Hello again, here is chapter 7! In it, Yoku is given something by her dad relating to her kekkei-genkai, another (probably unsurprising) tragedy and some more emotional stuff. Yoku graduates the Academy along with some others too-you guys were probably getting impatient for that to happen lol. Also, regarding team formations... read on and see ;)

Thanks to all who left a fav, follow or review, I really appreciate it!

lizy2000: Glad you liked it, just wait and see what happens

RadioPoisoning: Thanks for pointing that out, I must have misinterpreted the wiki info lol. Plus I have a lack of common sense sometimes, I'll correct it. Yes, I'm trying to keep character appearances and interactions balanced.

Tanner Clark: D'awww, you make me blush. Yeah, crushes like Yoku's would be awkward as hell, not to mention frustrating.

Recently, I'd been thinking about the Chakra Leech Jutsu. Although I loathed the idea of using it, I was wondering if I could somehow manipulate it so that I could use it in a more benevolent way.

'If I can get chakra to flow into me, can I get it to flow into others somehow?'

Tapping my fingers on my desk, I pondered.

'If I could just... divert the flow...'

An idea came to me and I flung my arms out with a cry of triumph.

"Eureka!"

Most of the class turned to face me at my outburst. With an embarrassed cough I sat back down, avoiding the angry look from my teacher.

Speaking of Imarai, he'd taken to wearing a bandanna. From what I could guess, that glue I stuck in his hair got wet and caused him to rip some out. The bandanna was probably to cover up the missing patch.

Trying to melt back into anonymity, I wrote down some notes about strategies useful in the field.

'Man, I can really feel the weight of the situation now. This war isn't exactly in our favor at the moment, either...'

The Third Great Ninja War had been raging for some time now, devastating the Five Nations. One of the most concerning effects of it was the lack of manpower-shinobi were losing their lives rapidly, causing a shortage of soldiers. My father was barely at home anymore, always off fighting. I'd heard they were going to start drafting children as well.

'Not much different from the Warring States period, huh...'

My troubled thoughts ceased when I noticed Obito asking me something.

I lifted my head from my book "What?"

"That thing you said before... what was it?" I turned to meet his eyes, a part of me glowing in triumph. Since I'd accidentally smashed his goggles, he'd ceased to wear them-this left his best features unblocked.

"Eureka? Uh, it's a little like 'Deja Vu.'" I replied

"So then, does it mean the same thing?" he quirked an eyebrow

"No, actually. You say 'Eureka!' when you suddenly get a brilliant idea." I was trying to focus on the conversation instead of his eyes

"...what was your idea?"

The warmth drained from me, replaced by a fearful uncertainty.

"Um... it was something to do with chakra. Something like medical ninjutsu. If my idea works, I might show you someday..." I trailed off, reluctant to continue

Despite how much I trusted Obito, I was fearful of revealing my kekkei-genkai.

'He and Rin reacted fearfully when they noticed I'd killed the cat, and they didn't even know what I was doing. What if I tell Obito and he becomes afraid of me? I'm like some kind of freak...'

I turned my head back to my book, sticking my tongue out at it in a childish manner.

'If I could just store some chakra in containers for absorption...

When I got home to find Father eating some sashimi, I decided to tell him about my idea.

"Father?" he turned his head to me but kept eating

I launched right into my question, albeit nervously "About the Chakra Leech Jutsu... is there a way to somehow direct the flow of regenerative energy to someone else?"

Father's eyes returned to his meal and he responded "No."

"Oh, um. Well, I actually have an idea of a way to do it. Maybe." Father's eyes flicked to me and I took this as a signal to continue

"Mother was an Uzumaki, right? So that means I have Uzumaki blood within me. I've read about their traits, and one of them is the ability to transfer healing chakra to others. This is done by the receiver biting the giver and sucking out their chakra. It can be dangerous to use too often though." Father paused, an eyebrow raised

"When I asked Mother about before she passed, she said it'd be a very bad idea for me to try it. She said that since my genes were diluted by yours, my chakra would deplete very quickly if it was to be used to heal others. So, I can't heal people using my own chakra. But with the Chakra Leech Jutsu, I can absorb chakra from other places." I avoided looking at my father, proceeding with caution

"My idea is, what if, while I was absorbing chakra from something, someone could bite around the entry point and suck out that instead of my own chakra?" I finished quietly, dreading the response to come

Father had finished his meal and was regarding me silently. Realizing he wasn't going to speak, I asked a final question

"I want to see if it works, but I don't want to be sucking chakra out of living creatures. Could I absorb chakra from a scroll or something like that?"

