Resetting Our Lives

Summary: Untimely deaths and mourning spirits. A second chance was deemed appropriate. Now in a new world and in younger bodies, how will they adjust? How will they change things with their presence in this new world?

A/N: This begins after Rin's death and before Minato became the Yondaime Hokage. I warn readers for OOCness. I'll explain why in the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or naruto.

Chapter 3 - Mini-Adults Playing House

To say that their briefing had been interesting would be an understatement. While the two did chose to withheld other more sensitive stuff about their personal profiles, like being de-aged for one because being underestimated is golden, other stuff were a little less guarded.

They should've probably taken note that, despite living in a flawlessly violent world, the experiences the two had were still slightly out of whack from normal. Even if it was their normal.

"You...killed each other...then woke up in the cave with the girl...fully healed...because spirits took you there." asked the interrogator.

The blonde head of T&I came over to Minato's home in the guise of a friend but it was rather obvious that he was there to set things straight with the kids about their identities or, more importantly, how they ended up in their situation to begin with. There were many minds to appease and the children certainly seemed more than what they appeared.

"Please don't make me say it again. It's weird enough as it is." complained Sokka. His face took a definitive pout, heavily accented by the baby fat.

He was the older one between the two and, as observations yield, was every bit as precocious. Both the children seemed capable of coherent complex thought and speech. They were just as prodigal with their wits as they were with their ability to kill. Yamanaka Inoichi had hoped to get something more substantial out of him other than the same fantastical explanation the girl gave him just moments before in another separate interview.

Their fantasy world was horrifyingly consistent and in sync - a shared delusion. A good way to rationalize this would be that someone drugged them, made them see things, and dumped them in their last location in an effort to, perhaps, save them. Or simply, to get rid of them. Their fantastical home from another world seemed to be rather unsavory as well.

Their maturity was unsettling and their psychological states weren't any better. They were the kind of damaged goods that part-time psychologists like Yamanakas would have a field day studying. But, at the same time, they were also the kind that broke people's hearts just by knowing they existed.

"Very well. We'll skip over those. How about we clarify things on your background? Where did you say you were from again?" asked Inoichi.

"I didn't say it." deadpanned the boy. When he saw Inoichi still staring expectantly, he sank into his seat and mumbled..."The south pole."

The boy showed no indication of lying yet the man felt a bit pitying of him. There was no such thing as life in the south pole. It was just a mass of ice surrounded by ice water where no life could possibly thrive, except maybe krill and many other extra tough marine life. But, the temperatures there were ridiculous enough to be close to subzero. Not even ninja can last long there, never mind live there. But, if what the boy meant was that he was from the Land of Snow, it was close enough that it was believable. Only, that was up north and not near enough to be bordering the north pole.

Azula's answers on their homeland were a bit conflicting but it could be chalked down to a specific settlement corner of sorts. This fire nation place she spoke of was described as the home of those like her who could bend fire. She described Sokka's home as the place for water bending peasants.

Considering their shared talent at effortlessly manipulating a chosen element, as well as their claims of being distant technical cousins, he was under the impression that they lived in the same area as clansmen of the same blood. Or at least stemmed from a root bloodline, like how the Senju and the Uchiha were actually related. Never mind the fact that they ended up dumped together in some cave. So, they had to have come from the same region, right?

Still, the blonde was actually a bit pleased that he was getting a lot of information out of the kids. He thought it would be difficult to get them talking. Minato warned him that the kids were extra leery of strangers. Though, he wished their accounts were a bit more decipherable. Barely anything the kids said to him made sense and the worst part there was how they weren't lying.

"Family?" he asked.

"My mother's name was Kya. We lost her in a raid a long time ago. My father's name is Hakoda and I have a sister named Katara who's a waterbender. We were all active participants of the war." Sokka's eyes grew dimmer and dimmer with each recount. The sadness was palpable and cutting. "But, I can't get to them anymore because..."

"They're in another world. Yes, you said that before." sighed Inoichi. Though, if the finely weaved tales of the children were anything to go by, those families of theirs are more than likely dead.

Azula had been just as open to talking about relatives. Though, her emotions were the exact contrast of her cousin. She couldn't be any happier to be away from home. She spoke of a cold and ruthless father who didn't deserve the title in Inoichi's opinion. She also spoke of a mother whom she lost at a young age, to her father. She also spoke of an uncle and a older brother to whom she referred to with many insults and much rage for their apparently soft natures and habit of leaving. But, underneath all that, Inoichi saw much envy and felt sorry for the girl.

