye smiled at her before pointing at the blond next to her.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I like Fuinjutsu, ramen, and Sasuke. I dislike everything else about this place. My goal is unattainable for right now, but I plan to change that one day."
Well, that was something, their sensei didn't seem too pleased with him tho. No eye smile for the blonde, just a less lazy look than usual on his face. Turning his gaze to her other teammate. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha, I like training. I dis-" Naruto poked her side, Sasuke just rolled her eyes, seeming to understand what he wanted. "I also like tomatoes. I dislike a lot of things though I don't hold hate for many. My goal is to kill a certain someone, hopefully freeing myself from an endless burden."
Kakashi stared at them for a moment before jumping off the desk. "We'll meet tomorrow at training ground three to see if you can officially become Team 7." He held out his hand at the incoming questions. "Yes, you passed your graduation test, but that was just to weed out the kids who never had a chance. Tomorrow will be your real genin exam, so I expect you there bright and early. Let's say 6 am?" He didn't give them a chance to retort. "If you don't know where training ground three is, I suggest you go out and do some exploring today. If you're not there when I get there, it's an automatic fail." With that, he gave a two-finger salute before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. All three looked around before she heard her two teammates get up to leave.
"You think he's gonna teach us that?" She heard Naruto asking Sasuke before the door slammed shut behind them. Leaving only Sakura behind, annoyed they didn't even say bye. Letting out a groan, she furiously rubbed her tired eyes. Her team was nothing like she imagined, but she was determined to make it work. Taking one last look around the classroom she spent the last four years in, she couldn't help wondering how Ino's day went.
Yesterday was interesting, Naruto was walking to their assigned rendezvous spot alone with his hitai-ate hanging around his neck. After the meeting with Kaka-sensei ended, he and Sasuke went looking for the training ground. It was much closer to Sasuke's place, so they decided to meet there.
Their sensei was weird and seemed like kind of a prick. Although he could care less how the man acted as long he could help make them stronger. Like that thing he did with the swirling leaves, which he had to admit was pretty cool. Sasuke called it a shunshin, whatever it was he wanted to learn it. The more they learned, the quicker they got stronger, which meant the sooner he'd see what was beyond the walls of this prison.
As he walked into the clearing, he saw Sakura standing next to one of three stumps lined up in a line around the training grounds. He gave a small wave she politely waved back. Making his way to sit under a tree a few feet away from her. He hadn't given her much thought yesterday, but she seemed nice enough. Still, if he were, to be honest, it didn't much matter to him who his third teammate was. He spotted Sasuke making her way into the clearing, her face in a scowl. She's never been a morning person since he'd known her. He smirked at her as she gave a nod to Sakura before walking over, and standing next to him.
"Call me superstitious, but I doubt our new sensei is gonna be here any time soon. Might as well take a seat." She grunted at him before taking a seat, leaning against the tree, and closing her eyes. Though he did hope the eccentric teacher's exceptionally late entrance was a one-time thing.
Four hours later and the prick still wasn't here. Sasuke had woken from her small nap after the first hour, leaving to practice her kata's. Now she was just annoyedly pacing back and forth, leaving tracks in the ground. Sakura had made her way to the tree next to them sometime during hour two, muttering curses under her breath about shitty sensei. He glanced over to the pink-haired girl, no doubt fuming now, her face almost the same color as her hair. He wasn't any less annoyed than them, he just had something to pass the time. Fuinjutsu was something you could practice anywhere you went, and he went everywhere with it. Still, he was worried for the girls, no telling what they'd do if the masked ninja didn't make an appearance soon.
He was in the middle of drawing on a small square of paper when their tardy sensei finally showed up. Giving them a short wave. "Yo, before you yell let me explain. You see, on my way here, I ran into a man wearing a green spandex suit. Who, for some reason, kept offering up silly challenges for me, and then wouldn't let me leave when he lost, something about youth. I started to drown him out after a while, anyways before I knew it, it was past 10, and I rushed right over here."
"Bullshit!" Sakura screamed, he expected it, but it was still funny. Sasuke was glaring at the man, she was scary sometimes. He just went back to finishing the seal he was working on, leaving them to show his displeasure and disbelief. He honestly couldn't come up with a better story. Hearing the leaves crinkling as Kakashi made his way over toward them.
"Language, princess bubble gum, what would your parents think? Now that we are all here, I can explain what's going to happen today."
"We've been here since six SENSEI." He heard Sakura say with all her non-contained fury as he finished the last line of his kanji. "Yes, yes and I'm glad to hear everybody can follow directions. Congrats on passing the first part of the test." Even he had to give him a look at that one. His eyes crinkled into a smile. He then pulled out two bells from the pocket of his blue slacks. Pointing at them.
