Chapter Two
As Namida silently followed after her new senpai she attempted to make conversation several times, but the words always died in her throat before they could even be formed on her lips. He didn't seem inclined to start a conversation either so she let it be, even though the silence was uncomfortable and tense at least it felt that way to her. Despite their break-neck snail pace, Namida soon found herself walking down the familiar shiny hardwood floored halls of the Ninja Academy. It had been nearly seven years since she had seen the inside of the school, but the memories were still as fresh as ever. A small smile crept along the edges of her lips, but whether or not it met her eyes was hidden beneath snowy tresses. Namida's footsteps were as quiet as a cat's as she slowed when the silver haired Jonin paused briefly to slide open a class room door and step through only to have a eraser full of chalk smack him in the head.
Silence ensued for a moment before boisterous laughter cut through the silent halls and a young boy's voice crowing about how he tricked his new sensei. Namida covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles. Kakashi picked up the eraser and spared the three Genin and the white haired Chunin behind him a glance. He hummed in mock thought. "How can I put this, my first impression of this group," He started off in a surprisingly calm and careless tone. "You're a bunch of idiots." He finished in the same tone, which caused Namida to poke her head around the edge of the doorframe to see the three Genin and their reactions to his blunt insult. From the black looks on their faces she could tell that they were about as impressed by their new sensei as he was of them. The Genin team was made of two boys and a girl. There was one pink haired girl with big green eyes, a blonde haired boy with mischievous bright blue eyes and a dark haired boy with hard obsidian eyes. The dark haired boy seemed oddly familiar to her but Namida couldn't place him.
Strangely enough he was the first one to notice her out of the group. Namida couldn't suppress a shiver as those dark eyes flickered over her and seemingly looked through her before they dismissed her like she was nothing of importance. "This is my subordinate, Mikazuki Namida." Kakashi suddenly announced and motioned behind him, which instantly brought the two pre-teen's full attention on Namida who blanched before she shyly stepped into the room and bowed this time without incident. "It's nice to meet you." She said softly as she pulled her body back up into a straight position. The blonde haired boy cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy and gave her an adorable grin. Namida blushed and shyly smiled back. The pink haired girl bowed back while the dark haired boy just grunted. "Well, let's move this conversation to a more comfortable place." Kakashi announced as he passed through the doorway with a silent hand motion for the four younger ninja to follow him.
Namida let the three pre-teens exit before she left and slid the door closed behind her. The blonde haired boy slowed until he was walking just a little ahead of the white-haired Chunin. Namida watched the curious boy through her long bangs and wondered why he was with her instead of his teammates. "Hey," The boy suddenly spoke out with a loud, yet friendly tone that made the quiet Chunin jump from surprise. "Doesn't your first name mean 'tear' and your last mean 'crescent moon'?" He asked with a wide grin seeming not to notice that he startled the older ninja. "Yes, it does." Namida answered slowly, unsure as to why he had asked such a question. A thoughtful expression popped onto the boy's face before he seemed to come to a conclusion and exclaimed in delight. "So that means you're the tear of the crescent moon, right? You're like royalty then, huh?" He asked with such sincerity and innocence that Namida could only smile at his attempted compliment.
Before she could answer his question the pink haired girl turned around and yelled at him for asking a stupid question, then blushed and apologized for both herself and the boy, Uzumaki Naruto. Namida had never even seen the infamous boy before, but just from spending a few minutes in his presence she knew that the rumors were all completely false. He wasn't a monster. He was just a hyper little boy with a cute smile and a talent for causing mischief, who unknowingly housed a dark being inside of himself. He was also lonely and angry. Namida normally didn't attempt to acknowledge such things in strangers, but those two emotions were some of the same ones she knew only too well and could easily spot them in others. Without even noticing it Namida followed her new senpai and the three Genin up to a vacant rooftop. When she noticed that the silver-haired Jonin had lazily perched himself against the protective railing of the building, she gingerly moved around the three Genin and habitually moved to stand off to the side where she wasn't in anyone's direct sight.