"And that girl, Azula? How are you two of relation?" asked the blonde man.

He already has an answer but he just wants to confirm. He has yet to find a detail that is out of place. There were the occasional confusion and wrong matches but that was only to be expected. He didn't expect the children to have their answers perfected solidly for each and every question asked of them with such detailed answers. But that just made their answers all the more authentic seeming. No one is that accurate about their personal histories without hiding something.

"Oh, that." Sokka's expression went from grim to annoyed. He crossed his arms and huffed. He spoke words with a strong dislike afterwards. "I guess you could say she's a distant relative. And by that, I mean reeeally distant. So distant that it hardly even matters and is not even note worthy! Actually, forget I said it at all. We are not related."

Sokka pressed that fact, as if disgusted to think of it otherwise. For children who spent a long time together, fighting together, and sort of caring for each other, they seemed to hate each other a lot. From what Inoichi could gather, most of that animosity is due to an apparent disagreement between families.

As mentioned before, the civil war was implied. Azula herself also spoke about sieges of territories and executions and whatnot with disturbing glee.

Inoichi had a theory brewing that wherever the children came from, their clan was divided into factions and were embroiled in their personal civil war. Inoichi wondered if the cause for conflict with their clan was the apparent specialization separating into three specific lines according to three elemental affinities. It implied discrimination over the other and a ballooning brutality over their attempts at eradicating each other.

How that got past other shinobi nations, he had no idea. But, he'd rather not get involved. It sounded like they were effectively wiping themselves out. It was sad, yes. But, it wasn't like Konoha could just declare war on potentially dangerous people while already warring with confirmed dangerous people. They were a militaristic nation, not a protest group.

Besides, he still couldn't pinpoint a place or even a clan of origin for the kids. All he has is a vague idea of what they were like but not who they actually were. The kids couldn't really give any proper clan name. The girl associated hers with fire and asked if that fit while the boy simply shrugged, saying that no one actually ever called anyone with a surname where he was from, behavior typical of clans. The information isn't very comforting.

"What of your skills in nature transformation?" probed Inoichi.

"Nature what now?" asked the child in confusion.

"You can control water and your friend can control fire." pointed out the blonde.

"Oh, bending." The boy suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. "It's an inborn thing, supposedly. Azula should be able to tell you more. She's a prodigy in firebending. Me, I'm not even really any good at it. I'm only still figuring it out. I can only use it to get rid of scratches and sore bruises. I...I don't really like it. I believe in science and hard-earned combat skills. Not weird and creepy water magic."

That matched most of what Azula said too. Sort of. She called Sokka a late-blooming noob. Though, the healing portion was new information to the blonde though. Azula said nothing about that.

Inoichi frowned at the obvious dislike the boy had for his own abilities. He wondered if it was a sort of stigma to be born with a water affinity where they came from. Azula certainly acted passive aggressive about it. Perhaps a historical reason was to blame? Or maybe, they were on the losing end at the political scene? Unfortunately, the children were too young to know anything about complex things like that. At least he thought they were.

"Shut up Yue! I'm not taking lessons from you and that's final!" The boy hissed suddenly.

Inoichi eyed the volatile child warily. He heard about this. Azula didn't show any signs but Minato said that both her and the boy were occasionally prone to yelling at people who weren't really there. Sokka especially. It's easy to shrug it off as imaginary friends but considering the kids' conditions, it was likely not as childish and potentially a sign of mental illness.

"Who's Yue?" he asked curiously.

At that, the child caught himself and blushed deeply, as if realizing only now what he had just done. He made himself look like a cracked lunatic. He cursed up a storm on the inside.

"Hn. She's the...moon spirit." he said uncomfortably.

Inoichi stared at the boy with wide eyes.

"She and Azula's crazy great Gramp Gramp are the main reason I'm in this dump with the she-devil. I used to really like her but now she's just mental." he said bitingly.

Inoichi felt numb. So, the so-called hallucinatory spirits were still there and even had names and full identities. That was worrying.

Basically, they had two mentally unsound genius kids that came from a mysterious war-torn clan with an apparent bloodline limit. One involving instinctive affinities to elements since birth and are able to seamlessly apply said abilities to martial skill without even any need for hand seals. Also, they were more or less abandoned to enemy territory possibly due to difficulty in raising them or possibly to save them from whatever fate their families torn apart by civil war had dished out for them. Overall, it was depressing.