Father stood up and I gulped.

"What you're saying could be dangerous, but.. I do have a way for you to test your theory."

Father took me into his room. It was a little dusty due to lack of use, since he didn't stick around much then. He walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a trunk; I sneezed as he blew the dust off of it. Father opened it up, revealing three small jugs, a scroll and some sort of pendant. The jugs and scroll were a faded cobalt color-the pendant was a red diamond-shaped stone on a steel chain.

"I used to use this stuff before I came here-let me show you." Father picked up one of the jugs and handed it to me

"These can be used to store chakra. If you carry them around, you can absorb some if you need to heal. Granted you can't seal much into them, so be careful you conserve the chakra and don't use it all at once. I've sealed some of my own chakra into these, so you can use them to test that idea of yours."

"What are those for?" I asked, pointing to the scroll and pendant

"The scroll acts like one of those little containers, but you can seal much more chakra into it. It's an emergency supply-I wouldn't use it unless you really need to. As for this... I hope you'll never need to use it." Father regarded the pendant with disdain

"Why?"

"This pendant isn't the only one of it's kind. They act as a disguise-simply wearing it and activating it with chakra will give you an alternate appearance and voice. It also modifies your chakra signature to some extent. Using it will drain your chakra every so often, but unless deactivated or deprived of chakra it will maintain the disguise. I used this before I came to the village-after our clan started being hunted down, we created these to hide our identities."

Father fastened the pendant around his neck. After a few seconds, his appearance changed. He now had straight brown hair and hazel eyes. His skin was tanned, his features rougher. His clothes remained, but he looked like a stranger.

"You see?" his voice was different too-deeper

Father unfastened the pendant and placed it back in the trunk, the disguise vanishing. He then passed me the other two jugs.

"Here, hang onto these for now. Use and refill them if you need to, just be careful. You're still not in complete control of the jutsu-use it sparingly."

I nodded, excited to be a bit more optimistic about the Chakra Leech Jutsu.

A little over a week later, I received the news that Father was dead. I'd been sent a letter-it told me that Father had been killed in battle. The war had been taking it's toll recently, but that was the first time I could really feel it personally. On one level however, I was not surprised. Father was not the man he used to be-heck, with how much he'd been away I was expecting him to die on a mission.

Nonetheless, I still felt the pain. I was now alone in my house for good. There was money left in a bank for me so I'd be okay for food, and I had lived alone in my old life so I was not unfamiliar to the concept. I didn't like being by myself though.

To distract myself from this new emptiness, I focused on controlling my Chakra Leech Jutsu. Using the containers I was able to practice it without fear of harming anything-but it was annoying having to refill them. I still hadn't attempted my healing others idea-I was afraid it would end badly and harm whoever I tried using it on.

I'd been hoping to have Father buried, but his body wasn't recovered. Despite this, a grave was made for him in the cemetery-I visited it every so often along with Mother's.

After training some more, I reached a milestone in my life-graduating from the Academy.

Most of my class were taking the written test of the Graduation Exam. It was a compilation of all the basic curriculums, along with explanations of strategies, formations and various jutsu effects. We were in a small classroom, being overseen by a couple chunin. The test was boring, but not too difficult. After the class was finished, we were called one-by-one into a room for the jutsu part of the exam.

When I was called, I was relatively calm. The technique was a clone jutsu-I'd practiced it and it was alright. I entered the compact room, facing Imarai along with some other teachers-plus The Third Hokage.

'...he's only middle-aged at this point, right? Or... uh... anyway, he still looks about the same as I remember him-'cept his hair's not gray yet.'

Shaking off my pondering, I took a breath and performed the necessary handsigns. After a couple seconds, a clone appeared with a poof next to me. I looked away from it-an exact copy of myself always unnerved me a little. My mind drifted to rememberance of an anime episode where Naruto's clones revolted against him.

Sweat formed on my face as I awaited my grading. Hiruzen simply nodded, signifying I'd passed. Nonetheless I held my breath, until I was presented with a forehead protector. Looking down at the fabric and metal in my hands was surreal. To me the headbands were something just out of reach-cool, signifying someone devoted to a cause, but I'd never end up wearing one. When I tied it around my head I was filled with such elation that I skipped-skipped out of the room. In front of the teachers and Hokage. I still feel embarrassed just thinking about it.