If Hatake senpai noticed her distance then he made no mention of it, much to Namida's relief. The three Genin found comfortable seats and settled out on the steps in front of their sensei, while the pale girl stood off to the side in a more obligatory erect posture with her hands gently linked in front her in a very servant-like manner. "Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time," Kakashi drawled in his usual laissez-faire tone. "Introduce ourselves?" The pink haired girl asked in confusion. "Well what are we supposed to say?" She then asked and Namida couldn't help but raise a curious brow. It was a simple question but she couldn't put two and two together? Kakashi just shrugged. "Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that." He said before he re-crossed his arms. "Why don't you tell us stuff first? I mean before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto asked.
"Me?" The silver haired Jonin asked pointing at himself. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate," He 'hummed' as if in thought for a moment before he spoke next. "I don't feel like telling you that." Naruto and the pink haired girl gasped at their new sensei's short and blunt answer, but he didn't seem to notice and he quickly moved on. "My dreams for the future… never really thought about it, as for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies." He finished. Naruto and the pink haired girl instantly started whispering among each other, but Namida couldn't hear what they were saying, however she knew they had to be talking about Hatake-senpai. "What about you over there in the corner?" The dark haired boy suddenly asked and Namida startled at the unexpected attention. Namida bowed and once again introduced herself, before she paused to think about what her answers would be. "I… I like many things, but I don't actually hate anything or anyone." She answered slowly, but truthfully.
"My dreams for the future…" She stopped herself short thinking of her dreams but decided to keep them to herself. "My dreams for the future are my own." She finished in a slightly firmer voice that was very dissimilar from her usual soft tone. "And my hobbies… I have a few, but they aren't significant." She finished in her usual meek tone. "Okay, your turn," Kakashi interrupted the oncoming questions from the two more talkative pre-teens. "You on the right, you first," Naruto grinned and started to tug at his head band. "Believe it! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei gets me from the Ichiraku noodle shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup!" Namida smiled discreetly behind her hair at his childlike excitement over food. "My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them and my future dream is… to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody! Somebody important!"
At his unexpected outburst Namida was sure she wasn't the only one surprised to hear such a bold statement come from the boy. "Alright, next," Kakashi called. The pink haired girl instantly blushed and smiled. "I'm Haruno Sakura! What I like-uh… I mean the person I like is-uh…" She paused, suddenly bashful and glanced over at the dark haired boy with a brighter blush and sparkling eyes. "Uh… my hobby is-uh," She shook her head still blushing and giggled before she spoke again. "My dream for the future is-" She suddenly stopped, giggled and hid her face in her hands with a squeal. "And, what do you hate?" Kakashi asked trying to get her to finish a sentence. "Naruto!" She shouted crossly before she went back to blushing. Namida's brow furrowed at the girl's annoyance towards the blonde boy and bit her tongue to keep from defending him from the girl's harsh statement. "Last one," Kakashi sighed still as careless as before, but his voice sounded almost tired. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything."
Namida sucked in a slow breath at the boy's admission and callous tone. Now she knew why he looked so familiar. She had been a very loose acquaintance of his elder brother at one time, but that was long ago and in a different time. None of it mattered now. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." As a tense silence fell over the group there was no doubt in Namida's mind as to who the 'certain someone' the young Uchiha was speaking about killing was. The true depth of his words and the conviction behind them scared her. She could practically feel his inner hate seeping from his pores. "Good you're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." Hatake senpai didn't seem bothered, but Namida was starting to wonder if anything other than her questions ruffled his feathers. Naruto suddenly saluted the Jonin and asked about the mission they were going to have.