Inoichi found himself rubbing his temples frequently when he compiled his report on the children's evaluation. He swore he would not have a child until at least the war was finally seeing its definite conclusion. Not even the clan elders pestering him for an heir would deter him. He didn't want his child turning out like those poor kids.

The two declared that they were distant relatives - that earned a lot of raised eyebrows - and came from a really faraway and unreachable place. It was noted that they probably don't have family anymore and that they didn't really care. Though, that part was more true on Azula's end compared to her cousin.

At times, Sokka would express his loneliness. He really missed his friends and family. Especially his family. Azula was the opposite. The only times she mentioned her family was when she hurled insults about Zuko and her mother. Recently, even to that of her father as well. In fact, badmouthing her father was a defined pastime activity for both her and Sokka. It was stress relieving for them.

It was obvious to Sokka that the girl had major issues and had a few instabilities. He was living alone with her in a cave for a year. They had to talk about something to pass the time. Considering her family and childhood environment, she could've turned out a lot worse.

Then again, it was debatable whether or not she was already in that worse department. After all, she was so screwed up that her great grandfather had to pull spirit crap on them for her to set her straight. She was trying...sorta...but not quite there yet.

Thankfully, their new doting mother, Kushina, was just the therapy she needed. Granted, she was scary as fuck but at least she could make Azula whimper in fear and still act like a proper mother. The woman was a completely different class of monster.

Kushina was perfect. But, it's not just because she could keep the kids in line and still manage to be the loving mother they needed. There was something else.

'You're seeing this right?' asked Azula.

'Yep.' replied Sokka. Popping out the P for good measure.

At this time, Minato just recently brought them to his home which was officially their new prison. Admittedly, it was a lot better than their former living conditions in their death cave but it was still a prison if they weren't allowed to go out. They were still considered highly dangerous.

Only, come one afternoon, there was an unexpected spice to brighten this prison.

"Hi dattebane! I'm Kushina, Minato's fi-an-cée~ It's so nice to finally meet you. Let's all get along -ttebane~" Kushina fawned over the children immediately. She was clearly still on cloud nine after having being asked the question earlier the day. But, neither of the two were focusing on her.

There was something...off about her. Something that made it seem to the the kids like they were seeing double.

"These brats are weird." commented the Kyuubi. He could tell immediately that Sokka and Azula were looking straight at him. Not to mention, there was all that natural energy crowding about them like incessant flies. Nature seemed to like the brats and they oozed of nature energy. It was like they weren't really human.

"Who are you calling weird!?" yelled Sokka. He heard the voice of the creature hidden within the woman and reacted defensively.

"Eh?" Kushina tilted her head in confusion.

"Ehehehe." Minato pulled the boy aside before his neurosis got him in trouble with his wife.

"Ah, Kushina, I think I should bring up you up to speed first." Minato eyed the kids who looked like they were trapped in their own wordless conversation. "Don't freak out."

"Uh, kids, why don't you go ahead and...Oh, okay. You can stay there. But, the couch is fine too."

Minato found that the kids were already making themselves comfortable on the floor, as if it was the living room. Seeing as they lived in a cave since they arrived in this world, it was easy to assume that they prefer the ground so they were left alone. It wasn't like that part was untrue.

As the blonde was clearing up on the children's psych profiles and theorized background, the two were having a conversation with a giant fox.

'Sorry, uh, whoever you are. Sir.' said a bashful Sokka. He figured this was a new spirit. A new audience to their misery that just caused him to make himself look even weirder to some nice lady.

"Interesting, you can communicate with me. That's new." The fox was certain now that the children were not as they seemed. He was actually surprised that Kushina hadn't reacted to this yet, implying that she was exempt from the conversation.

'It's a thing with us. We suddenly have this crazy talent in communing with spirits like yourself. We think it's because we died and get possessed a lot.' drawled Azula with lidded eyes. By this point, talking to a new spirit was about as exciting as climbing a tree. It was a thing of life now.

"That's very...interesting. But I'm no spirit. I'm a bijuu." explained the fox. He was eyeing the children from his prison as though he just came across new toys. From what he could gather, they weren't exactly normal. At least, not normal here. They didn't belong. How could they be normal if what they said was true and, a more obvious indicator, if they can talk to him as though talking to any random acquaintance? He wondered if the children were even aware of what he was.

'What's that?' asked Sokka curiously. Clearly, the fox's assumptions were spot on.