After standing around outside for a couple minutes with the other graduates, I saw Obito race past me with a whoosh. Judging by the look on his face, he was distressed. I began to panic.

'He's meant to graduate now, right? I better go see what's up..'

I ran in Obito's direction, leaving behind my fellow confused genins.

I stopped when I saw the boy I was chasing sitting on a bench. He looked melancholy, more depressed than I'd seen him before. This rubbed off on me too-I'd always hated seeing Obito sad. Now that I cared about him so much, I felt like his emotions were connected to mine in some way, cheesy as that sounds. As I approached, Obito looked up at me-and my headband. His eyes became downcast.

'I've made him feel even worse. Idiot!'

"Hey..." I started, sitting next to him. He didn't respond

"What's up? I hate to see you sad, Obito." the Uchiha's eyes swerved to me, his expression lifting a bit

"I... failed..." he said quietly

"..." the words carried such emotion-they hurt me

"Obito... you can't have failed. I know you didn't. It looked like you just ran out of there-did you stay and get your evaluation?"

"No.. but I just know I failed. My clone took forever to appear.." his hands clenched into fists-he looked like he was going to cry

Steeling myself with courage, I did something instinctive-I hugged him. Or, half-hugged since we were sitting. Trying as hard as I could to not melt into a puddle of embarrassment, I encouraged him.

"Hey, if your clone appears formed, you pass and-" I froze when I saw Imarai coming towards us

I hurriedly separated myself from Obito, smothering my cheeks as if to get rid of the blood in them.

"There you are! Why'd you run off like that?" asked our teacher as he came to a halt

"I'm s-sorry.." Obito stuttered, getting off the bench

"I was looking all over for you... here you go!" Imarai took something out of his pocket-a forehead protector

Obito peered at it hesitantly "Don't tell me I..."

"Congratulations! As of today, you're a fully fledged shinobi!" Imarai unceremoniously tossed the headband to Obito, who caught it

The boy looked at it for a second, before whooping and jumping in the air.

"I did it!"

"See? I told you you passed!" I got up and gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder

"But! The trials of a genin are only just beginning for you two..." Imarai said seriously-we stopped fooling around

"You'll be placed in a three-man squad with a jonin leader. You'll complete missions as a team." the atmosphere was suddenly rather grave

'Ugh. You ruined the mood, Imarai-sensei...'

I was sitting in a classroom, at the start of the graduation ceremony. Obito wasn't there-late, most likely. Imarai was about to announce the teams, making me depressed.

'Obito's with Kakashi and Rin, so where will I end up?'

"We want each squad to have a balance of strength and ability, so that's how we pick them. I will now announce the three-man squads.."

I sat rigid at my desk with anticipation. Names flew by, some recognizable and some not. When I heard Guy's name, I listened in.

"Team Choza: Might Guy, Genma Shiranui and Rin Nohara."

'...what?'

"Uhm, sensei, could you repeat that?" I asked, certain I misheard

"Okay, Yoku. Might Guy, Genma Shiranui and Rin Nohara."

'But... Rin's not meant to be with them!'

Now I was confused. Some things were changed, perhaps thanks to me or perhaps not. Maybe that's how I ended up with my placement...

After the ceremony for graduation, I waited outside the Academy building for Obito. I was unsurprised by his tardiness, having accepted it as the norm. After all, he was never late on purpose-he just ended up helping people on his way and thus delayed himself.

I smiled as I saw the boy on my mind appear, running frantically forward and kicking up a cloud of dust. As he got closer, the banner above me which read "Graduation Ceremony" was let down with a rustle.

I winced as I saw him trip and slide along the ground-I could practically feel every second, having experienced the accident myself. He stopped just short of my feet, groaning in pain. With a blush, I offered him a hand and helped him up.

"You're late, Obito. Graduation's over." I said, causing him to sigh

"Well, you see, there was this old lady.."

"You seem to have a habit of running into old people, huh?" I quipped

"They've been ambushing me lately." he replied with a pout

"Hey, don't be depressed! I've got an idea-cmon'!" suppressing my nervousness, I grabbed his hand again and led him into the Academy building

We stood in the assembly building, now empty and silent. The floors were mopped, the chairs all neatly stacked against the wall-a far cry from the earlier noise and bustle. A ladder was to my left, near the banner waiting to be taken down. I was facing Obito on the stage in front of the central stand. In one hand I held his graduation certificate-in the other, behind my back, was a small brown package.