"It's a task that the four of us will do together." He announced and Naruto instantly went into an energized tirade of 'what, what, what' while Namida was curious as to why it would only be four and not the five of them. "A survival exercise." Kakashi answered in a slightly more firm tone. "Huh, a survival exercise?" Naruto asked in clear dislike. "I thought we were supposed to have a real mission not more practice. We already did this stuff at the academy, that's how we got here." Sakura said in a tone of voice that Hana would have called 'bratty' and 'know-it-all'. Kakashi however was not discouraged. "This is not like your previous training." He told them. "So uh, so uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked in confusion. Then the silver haired Jonin did something that surprised everyone especially Namida: he started chuckling like a little school boy with a big secret. "Hey, hold on that's a normal question what's so funny?" Sakura asked sourly, taking offense at his laughter. Kakashi chuckled and gave a close-eyed smile.
"Well, if I tell you the answer you're not going to like it." He told them teasingly and chuckled to himself some more. Naruto looked completely lost, as well as Sakura, but Sasuke and Namida were passive. Namida was unreceptive due to already having been in their situation once before, while the young Uchiha just seemed content to wait for the answer. "Out of the twenty-seven graduates that came here only nine will actually be accepted as Genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words this is a make-it or break-it, pass fail test and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent." He told them directly to which every single one of them made an unhappy face to. "See didn't I tell you, you wouldn't like it." He asked and Naruto, ever the theatrical young boy had to loudly speak out. "That's crazy! We worked hard to get here, believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?"
Namida felt bad for them. It hadn't been the greatest news she had ever heard either, but she had found out from Tokito before they were even split into teams. "Oh, that. That was just to select candidates who might become Genin or not." He answered in an indifferent manner. "What?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. "That's how it is. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five am and bring your ninja gear." Namida frowned at the harsh tone the Jonin was using, but was too nervous from earlier to speak out. All three of the Genin were shaking and no doubt trying to psych themselves up from the unexpected blow. Kakashi turned his back to them and held out his hand in a rather rude motion of dismissal. "It's it, you're dismissed." He waved them off carelessly, before he remembered something. "Oh," He turned back to look at them over his shoulder. "Tomorrow you better skip breakfast or else you'll puke." How harsh, Namida thought with a hidden frown. It seemed like he wanted to make them fail before they even began.
"Mikazuki-san, let's go." Kakashi's voice broke Namida out of her thoughts and with a polite bow to the three Genin hopefuls she silently followed the silver haired Jonin off the roof and onto another. "We're going to the training grounds." He informed her before they reached their destination. Namida just nodded her head in silent acceptance knowing that he was more than likely going to test her abilities and decide whether or not he was going to officially take her as his student just like he was going to do with the three Genin tomorrow. Despite her knowledge of what was to come, and firsthand experience Namida couldn't help but feel nervous. When they reached the secluded forest area Namida tensed and took four steps back, while Kakashi continued forward before he turned back to face the pale girl with a curious cock of his head. "I guess you're ready." He sighed and watched her reaction. Namida nodded, but made no further move.
"This is training I'm sure you've already been through, but just for the sake of it I'll tell you what's expected. I want to you come at me with everything you have, any type of attack will do and if you're not prepared to kill me, then you'll be the one who suffers. We'll quit and start when I say so, understand?" He asked sternly not paying any attention to the five hidden spectators in the trees. "I understand senpai." Namida answered quietly either ignoring the watchers or not knowing they were there. "Alright… begin!" He announced and quickly threw three kunai at the girl who easily dodged them before she pulled out a smoke bomb, set it off and disappeared. Kakashi bent down close to the ground to avoid the kunai that was thrown at his back and quickly rolled to his side to avoid the four that were well aimed for his hands and feet. 'So, she likes to hide and play cat and mouse does she?' He mused and ducked to evade the two senbon aimed for his neck.