"It means that I'm a being of chakra with a mind of my own." explained the fox.

'Chakra. That's what everyone here calls energy right? That's the energy in all things... Huh? I don't get it. What's the difference?' asked Sokka.

The kyuubi was surprised. He thought they'd be at least a bit awed if not terrified. He basically just told them he was some sort of greater power. Like he was some kami, a force of nature. It wasn't exactly a lie. Only, the locals translate it more as monster or calamity. But to these kids...

'You are a spirit. Stop confusing us with technicalities!' huffed Azula.

Their reactions were amusing. No, not amusing. Relieving. These children were innocent, uncorrupted by many years of brainwashing through tales and hearsays. These children, he could talk to.

'Does this mean you're like Yue? That is so weird.' blanched the boy. 'What are you doing in that lady? You're not her baby are you?'

"I'm not in here by choice." grumbled the kyuubi.

There was an awkward silence as the children realized what was really up with this spirit. He wasn't a tenant. He was a prisoner. This world was decidedly a lot scarier than ever.

"Enough about me. What about you two?" probed the fox. It wasn't every day that he could just talk to someone like a normal person. It was actually refreshing being able to talk to someone without malice or bitterness in between. Even better, his host was so shut off to care about what he has to say that she never comes into that corner of her mindscape. Not even for when she needs to borrow his power. She just takes it anyways. The chances of her finding out about this small sliver of his freedom was very slim.

'What do you mean?' asked Sokka.

"I know you're not human. Don't bother telling me otherwise." snorted the fox.

'Hey! We are so humans!' huffed Sokka.

There was no reply but the unspoken skepticism was felt. It was one of the downsides to speaking through mental links with beings like this. It means one is less able to lie because it would be plain obvious.

'Fine. We may not be this world's definition of human. But, we still are, okay!?' pressed Sokka, his eyes moist and his lips set in a heavy pout. He wasn't too eager to entertain the idea that he was officially an alien here. It wasn't like he could say that everyone else around him were the aliens when he's the trespasser. But, it was still weird.

'So, Mr. Spirit, do we need introductions or do you actually see us from...in there?' asked Azula. All the while, she was curious as to what the spirit really looked like. She could feel his presence through the somewhat accidental mind link they formed but she couldn't see him.

"I know all about the other humans' interesting take on you, if that's what you mean." Amusement colored the kyuubi's voice as he chuckled mildly. It was amazing the things people's minds do to accommodate nonsensical information to make sense of them.

The two groaned. They were fully aware of the story concocted by the adults. There were many theories but the common thread among them was that the two of them were suffering from extreme cases of PTSD and that their home world, their clan, was a nightmare.

Well, it's not complete bullshit.

'You haven't told us anything about yourself. We don't even know your name? Why should we spill our life stories to you, huh?' Sokka asked cautiously.

"Fine. I'm a bijuu with nine tails. People call me a monster and name me after the number of my tails. But, my real name's actually...Kurama. I've been stuck living my boring life in boring annoying hosts that don't give me time of the day other than to treat me like shit. There, my life story. Happy?"

If the two could see the fox in his cage, he'd be grinning widely with malicious sarcasm despite the constant pain of Kushina's constricting spikes. He was more or less used to them.

Sokka and Azula shared a look and shrugged. The fox surely didn't give them everything, they knew. But to be fair, there was only so much a bitter tummy prisoner could say about his likely depressing life. It wasn't like spirits liked to chat and share much over in their world. Talking to them was the Avatar's job, not thiers.

'Where we're from, we're important people. I was once the princess of a great spanning empire and a general to great armies ready to dominate the world in flames.' Azula reminisced fondly.

Sokka snorted. 'Yeah. You were a real royal pain in the ass.'

The children shared more general things, often stopping to argue about the simplest details. Still, the kyuubi found their story fascinating. It was certainly ironic for such bitter enemies like themselves to end up in an alien world the way they did, needing to depend on each other for sanity and survival.

If there was anything the kyuubi could like from that other world, it was that people there actually respected beings like him and left them to their own devices...most of the time. It may not have been paradise for the humans there but it certainly sounded like paradise to the kyuubi.

"So, a single child ruled the world due to being technically immortal?" asked the fox. He was still lost on the mechanics behind the Avatar.

'No~ Aang isn't the king of the world. That's stupid." snorted Sokka. "He's just like some sort of protector. But, his official role is to act as a bridge between the human world and the spirit world...and to keep balance. Oh, and he's the most powerful being in the entire world!'