Clearing my throat, I began my own version of the graduation ceremony. I started with a snobby voice, making Obito snicker.

"In my hand I hold the graduation certificate of Obito Uchiha. This document certifies that you have graduated from the Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy."

Smiling and dropping the fake voice, I launched into the congratulatory bit.

"You are commended for persevering through the rain and wind to reach this milestone! Heck, you went through hailstones and gales and emerged victorious!"

Suprised to hear sniffling, I glanced up from the sheet to see Obito with an emotional expression. He looked adorable and I found it hard to shift my gaze from him.

'Focus...'

"Here, congrats!" I said gently, handing him the paper

"Yoku..." the tearful boy wiped his face

"Aaand, formalities and official stuff aside..."

I moved my other hand in front of me, holding the package with both hands

"For all your determination and improvement... and cause' I kinda owe you these.." I blushed sheepishly

"I present you with a new pair of goggles!" I handed him the package

"Thank you.." my blush darkened and my insides turned to mush

'Come on, keep it together...'

"Nobody's here to watch, but this makes me happier than receiving it from that old Hokage!" Obito had a look of absolute joy on his face

"Aww... g-gee.." I sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence

"Hey, is it alright if I.." he gestured to the package

"Sure, go ahead.."

He opened it, grabbing the goggles. As he put them on, I regretted getting them. His face, the apple of my eye, was now covered again.

'Aw man, I remember why I didn't like them now..' I thought with a pout

"Hey, we'll be assigned to three-man squads and go on missions now, right?" he asked

"Y-yeah."

"So, have the teams already been announced?"

"Uh-huh. Y-you're.. on.. um..." I wanted to slap myself for all the stuttering

"Wait... we aren't on different teams are we?" Obito wondered, confusing my embarrassment for sadness

'Come on, dammit! Form an actual sentence!'

"*cough* You're on a team w-with.." clearing my throat again, I finished my sentence as confidently as I could

"You're stuck with me!"

"No way!"

"Yup. Oh, and sorry it's me instead of Rin... she isn't the third member." I replied, a hint of bitterness in my tone

"Hey, that's okay. I'm glad to have one of my friends at least. Um, who's the third member then?" I felt a pang at the hint of disappointment in his voice, but continued

"None other than the Leaf's own prodigy, Kakashi Hatake."

"WHAT?!"

I stood waiting next to my new teammate Kakashi and my new sensei Minato. My outfit was also new, since my old one was worn and small. My pants were standard dark grey trousers, pouches sewn onto them and a kunai strapped on one leg for emergencies. I wore a zipped-up black jacket over a grey shirt-the jacket had the red Uzumaki symbol on the top left of the front instead of the back. My forehead protector was tied around my head as was the norm.

Our team had been told to meet in the training fields, presumably for introductions and the like. Obito was late again. I was sitting, practicing handsigns. Minato was in a casual position, one hand in his pocket. Kakashi had his arms folded and a look of annoyance on his face.

'Blegh. Gonna have to get used to this new setup-Kakashi's okay aside from his rule obsession, though Obito's tardiness could be a bit of a problem now that we're gonna be going on missions. I've gotta think about what's to come and do my best to work with them.. Minato will probably hold us together.'

I stood up and gave a little wave as I saw Obito approach us.

"You're finally here. You must be Obito," said Minato when the Uchiha boy skidded to a halt

"..barely made it.." he panted

"You're really late." said Kakashi. I could sympathize with his impatience on some level

'If I hadn't gotten used to his lateness I'd probably be a little ticked off too.'

"I'm Minato, your leader from today. Glad to meet you." said Minato, introducing himself

Obito, now recovered from his running, gave Minato a thumbs up and a "Yeah!" in response. I smiled at the cheesiness of it.

"Anyway, let's have our first training session together."

"R-right!" Obito responded and moved to stand between Kakashi and I

"In this session, I want to see your teamwork!" Minato said-my hopes plummeted

'Aww crap. I've never really fought alongside anybody, just sparred against them. Obito's impulsive, Kakashi's a loner, not to mention those two together are like oil and water. How am I gonna make this work?'

As if hearing my thoughts, Obito and Kakashi shot glares at each other.

"Ah, teamwork?" I piped up

"Mm-hm. And the exercise will be this..."

When I heard the jingle of bells, my hopes died.

'The bell test. I forgot about the fucking bell test.'

We began in the forest, giving us some cover. I tried to think of a strategy as Kakashi charged towards Minato.