'Compliments of Genma's training I assume and well handled too. He should be pleased.' He noted with a hidden smirk as the smoke began to clear. From his well covered perch in a tree Kakashi surveyed the open field and surrounding trees and bushes for the Chunin, only to notice that all of the kunai she had thrown at him were missing save only for the marks in the earth and trees where they had previously made contact. 'She picked them up while I was distracted with the senbon?' He wondered with furrowed brows. That was an odd thing for any ninja to do. 'Found you,' He grinned when he finally managed to get a lock on her location. Four trees away, crouched on the ground by the trunk. She knew where he was and she also knew that he knew where she was. He had to give her credit. She had perfected stealth and her aim wasn't anything to sneer at either, but her lack of ninjutsu or genjutsu had him wondering, so he pulled up his hitai-ate to reveal his sharingan eye.
In the time that it took him to open his scarred eye Namida had already moved from her hiding spot and disappeared again. Kakashi sniffed the air in an attempt to catch her scent on the breeze, but had no such luck. Unexpectedly a senbon struck him in the back of the neck, but before he could fall off the tree limb he puffed and turned into a log. Namida's eyes narrowed in concentration as she slinked behind an old fallen tree and began to analyze the situation. There was only so many kunai, senbon and shuriken left in her pouch, even though she had already collected all of her used kunai. However she only had one senbon needle left due to the fact that she rarely ever used them in combat, but found them useful for surprise attacks. She had to keep to the forest, and use only stealth attacks due to his sharingan and her own apprehension of facing him in open close quarter combat. Her hands were still shaking from catching a quick glimpse of his red and black eye. Namida closed her eyes in an attempt to force the image away from her memory, but gasped in shock and whimpered in pain when a kunai grazed her naked shoulder.
Namida spun on her heel with a kunai in hand to deflect the oncoming attack, only to lock gazes with the Jonin and stumble back and away from him. Namida kicked out at him when he lunged at her, but he easily avoided her and blocked the following downward thrust of her kunai with his own and nicked the soft inside of her wrist in the process with the tip, which made her drop her kunai. Namida flipped backwards and landed on the long trunk of a tree, her right hand in her weapons pouch searching for something. When Kakashi threw several kunai at her she forced her body to flip backwards again and onto the branch above her while the kunai struck the tree trunk. "Y-you're holding back senpai." Namida spoke for the first time since their lesson began. Her voice was shaky, but still soft, almost a murmur. "So are you." Kakashi stated and Namida nodded her head at the truth of his statement.
"I… I can't face you in close combat senpai. You're too strong." She admitted and Kakashi paused at her confession, only to have a handful of Makibishi spikes thrown at his face. He jumped back not expecting such a move and threw up his arm to deflect the spikes away from their target: his eyes, but by the time the spikes fell harmlessly to the ground she was gone, as well as two of the kunai he had thrown at her. 'Clever girl,' He mused humorlessly, but noted the fear that had suddenly struck her upon seeing his face. The fear hadn't been there until he had uncovered his hidden eye. That was why she wouldn't face him in combat. It was his sharingan eye that had her spooked and running, not only because he was stronger than her. Meanwhile, hidden behind a tree and bushes Namida carefully wrapped her injuries and viciously berated herself for using such a dirty tactic on her new senpai, even though it had worked out exactly the way she had planned. Normally she fought fairly, but upon having that unnatural eye gaze upon her she couldn't help but instinctually want to remove it, permanently and violently if necessary.
'What have I done? I hope there was no damage done to either of his eyes. I shouldn't have done that. He's going to hate me for it.' She sucked in a deep calming breath and fought back the tears that threatened to fall from her dark eyelashes. 'I can't keep doing this. Even with all of the traps I've set, they're for naught if I can't even land a single blow on him, while he's already gotten me twice. I have to distract the sharingan somehow and… face him.' She thought miserably to herself with her head hung low and balled her trembling hands into a fist. 'I have to do this. Hatake senpai is my last chance… but it's just so hard.' She whimpered and wanted to just give up right then and there, but sensed the oncoming frontal attack and managed to move out of the way just in the nick of time. "Are you going to give up already? Are you really that weak?" The callous, yet uncaring voice of her new senpai asked as he bombarded her with ruthless punches and well-aimed kicks. Namida startled at his tone and paused for a second too long and received a knee to her stomach for her mishap.