'We suspect he's really some spirit gaining human form through the Avatar cycle. It would explain the power, reincarnating, and all that weird stuff. After all, the moon and ocean spirits did manage to gain mortal forms by abandoning their immortality.' said Azula.

'Yeah. Then they took it back after one of them nearly died.' shrugged Sokka.

'Wimps.' Azula added with cheek.

"That sounds like the old man. If he could reincarnate enough times to deal with the clusterfuck that is humans here then this world wouldn't have as many problems." snorted the fox. This Avatar was sounding more and more like the Rikudo Sennin to him. Only, more convenient.

'Hey, I've been meaning to ask. How exactly do you work?' asked Sokka curiously.

"How do I work? What do you mean by that?"

'I didn't realize spirits could be forced into people. What's up with that? Isn't that kinda dangerous? ' questioned Sokka.

"Tch. The humans here like to tempt fate and treat beings like me as though we're weapons or monsters. If they realize what you really are, they might treat you the same." preached the fox bitterly.

'Humans are attracted to power like pathetic moths to a glorious pyre. That's a fact no matter what world. But, what Sokka was trying to point out was the risk of death and mutation.' clarified Azula, with a snort.

The kyuubi sent the children feelings of intrigue. Clearly, whatever magic or miracle the humans of this volatile world came up with to trap a spirit, it was different from the concept of spiritual power borrowing that the children were aware of.

'We can barely last a few seconds being possessed by a spirit before our bodies give out. And that's with powerful humanoid types. I almost thought I was going to grow scales that one time Fang took me over.' complained Azula. She was giving the redhead skeptical looks about her apparent humanity. The ninja humans were weirder than they thought.

"You mean ...a conscious agreement to act as one?" The kyuubi asked incredulously. It wasn't that it was impossible for him to willingly become a tenant in a human, even if for only a short period of time. His real form isn't really the giant fox but rather the chakra that composed it anyways. He was just stumped that there were actually those that considered it. He didn't like humans very much. Not many spirits do in this world.

'Well, it's an agreement most of the time.' Sokka rolled his eyes as he drawled those words longer than necessary.

'When we're in trouble, there's these spirits that help us, whether we want them to or not.' Azula explained with unenthusiastic tones.

'They're like...parents. Really controlling and overprotective parents. Ugh.' said Sokka. He blanched at the idea of Yue being his mother with firelord Sozin as the father but that was certainly what it felt like.

"Where are they now?"

'Around. They only show up when they feel like it. But, I'm sure they know what's going on regardless of not actually being here. They said we should get used to our new life. Oh, joy.' Azula was sounding reasonably sarcastic.

It was annoying to know that they had the ultimate stalkers but it was also a bit of comfort at the same time. Considering all the shit that this world had to offer, the two were fine with that. But, it was still weird.

And so, that there was the start of a beautiful friendship between a supposed monster and two de-aged aliens in a strange world looking for a bit of sympathy. They like to rant at each other about things. Misery loves its company.

The children were dangerous and moody and volatile. They were unknowns and they more or less threatened every person of power they met with gruesome deaths the moment they met them, which was their first day in Konoha. Needless to say, they were in house arrest for a reason.

They were fine with this. In fact it was planned. Not so much on the house arrest part but more so on the keeping connected with the upper echelon part. And most especially keeping tagged on the straw haired optimist who they were sure they could trust.

There were many things they still didn't know about this world. It was obvious the first time that things weren't the same between the two worlds. The children needed information. They needed observable specimens. They needed to figure out what was what and how they should react to things.

That part wasn't going so well. The boredom was simply too much for their baby minds. It was starting to be a problem.

"Kakashi-san! Finally, I was getting bored!" yelled Azula. Minato was at some sort of mission while Kushina was also busy training the unfortunate students she got today. I feel really sorry for those poor kids. They better hope they fail whatever crazy test the nutty lady had in mind so that they don't have to stick with her. That's what I gathered from the stuff she said anyways.

"It's only half past ten. I'm not that late." reasoned the guy. I felt like punching him but held back. I'll just get humiliated.

Technically, he wasn't really late. He never promised that he'd come here 7 am sharp. He just said he'd come in the morning. It's just a bit annoying that we woke up so early for nothing. Azula was too much of an early bird. She literally rises with the sun.

"What's your excuse? You helped an old lady carry her groceries home?" I asked sarcastically. Like this kid made for murder would ever be the genial old lady helping kind like his oddball sensei seems to be like. Then again, not even Minato is that saintly.