'Let's see... Minato's very fast, so he'll be hard to catch. My syrup trap jutsu would be too slow to be of any use. Maybe if we could corner him somehow..'

Kakashi's attacks were fast, but Minato was faster. He blocked a barrage of shuriken and flashed away when Obito shot a fireball. Speaking of which, Obito's fireballs had gotten pretty impressive compared to how small they used to be. I threw a kunai in Minato's direction of teleportation, but it was swiftly dodged. Glancing around for a good perch, I spotted an unused log trap-an idea sprung to my mind. Throwing some shuriken to keep Minato occupied, I called to my teammates.

"Obito! Kakashi! I've got an idea!"

The boys turned their heads to me-Obito jumped back to land next to me, Kakashi dropped from above.

"Okay, Minato-sensei is fast, right? But instead of trying to slow him down, we should box him in. That log trap over there-" I gestured to it quickly

"-can be useful. We'd get Minato-sensei in the path of it first. Then Obito, you'll shoot a fireball towards him. At the same time I'll release the trap from behind and use my water bullet jutsu from one side. Kakashi, while he's occupied by the attacks, you dive in the open side and go for the bells." after I finished, Obito protested

"Why is it Kakashi that gets the-"

"There's no time to argue Obito! Like it or not, Kakashi's the fastest of us and the one with the best chance of surprising Minato-sensei. So, you guys with me?"

The boys nodded; we began.

First, Kakashi started by pushing Minato with taijutsu. I threw kunai and shuriken to help with it-Obito did the same. When I noticed Minato was almost in the path of the trap, I jumped to stand by the trigger rope. Kakashi saw this and backed off too-Obito continued attacking.

"Now!"

Obito's hands were a blur-I cut the rope just as the fireball was forming. Then, I formed handsigns as I jumped to the left.

'Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!'

A stream of water flew towards Minato-that was Kakashi's signal.

Said boy leapt toward our sensei in the confusion. His fingers grazed the bells-he managed to grab one before Minato teleported away. Kakashi jumped back in alarm, barely dodging the colliding attacks.

"Nice! Now we just gotta get the other one.." I said, tired but still moving after my sensei

In the end we were all sweaty, tired, dirty and beat up. Kakashi held one bell, the only one of us still standing up.

"You all pass!" exclaimed Minato with a smile

I managed a half-hearted fist pump.

"We'll start our first mission tomorrow." continued our sensei; I was too tired to wonder what it would be

"That's more like it!" Obito exclaimed energetically, flinging his arms in the air

'How can he be so enthusiastic? I just want to sleep.'

"I'll show you what I've got in a real battle!"

"Actually, this first mission is inside the village. Like finding a lost pet or item." Minato corrected

"What?! Those are just odd jobs!" Obito complained

"A mission is just a mission. If you succeed, I'll assign you more important missions."

"Personally, I'm glad we're starting off small. Going straight to fighting twenty enemy ninja would be a drag." I said, my lazy side showing

Obito looked at me with an anime face of disbelief.

"B-but fighting a bunch of enemy ninja would be way more exciting than doing chores!"

"Fighting and killing isn't all fun and games Obito. We might even be fighting in the war. Plus, if we went up against a bunch of powerful, experienced ninja right now we'd get creamed." I replied in a grave tone. Obito quieted and folded his arms in a pout

"Kakashi, you've been on many missions already. This may seem boring, but do your best anyway." Minato said to Kakashi, who inclined his head

Obito perked up and issued Kakashi a challenge "Okay Kakashi, I challenge you!"

Kakashi turned his head to Obito but didn't say anything

"Let's see who can complete more missions."

"That's stupid. Do what you want."

"You chicken?" Obito smirked and quirked his eyebrow

"What did you say?" Kakashi responded, shooting a glare at Obito

'Just like Marty Mcfly, Kakashi.'

"...it's not here." I heard Kakashi say near me as I ducked under a shed

"It's not here either." I responded, having found nothing in my search

We met up on top of a roof.

"Found anything?" I asked my teammate

"No."

"Geez, finding a lost pet isn't easy. Especially in a place with so many nooks and crannies..." I groaned, anime expression of sulking on my face

"But if we don't succeed at this, our team will never be sent on real missions." he replied; I sighed

"..By the way, where's Obito?" Kakashi wondered, glancing around

"He went off by himself to look." I answered

"Is he serious about beating me?" Kakashi asked, face shifting in confusion

"Kakashi, it's Obito. When he's determined to beat someone, he means it. You're his rival also, so I guess that adds to the competition." Kakashi glanced at me with a raised eyebrow

Elsewhere, Obito was asking around the village about the missing cat, mostly talking to the elderly people he knew. After a while, he got a lead and managed to track down the wayward feline.