The bone jarring kick sent her to her knees with a ragged gasp and the tears she had been trying to hold in finally escaped. Namida choked and gagged unable to catch her breath, as Kakashi stood over her with an unreadable expression on his masked face. "Y-you don't… you can't…" She started but choked on a sob. "I can't what? I can't understand what you're going through?" He asked sharply and Namida's face shot up to look at him through her hair and nodded pitifully. "Perhaps I can't." He muttered and let his eyes flicker over to where their audience was hiding. "But what I do understand is that you're letting down your old teammates, your friends, your former sensei and your former senpai. You're crushing all of their hard work and their belief in you." He bit out tersely, both eyes narrowed in on her shaking form at his feet. Namida flinched as if she had been slapped but didn't retaliate and he didn't expect her to. She was too reserved, almost a puppet and she wasn't even trying to fight him. He was insulted. Not only for himself, but for the others that believed in her.
"You're not a helpless child Mikazuki Namida. You're a Chunin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a ninja who has a duty to protect those who cannot do so themselves, so grow up!" He yelled, pulled a kunai and plunged it at her neck. To Namida time seemed to slow down in that moment, but in reality she knew it was a split second action that saved her from harm. Namida swung her legs out from under her body and managed to nick one of his legs, which momentarily threw him off balance and caused his kunai to miss her jugular by barely a centimeter. It was a small reprieve before he regained his bearings but it was enough for her to use his arm to pull herself onto her feet and kick him in the side. As Kakashi slid away from her he noticed that her face was fully visible for once and a cold barrier had formed over her usually kind eyes and soft features. But it wasn't just her eyes that were cold. The air around him felt cooler, when just moments before it was quite humid. It was a strange occurrence, but he didn't pause to think about it as Namida held a kunai loosely in her hand, ready to throw it at a moment's notice.
With his sharingan eye, Kakashi noticed her lips that he previously thought were trembling were actually moving to form words, but he was unable to make them out or even hear what she was saying. He found out moments later however when an unexpected arctic-like wind struck him from out of nowhere with enough force to cut skin and uproot his stance. It almost felt like there were tiny invisible needles hidden in the wind itself as they lashed out against him. Namida was unaffected however, as she rushed at him kunai drawn and hair whipping in the wind like a blizzard. Their kunai clashed and sparks flew as they traded blows. "You're right, I am weak senpai." Namida said as she threw her last senbon and managed to cut the side of his arm. It was a shallow wound that wouldn't even leave a scar, but it was enough for her to feel like she actually accomplished something important and paid him back for drawing her blood twice.
Kakashi drew back, away from the fight and looked her over as she stood before him now. He had to disagree with her former statement. She wasn't weak. She just had no faith in her own abilities or herself. But he understood now why so many had such strong faith in her, why they would fight for her when she wouldn't even fight for herself. She had talent, even if it was hidden behind self-doubt and a meek personality, but she was also a genuinely good-hearted person. He looked her over once again and saw that her little wind trick, for he was positive it had been her doing, had taken up almost all of her chakra and yet she was still willing to fight. He straightened and returned his kunai back to his pouch, before he pulled his head band back over his sharingan eye. "We're done for the day Mikazuki-san, you can relax now." He told her calmly. Namida blinked and the icy shine that had covered her features melted away instantaneously and her long hair fell back over her face as she nodded and put away her kunai.
"Thank you, Hatake senpai." She spoke with a bow, her submissive and polite personality still very much intact. "I expect to see you here tomorrow afternoon." He said casually, having decided that she was worth his time and attention. He had barely scratched the surface with her and he had many questions but refrained from asking her for the time being. Namida looked genuinely surprised but merely nodded and he noticed a small smile curl at the corner of her lips. As he went to pass her he stopped when she bowed again and spoke. "I'm sorry for hurting you senpai." She whispered sincerely. "It's fine Mikazuki-san. You're the one who should see a medical ninja." He told her with a smile when she glanced up from the ground. "O-oh, they're not serious Hatake-senpai, really." She answered quickly, but stopped herself from refusing further when he moved closer to her in an intimidating manner that made her step back. Her hand fell back to her kunai pouch instinctively, but he could tell she meant him no harm and had no idea she was actually doing it.