"You have until 12:30 to get these bells, which gives you about 2 hours to pass the test. Any questions?"
"Why are there two bells but three of us?"
"Great question Sasuke, well the sad fact is only two of you will pass. The other will be sent back to the academy, to wash out or join the reserves. Now that we cleared that up, shall we begin?"
That was a surprise, he looked at Sasuke whose eyes were watching the pink-haired girl. If only two were passing today, it was going to be him and Sasuke. It was unfortunate for Sakura, and it was nothing personal, but he wouldn't let anyone come between the future he and Sasuke had set for themselves. Unknowingly or not.
They made their way toward the middle of the grassy area, Kakashi tied the two bells on a notch near the left side of his belt.
"Now, I won't be going all out. If I did, there wouldn't be a reason for this test, now would there? I expect you three to come at me with the intent to kill if you don't, we can wrap up the test right now. Understood?" Once again, not giving them a chance to retort. He seemed to like doing that. "Good, whenever you are ready. Though I would hurry times a ticking."
Sasuke was starting to hate Kakashi, she saw Sakura and Naruto both take off into the woods. Leaving her and her masked sensei alone in the clearing, Naruto was no doubt preparing something with his seals. As for Sakura, well, she had no idea. She didn't believe what Kakashi had said. Never had she heard of a genin team having only a two-man cell, but until she could find out why he would lie or an underlying meaning to the test, she had to take him at his word. Well, time to test her strength.
Pulling out two kunai's, she dashed towards Kakashi. Throwing the kunai in her left hand, she slashed overhead with the other. The masked ninja blocked the slash, maneuvering the smaller ninja past him, before deflecting the kunai racing towards his stomach with one of his own. Reversing her momentum, she attempted a spinning leg sweep. Kakashi leaped over the appendage, taking advantage of his airborne state, she threw a hail of shuriken. As the man lazily deflected each one with the metal part on the back of his fingerless gloves, Sasuke came from behind, throwing a vicious kick toward his midsection. Countering, her sensei caught her leg with his non-occupied hand, using his chest as a wall she kicked off it, landing a few ticks away. Her breathing was slightly elevated, evaluating the situation as fast as her mind would allow. All the advantages she was used to having were nothing in the face of a true jonin. She was still far too weak to change anything. Anger, doubt, and fear were slivering through the small cracks in her mind she thought had been patched up. Shaking her head to try and clear the invading thoughts away, she spotted a flash of yellow in the distance. Finally.
"You live up to your rookie of the year status too bad that means nothing in the grand theme of things. Maybe if your teammates would come out of hiding to help, you would have better success."
"Shut up." Flashing through the hands' signs she'd been doing since she was six years old, Sasuke let out a stream of fire from her mouth.
The raven-haired girl was halfway through the signs for the Fireball Jutsu. Impressed with the speed of her hand signs, the flames erupting towards him in a blink, he was readying to move out of the way only for the fire to miss him entirely. Turning towards the direction where the flames went, only to see his blond charge holding up a squared piece of paper about the size of his hand, with the kanji for fire written on it. Huh, did he absorb the Jutsu? That's unexpected, though he guessed it really shouldn't be if Jiraiya had been around the boy. Still, Fuinjutsu was a dying art, and to be used during combat, let alone by someone of Naruto's age, was quite rare.
Catching out his peripheral, he contorted his body as Sasuke threw another hail of shuriken at him. With one eye on the girl attempting to turn him into a human pin cushion. The other eye watched as the blond rolled up the hand-sized paper before tucking it in the pocket of his hoodie, before pulling out a set of kunai and chucking them at him, both landing a few inches ahead of where he stood. He blinked before seeing the boy make the snake hand seal, recognizing what was about to happen, he quickly used the Shunshin to get away just before the two kunai exploded. The blast caused debris and dirt to fly everywhere, not having much time to think before Sasuke emerged from the small cloud of dust that had formed. Engaging him in a furious spar of kicks and punches, with Naruto running at him from his right side, leaving him to move backward as his only source of direction.
They were herding him somewhere, he'd play along for now. Warding off Sasuke's strikes, he barely saw Naruto wrap another kunai with an explosive tag. The girl finally disengaged with him, hopping back a few steps just as the kunai Naruto threw exploded. He jumped, flipping backward before landing squarely under a fit of trees. Sasuke confidently approached his left, flashing through hand signs as the boy slunk around the right, pulling the seal that absorbed the fire Jutsu earlier from his hoodie. Naruto held it over the front of his palm as he pointed it straight at Kakashi. He felt a small current run through his body as he tried to dash out of the way. He looked down to see a seal about three times the size of the one the boy had in his hand directly underneath where he was currently standing. Paralysis seal? Feeling the heat from both sides nearing him, he couldn't help but be impressed with their quick planning and teamwork.