Kakashi pondered on that for a second and suddenly had a mischievous glint in his lone eye.

"Actually, yes. I even helped a poor kitty down from a tree." he said. That eye squint/smile is really starting to test me.

"Oh, joy. We got ourselves a gentleman. Woohoo." I dully remarked.

Kakashi is a frequenter here. Apparently, he's this jonin thing, which is supposedly kind of like a general, despite being so young. He's one of the guards that keep an eye on us and observe our mental healing. Personally though, I feel like the only reason he's here is because Minato wants him to act his age and play with kids once in a while. He's always had this awkward air about him.

Not that I will ever admit that this wasn't terribly degrading. I'm a f*king baby.

"Enough nonsense. Fight me. Don't hold back or you'll regret it."

Azula charged at the young jonin but he sidestepped her easily. This only served to excite her further. Shinobi of Kakashi's caliber were probably a lot more exciting sparring partners than the handful of soldiers she used to tear through every day. I like to think I'm a good alternative but I wasn't really entertaining the idea lately, especially when I don't even have a sword to spar with. I'm not that eager to die...again.

Kakashi sighed. "You're supposed to be relaxing and having fun. You weren't allowed to fight remember? The doctor said..."

"The doctor said we should abstain from any form of violence. We know. We were there." She rolled her eyes.

She thinks it's just bothersome but, personally, I find it insulting. At least she didn't have any personal effects confiscated from her. I still can't believe they took away my weapons. Those are priceless mementos and a one of a kind space sword! They better be keeping their word and not selling it off to some random guy. They are mine.

"It's so boring here. We've literally read every book and every scroll this place could offer many times over. I even started playing Pai Sho with Sokka's bird. His BIRD!" she screeched.

"Hey! Taka is a very good Pai Sho player so you shouldn't complain." I defended.

"What's Pai Sho?" asked Kakashi.

"It's a board game from back home. Everyone played it from the old geezers to the brats. The poor and the rich. You know? People games." I shrugged.

"Admittedly, it's an entertaining strategy game...assuming your opponent's any worth." said Azula.

She shot me accusing looks. Hey, my half-assed playing doesn't mean I'm terrible. I just liked messing with her since it was a lot more fun than playing the stupid game over and over with makeshift tiles on a wooden stump. Azula actually carved those things out due to boredom.

I let my new hawk land on my arm and let it spoon it's head on my neck lovingly. I've been spending my dull days training him, spoiling him more like. I always wanted to have one of those messenger hawks the fire nation used since they're so cool and useful. I had one. Sort of. But, Hawkey had yet to return to me because some thoughtful ladies decided to use him without my permission to send a letter to the Beifongs.

Taka is, according to the book on birds I got a hold of here, a pale morph Buzzard. Weird name. He's still a baby but he'll grow up real fast. When he does, he'll be the best messenger hawk there is. And the best part about him is how he sees the nosy spirits around us. And he's chill with it!

The doctor for crazies with the long girly corn hair said getting a pet was a great way to cure the mind Pfft. I'm not nuts. I am so totally normal! Screw him, I'm only getting on with the program so I can finally get out of here. Sure, Minato has a great house. Real homey and all. But, if it's the only thing you see for months on end. It can make you go cuckoo. I blame this on the baby chi.

I ruffled Taka's feathers and rewarded him with a treat for hitting his target right. I taught him how to fight like a falcon. He can't be defenseless when he's delivering important messages.

"Who's a good boy? You are~ Oh, yes you are."

"Ugh. He's doing it again!" Azula growled with fire in her mouth, literally. She's being unusually hyper. Must be the age talking.

"This is pointless!" yelled Azula.

She just finished drawing the garden landscape, again. I knew this was going to happen when I saw her deep scowl as she drew. She threw the full sketchbook along with the other piles of used art supplies and made a mess. She's running out of ideas on how to spend her day. She already went through with her regular katas and watched Sokka practice his own sword routines - with a stick. Personally, I'm starting to get bored of it myself.

"What I'd give to have some meat. Why can't they let us have steak or something? We already have teeth. I'm getting sick of the baby mush and greens." Sokka ranted to no one in particular.

"Shut up Yue! I'm not talking to you! Azula, tell her to shut up!"

And he yelled at a person supposedly inside his head again. Well, at least he stopped punching through the walls or training himself till he bled every time he had an argument with this so-called Yue.