"Get them treated after you leave here Mikazuki-san." He ordered and disappeared in a cloud of smoke when she nodded her head. When he reappeared he was standing only a few feet away from the five observers. "You how could you say those horrible things to her?" Kanya hissed ready to strike the passive Jonin, but was being held back by Tokito who gave the silver haired male an unpleasant look. "I only told her what she needed to hear, Tadahiro-san." Kakashi replied coolly only slightly ruffled by the red haired woman's anger. "You and your team have been babying her all of her ninja life. She needs to learn to stand on her own or fall." Kanya snarled, but dropped her gaze while Hana and Tokito had guilty expressions on their face. They knew it was the truth and couldn't deny it. "Now, now Kakashi I realize that their protectiveness of her has caused problems, but it is just their way. No one can fault them for what they have done." The Hokage spoke up trying to defuse the situation and rid everyone of their guilt or anger.
Kakashi nodded respectfully. "Now, you may release your sensei Kizashi-kun. I believe she has calmed enough to be free." The Hokage laughed and Tokito nodded before he let go of his ex-sensei who glared at him from over her shoulder as he stepped away. "Are you going to take her on as your student Hatake-senpai?" Hana asked calmly. Kakashi nodded and noted that everyone looked relieved, except for the Hokage who seemed to have already known and Kanya who was glaring at the ground. "Well now that this matter has been settled, I'll bid all of you a good evening." The Hokage told the ninja before he turned and walked off. "I must leave as well, excuse me." Tokito announced but assured Hana that he would be eating over at her house later before he disappeared in a swirl of green leaves, followed quickly by Hana who apologized for having to leave so soon. "You're awfully quiet Genma, something on your mind?" Kakashi stated after several long minutes of silence between the two stragglers.
The silent brown haired man rolled the senbon between his teeth in an irritated manner before he spoke, but his eyes never left the snowy haired Chunin who was busy collecting the used kunai and senbon. "You felt it right? The wintry wind she produced without so much as a single hand sign." He stated and Kakashi nodded his head. "She's only done that once before, despite my efforts to… force it out of her on several occasions. I've spoken to the Hokage about it, but he is just as confused as to where her power comes from as everyone else is." Genma paused and Kakashi noticed that his eyes softened affectionately when he watched his former subordinate, but chose to ignore it. "I have come to the conclusion that it only happens when she is emotionally unstable. She uses it habitually, it's a defense mechanism of sorts and she's scared of it. Of what it can do. What you felt today was not even half of what she can generate, but if you continue to use the method you have been, you will face its fury, perhaps even stronger than what I experienced."
Genma finally turned his full attention to the silver haired Jonin, his expression serious and eyes dark. "If she finds out that she is using it, she will do anything she can to hide it, even purposely lose a battle in which she could be killed." Kakashi nodded in understanding, taking into consideration his advice and his unspoken warning. "You should go to her." Kakashi suddenly said flippantly as he pulled out his book and began to read. Genma raised a curious eyebrow at the comment, but Kakashi didn't even acknowledge the hidden threat within the simple gesture. "You told the Hokage to tell her that you would meet her here at five. You have three minutes before you're late." The silver haired Jonin stated before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Genma watched as the smoke cleared wondering if he needed to find the habitually late Jonin later and speak to him, but decided that his secret was safe due to the former's comments just moments before he left. 'He sees more hidden things without that damned eye than he lets on.' Genma grunted and bit down on the senbon between his teeth, before he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked out of his hiding spot to meet with Namida as he had promised.
A/N: Bellus Lacrimosa is Latin for "Beautiful Weeping".