Currently hiding in some nearby bushes, Sakura watched as her two teammates threw everything they had at Kakashi-sensei. She already knew Sasuke was considered a prodigy. Having to go up against her multiple times during sparring days, so watching her fight their sensei was nothing new but was impressive nonetheless, but watching Naruto do all this weird stuff with just paper and kunai was quite eye-opening. They worked together effortlessly, Sasuke immediately knowing what Naruto was planning the minute he had come back into the field. Feeling a slight fit of jealousy and anger building up before swiftly being replaced with a pang of hurt for not even thinking of including her, weren't they supposed to be a team? They had taken what Kakashi said at face value, and she needed to do the same. Shaking off her short pity party, resolve back in place, she'd come up with a plan of her own. She'd show them she wasn't just the add-on expected to fail. Sakura had spent the same four years they had honing her skills at the academy. Spotting them moving further ahead, she followed with renewed focus.
While they were all engaged with each other, she'd sneak in there and grab the bells herself, that'll show them not to underestimate Sakura Haruno. She prepared one of the few Genjutsu she had at her disposal. Just a few seconds and she'd be in and out of there with none the wiser. Hand signs in place, she looked up to see their sensei, appearing to be burnt alive.
Naruto watched wide-eyed as his paralysis seal was seemingly strong enough to hold down their Jonin-level teacher, being consumed in what seemed to be his fiery death. As the flames roared, he looked over at Sasuke, her eyes just as wide, with surprise. No doubt going through the same thoughts he just did. He heard a scream and saw Sakura hop out of a bush just behind them.
"DID YOU JUST KILL KAKASHI-SENSEI!" It was a good question and one he didn't quite know the answer to. He could only shrug, Sasuke making her way over to him.
"Did you tweak the paralysis seal? How could he not escape it?"
"I have no fucking idea it was the same one I tested on you before. At most, it should've held in place for a few seconds tops, as it did to you. A jonin should've easily overpowered it. Maybe he wasn't as strong as you thought?" Sasuke just shook her head. "No, he was strong."
"It's always nice to hear your students compliment you." Jumping down from a tree, Kakashi gave them a lazy wave. "As you said, the paralysis seal never had a chance at keeping me still for more than a second, but I do applaud the effort. Unfortunately, even with a solid plan and solid teamwork, you two still never even came close to taking the bells."
Annoyed that he was right, Naruto could only glare at their masked sensei. "Maybe including the third member of your team would help yield better results?" Kakashi's voice, stressing the point.
All three occupants looked to Sakura, who was shuffling her feet nervously. Naruto felt sympathy for the girl, but he'd make the same decision every time.
"You said only two of us could pass, I'm not trying to be mean or offputting, but I stand to see the point." Kakashi sighed, rubbing his face. "It was never about the bells, Naruto. Konoha, more than any other village, is built on the foundation of teamwork, so you need to have full trust in the person next to you at all times. That's what the test was about, I'm only telling you this because you and Sasuke understand that completely. The bad news is that you still failed overall, as you completely ignored Sakura, the third member of your team. The good news is I am going to give you another chance to rectify that." His black-colored eyes crinkled into that damn eye smile.
He looked to Sasuke, nodding to him and pointing towards the forest behind them. He nodded his agreeance, motioning for Sakura to come as well. Her pink hair, whipped around as she jogged to meet them. He heard Kakashi's voice again behind them, holding up that orange book he showed them yesterday.
"Take your time, I haven't had much time to catch up on my morning reading." He could've sworn he heard the man let out a perverted giggle as he opened the book. Sighing, remembering what this was all for, he ran up to meet with the two girls.
Kakashi leisurely walked towards the Hokage tower, his little orange book proudly in hand. He was on his way to join the rest of the Jonin's informing the Hokage of their genin becoming official teams.
The three of them had finally managed to work together, snagging the bells. With Sakura now in the fold, he had to be constantly aware of a Genjutsu attack. While also keeping out for any trap Naruto might have set with his pesky seals. All while not trying to be burnt to a crisp by Sasuke's fire. The three of them already had a solid groundwork for their shinobi futures. His job now was to strengthen them and continue to round out the rest of their abilities. He believed they'd make a good team in the future, which is why he didn't have the heart to tell them he let them grab the bells. Like they had any chance if he didn't, did they not know he was the copy ninja who held over 1000 Jutsu? No, they did not, making a mental note to tell them in the morning.
Arriving at his destination, he continued to stroll past the building he was supposed to appear in over an hour ago. He still had some time to kill, hmmm, maybe he'd pay Obito another visit. He didn't get to tell him much about his new team earlier, and for some reason, he thought he'd get a kick out of them.
TBC...