"No deal, lover boy." grinned Azula. "If I have to deal with my stalker, you have to deal with yours too." Sokka glared at her in repressed anger. He was steaming red but he didn't attempt to murder her or anything along those lines.

I took note of all that. I was told to watch everything they did so we could gauge if they've lost enough ferocious combat instincts in daily life to be considered safe. They're mature kids that understands the world. Sometimes, they seem like they're actually my age but they can also be very childish like they're supposed to be. The inconsistency must have something to do with their former growing environment. And their IQ, obviously.

It's been months now. Soon, it'll be a full year. While I know that they're perfectly fine, we can't send them out like this. They're really volatile. They need to air out some of that steam and just calm down. If not, they'll be stuck in here forever.

I think they know what I'm doing. I mean, they knew about the ANBU watching but only complained about it once. I think they're just rolling with what they have. They know perfectly well that they're in cages. That explains their irritation and uneasiness.

I've tried my best. I've tried acting like Rin at first. I felt like it was the best way. Rin always was the better one out of all of us with kids. She was a great girl so it was no wonder people liked her. I couldn't act as myself because no one liked me. Who the hell would want to hang out with a friend killer? With a jerk who can't even keep one goddamn promise?

I've tried acting like Obito. It was a bit...liberating. It was sad, yes, but acting like him, as if letting him interact with the world with more than just his eye, felt great. It felt like I was doing something right for once. Sensei frowned over it when he noticed but I was getting good results that way and the kids were more open to letting me into their space so he couldn't make me stop.

Then, when all else failed, I try acting like sensei. In the rare moments that someone needed to be the voice of reason, I was prepared for it. It worked for the most part. The kids listen to a proper authority figure when due.

But, it's been too long. The impatience is almost physically palpable. They feel cooped up in here. They need something refreshing. They need a release. They need something different, a change of pace.

...

Crap. I can't believe I'm reduced to getting his help.

"YOUTH!"

"AH! MAKE IT STOP!"

Kakashi winced as he watched his persistent friend - cough stalker cough - get blasted through a wall with Azula's flamethrower of a fist in tandem with Sokka's accidental water grand slam. The reaction time of the two had been superb. The jonin teen had been expecting such an outcome but he didn't think the encounter would be so...short.

"Ah. Look at that damage." sweat dropped Kakashi. His sensei was going to kill him.

Gai somehow managed to stay alive and whole and apparently unharmed-ish as he climbed out of the rubble with a wide blinding smile on his face. The children cringed back as soon as his head poked out all of a sudden, like a mole.

"That was most youthful! You are such weak little children yet you manage to perform such great feats!" declared Gai with an flamboyant pose.

"Ha?" Azula's expression formed into a scowl as her killing intent spiked.

"You are most like my rival Kakashi! I bid you good luck in finding your most cool and handsome rivals like this handsome green beast!"

Gai's constant companion of spontaneous genjutsus of sunset backgrounds suddenly appeared and it sucked it's unfortunate victims in, unable to turn away from the shocking effectiveness of it. It was like it sucked their souls.

Sokka's brow twitched abnormally consistently as he tried to bleach his brain. He would never unsee that!

The attacked renewed with greater vigor and the pattern kept on until the spandex clad ninja finally left. It had been relief like no other.

While Gai seriously amped up the annoyed meter of the two, they noticeably lost most of their pent up tension. True, they disobeyed the doctor's orders and attacked the hyperactive kid in perfect sync but they had better control of themselves now. They didn't kill Gai after all and Gai was fine enough to give them a speech about youth and give them his trademark nice guy pose over and over. They had nightmares about green spandex, bowl cuts, and spontaneous background sea waves at sunsets for days.

Two weeks after the incident, the children were allowed out for the first time, with chaperones. They were leery at first but it soon melted into wonder as they were taken around Konoha's streets. They've been in the village for a long while but they've never been in the village. It was their first time actually getting to see the sights.

They were immediately enrolled into the Academy that same day where they could harness all their pent up frustrations positively and be more productive. They clearly had the capacity and, at least there, they could interact with other children while not being completely out of touch with the norm. After all, the Academy was where children were trained to be future killers.

"School?" Sokka gave Minato a dry look as he eagerly showed the children the curriculum on the spot, talking about how fun it would be.

'He's nuts if he thinks we're agreeing to this.' Sokka mentally relayed.

'I don't know. A school where children are molded into the versatile weapons that are shinobi? It interests me.' Azula was more considering.