I chuckled when I saw Obito with a grumpy-looking cat in one arm. He was a little scratched up, indicating our target was annoyed at having been found. Despite the scratches, the boy had a bright grin on his face. In his other hand was a purple bag of some sort. I was standing with Minato and Kakashi, all of us on a small bridge.

"I found a lost pet and a lost item, thanks to help from the grannies. I even got some treats!"

"Nice one, Obito. Looks like the old ladies are paying you back for your chivalrous deeds." I said, causing Obito's face to brighten. I failed to suppress a blush

"Well, it's true; One good deed deserves another." remarked Minato

"How's that, Kakashi?" Obito said, triumphant at besting his rival

Kakashi stiffened for a second, then looked away.

Later, in the Hokage's office..

"All the odd jobs in the village were completed in a single day.." muttered Hiruzen as he crossed out the last box on a scroll

"Of course, it's because I'm the one who's gonna become the Hokage! This is no problem." responded Obito confidently

"Lord Hokage, I believe this team is more skilled than we thought." said Minato

"You're right. Kakashi already has a lot of field experience. Perhaps I shall send them along with you on your mission tomorrow."

All of us let out surprised exclamations.

"On Minato-sensei's mission?" I wondered

"Is this a real mission?" Obito asked with excitement

"Yes. And the client requested Minato specifically."

'Minato is skilled as hell and super fast. If the client requested him specifically, this mission could be tough.'

"It's a C-Rank mission."

'Hmm, maybe it won't be so bad.'

"Although the risk is low, I'd be lying if I said there was absolutely none." Minato added

'Unsurprising.'

"I was planning to send you to do more odd jobs around the village while Minato was away. But there are no more requests, and I can't just let you wait around." Hiruzen said

'Aw man. A day off would've been nice.'

"Yes!" Obito pumped his fist in the air

"Well, this is our first real mission then." I said, nervous

Minato turned his head to us "I'm counting on all of you from tomorrow."

We each responded with a nod and a "Yes, sir!"

Kakashi, Obito and I walked along the corridor after the meeting. Obito was behind Kakashi and I, arms behind his head in a relaxed pose and a cocky look on his face. Kakashi had his eyes closed and hands in his pockets. I was walking lazily, one hand in my pocket.

"You should be grateful to me Kakashi. I'm the reason there are no odd jobs left!" said Obito-Kakashi bowed his head in annoyance

"Obito, quit being cocky!" I scolded-Obito sweatdropped and let his arms fall by his sides

Turning my head to the grumpy grey-haired genin, I spoke "Kakashi, you don't need to get upset with him. He's been worried about you for quite a while-he thinks you've changed." Kakashi looked at me, opening one eye

This was true-Obito had been concerned about Kakashi's change in personality after his father's death. Like the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke, Obito wanted to reach out to Kakashi and find what troubled him.

"Wh-what're you talking about Yoku?" exclaimed Obito as he ran to stand in front of me

"Well, it is true. And you always train hard to catch up to him."

"Do not! I'm training to be the Hokage..." Obito huffed and turned away with an embarrassed blush

Kakashi was looking at us from the side-I was unsure what his expression meant.

"Look, why don't you guys shake hands? We're on the same team now, might as well make it semi-official." I suggested

The pair of boys turned away from each other grumpily.

"I'm not shaking hands with this guy!" Obito said. Kakashi was frowning.

"We've got a long way to go.." I sighed and grabbed their hands, causing them to turn their heads in surprise

"I've got a responsibility to this team. So for now, I'll connect you two."

For a moment or two we stood there, hands and fates linked.

Done and done! Again, sorry for taking so long. Yoku and co. have FINALLY graduated and will move onto missions. I decided to just swap around Rin instead of going with the route of a four-man squad. It makes things easier down the road, plus it's correct. I killed off Torei without much drama, 'cause I figured I should add some normalcy. Yoku is saddened by this, but saw it coming. Next chapter sees Team Minato going on their first real mission, plus their photo-taking and some rivalry. They'll also get info on the Chunin exams at the end. Leave a fav, follow or review if you want and see you next chapter!