"Don't bother. It's boring. Just be a tailor or something. Hahaha!" Kurama suggested jokingly.

Azula balked at the thought of being some ordinary baker or tailor. Of being some commoner. They were warriors. They lived in breathed in battle. Unfortunately, school was a requirement for that in this world. An actual establishment with classrooms and books and stuff. It was anti-climactic.

"Ugh, fine! I'll take the stupid test!" Sokka broke under pressure, being tortured by Azula with mental images of becoming a midwife or taking a desk job with endless paperwork while being ranted at with Gai's complaints of being unyouthful. He surprised Minato who was unaware of the mental conversations.

"That's great! " said Minato.

"Is that unanimous -ttebane?" Kushina asked dubiously while eying Sokka's pale expression.

"Very." Azula's sinister smile and disturbing evil chuckling confused the blonde.

Meanwhile, the kyubi was laughing his head off. Sokka was whipped.

The two easily passed the entrance exam but were not as interactive as hoped. Expected? Yes. Preferred? No. They repelled all the other kids away despite being younger and prime omega material on their very first day. They didn't even have to try very hard. Sokka was being quiet and moody most of the time and Azula was being herself which spoke for itself.

No one wanted to be around the scary kids. The rumors about them were scary enough. Everyone knew they were vicious killers. They had to be. They had no choice. That was something that only people trained to kill at such a young age could understand after they've done the fact. But without that, understanding came a little harder.

Every day was mentally taxing for the pair of aliens in a new world. Sokka ended up often ignoring everyone and their stares, opting to train on his own. He devoted a lot to his personal skills seeing as it was a field that he prided himself in, originally not being a bender and all. Despite normally being a humorous and wholesome guy, he was misunderstood as a moody sullen child.

"Oh, him? He probably doesn't want to go. Don't bother asking." "I don't think he likes anyone a lot. He just hangs with the weird chick 'cause they're cousins." "He looks mean." "Are you crazy? He'll kill us!"

Those were just several examples of the whisperings Sokka's intercepted about himself. It was rather awkward at times but he didn't really care to correct them.

Azula was, oddly, more proactive in trying to get close to people but she usually scared them off. She was the crazy girl. The scary batshit insane girl. The one that was bad news. The one that shouldn't ever be messed with.

"Hey look. It's the pyromaniac." "Crazy witch!" "Why is she looking this way? Man, she gives me the chills." "I don't wanna go near her. She scares me."

Needless to say, they were perfectly isolated as the pint-sized weirdoes. People were pretty sure they were just another round of Kakashi, if not worse.

"Great. There's more of them now." "Nasty little killers like that shouldn't be with our kids! What's Hokage-sama thinking!?" "Just you wait. They'll be killing their teammates too in no time." "All those vicious monsters are better off in a madhouse."

The children didn't take kindly to learning that the closest thing they had to a friend had a rather unsavory reputation brewing too. It was part of the reason why they didn't care much for their peers. They were just brats easily swayed by tasteless rumors for all they cared. They weren't worth the two's intellectual capacity. At least, that's what Azula said to their psychiatrist when asked about it.

The two of them ended up having to cater to each other's whims and their idea of fun. They could only play together and their games were less than innocent. They liked embarrassing some of the teachers by raising some arguments and crushing them in the ensuing debates too. That's all they really came to school for other than sparring sessions with new people. It was like a game of sorts.

They really like harassing their teachers - mostly Azula. While she took to verbally humiliate the teachers by repeatedly making fools out of them, Sokka tended to humiliate them in a more direct and creative way through Uzumaki worthy pranks. Considering they always ace everything in their classes, no one could really do anything to them other than direct spiteful looks behind their backs.

Eventually, the two cut down on their antics as they eventually grew bored of it too. The isolation was starting to wear on them as the loneliness persisted. They couldn't push out everything forever. They couldn't be the outsiders forever. They soon came to realize this fact and felt incredibly lost. The sense of detachment, of the I'm not from here constantly echoing at the back of their heads was frustrating.

They started adjusting to society - finally - and behaved as much as they could. It was hard and maybe a bit awkward on their part bit this was their world now. They just have to deal with that. It was still frustrating. But overall, they were adjusting.

A/N: I just recently noticed that there was a missing linebreak. It made the transition between Sokka and Kakashi's POV all confusing so I apologize for it. For anyone who was waiting for an update and got this instead...Really sorry about that. I'll try to post soon to make up for it. :)