Serenity Angel: Hey! Sorry this took so long. Been very busy with a lot of stuff. I don't want to babble (don't have anything to babble about) so…
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters except Kaiyamei Hatake and others that will be introduced as the story goes on.
Enjoy!
Normal P.O.V
"This should be interesting." Kai said as she watched the door the students had just exited from.
"Well at least it keeps you busy." Iruka said shrugging while moving back to the desk.
"Yeah, just what I need." Kai chuckled and looked back at her old sensei. He had put his papers together and was now walking over to Kai.
"So what now?" Iruka asked when he was standing next to her.
She looked at him and then tilted her head in thought. She was technically free until the kids met with their designated sensei. Well since the secret that she was home was out among the students … A slow smile crept to her face when she had made her decision.
"Well it wouldn't hurt to talk and feel out the students… you know, separate the ones that can make it from the ones that can't." She said with a finger to her chin from the thought.
"Got some catching up to do?" Iruka asked chuckling.
"Oh yeah." She answered grinning widely.
"Well I'll leave you to it. We definitely need to sit down and catch up soon too, okay?" Iruka said holding out a hand. Kai just smiled and pulled him into a hug which surprised him.
"Definitely." Kai said before pulling back and smiling.
They walked up the steps and parted at the door, Iruka making his way to the Hokage's office and Kai going to change back into her own clothes. She finished the task quickly and made her way to outside where everyone had gone to eat their lunches. While she walked to her first 'victims' she made a mental note to really see if they had the ability to make it to the next step. Some of the sensei were hard testers and it would take everything the genin had to pass.
With that thought in mind she put on a smile and greeted the group, engaging in a conversation afterwards. She found them friendly and eager to learn about her status, especially some of the missions she had to go through and she found that they had a slim possibility of passing, though that possibility didn't have their feet in the door. She talked with other groups, finding them equally as refreshing to talk to as the first. After wandering the grounds for a while she happened upon a group where every member was too familiar for words. She smiled and crept to the low wall by which they ate, the female of the group having taken to leaning against it.
Without any of the three noticing Kai crept up behind the girl and covered her eyes, the girl letting out a noise between a squeak and a squeal at the sudden action. Kai only giggled and lifted her head to the girl's right ear.
"Guess who?" she said in a sing song voice, the girl letting out a startled gasp at the sound of it.
"K-Kai?" She stuttered out. Kai removed her hands from the girl's opaque eyes. The girl turned around to face her and smiled at her.
"Kai!" She exclaimed, suddenly hugging her, which was totally uncharacteristic of the girl. Kai only hugged back, moved by the action.
"Been a long time Hina-Chan!" Kai said as she pulled back. She looked at the other two and a half members of the group.
"Shino, Kiba, Akamaru." She said with a grin, nodding in both boy's (and dog's) direction when she said their name. She let her eyes land on Kiba and had to hold back a smirk.
"No hard feelings about the kunai thing?" She said tilting her head toward him. He just smirked at her and folded his arms.
"Just as long as there isn't a repeat performance." He said. Kai sucked her teeth in a playful manner and shrugged her shoulders.
"I dunno… I am supposed to be teaching you a few things and that also includes the weaponry division." She said in a manner that sounded serious. He made a face that didn't agree with the statement and Kai laughed, unable to hold it in.
"Okay, okay, I'll lay off. For now." She said adding the last part in her mind.
"S-So how l-long have you been b-back?" Hinata asked, which made Kai smile, thinking about the old days.
"Just got back yesterday," She said while she took a seat on the wall.
"So obviously many don't know that I'm back yet." She said shrugging her shoulders in a 'duh' manner. They all nodded their heads in an understanding.
"So the Hokage sent you to teach us?" Kiba asked. Kai nodded her head in an affirmative matter.
"Wow, you must be pretty damn good to already be a Jonin." Kiba said leaning toward Kai. She had almost corrected him when he had said 'Jonin' remembering what she had told the class.
"Yeah. One of the reasons you rarely saw me out and about town… I was a busy kid." She said shrugging again. They nodded their heads again and she smiled.
"I can't wait to start teaching you guys. I wanna see what you got." Kai said leaning back on her hands and swinging her legs back and forth.
"Heh, well I know you'll be amazed by my skills." Kiba said folding his arms across his chest and wearing a smug smirk.
"Oh really?" Kai said, smirk forming on her lips and raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I don't wanna toot my own horn…" Kiba said cockily and Kai had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
"Well we'll just have to see about that won't we?" She asked with a challenging tone laced in her voice and a look of daring on her face. She ended up giggling a moment afterwards, looking down at her lap before looking back at them smiling.
"Well listen, I'm gonna meet with the other teams while you still have lunch. I'll see you guys later with your new sensei." She said jumping down from the wall and hugging Hinata.
"See ya!" She said, giving a half wave to the boys before disappearing.
As she went to talk to the next group, there was a certain ninja on the other side of the grounds having his lunch atop one of the school buildings, lost in his thoughts thanks to today's unexpected surprise…
"Man… I can't believe Kai's back after all this time…" Naruto said aloud to himself. Thoughts of his first and very best friend brought back memories of their childhood, from the first day they met to all the fun they used to have, every smile, every laugh, everything.
"I wonder if she's still the same…" he mumbled, looking to the sky, though his mind's eye saw one day in particular, darkening that same sky to what it had looked like on that day. The day he saw her covered in his life's blood, the blood of a person who was very dear to here and, quite honestly, to himself. What was even more shocking was the fact that for the first time ever, he saw her crying, and like she couldn't control it.
"Could what have happened… changed her?" He asked himself, the sudden memory of her breaking down at his gravestone after days of being completely emotionless coming to mind.
He sighed shaking his head of those thoughts, Sakura's recent rejection randomly sprouting in its place, and as he looked over the grounds around him, he only found Sasuke eating his lunch by himself. Just the sight of Sasuke made Naruto's anger boil, the idea of being on the same team as him only intensifying it.
"Why did this happen? How'd I get stuck with that jerk?" He thought to himself as he watched Sasuke. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head and he smirked.
"I know…"
As Naruto thought out his latest scheme, Kai was making her way to the next group after talking to quite a few. She found some of the teams gracious and admiring of her accomplishments to the point of wanting to know everything the could in the space of five minutes, while others were stuck up and had no chance of ever passing. They were going to fail so bad it almost made her wince at the thought and feel sorry for them.
Almost.
As she jumped from another rooftop in search of a group she heard the mouth of a certain blonde. She was kind of disappointed that it wasn't the blonde she was really looking out for, but hey, she was here to catch up with everyone. She walked up to the groups' lunch spot, concealing her presence and standing behind a wall near them. They didn't notice her at all and it looked like one of the teammates was about to make a little speech.
"Okay, listen up. If we're gonna be in the same group you two are gonna do what I say and follow my lead. It's the only way it will work." The female of the group said, which almost made Kai laugh out loud.
Boy was she wrong. She had a feeling someone else would take the limelight in this group, even if they didn't show it now.
"Yeah, yeah." One of the boys from the group answered the girl.
Kai just shook her head as she came from her hiding space, deciding to play along with the girl's side for just a little while.
"I'd listen to her if I were you. Not good if you don't." She said with her arms folding across her chest. The trio looked back at her, the girl immediately smiling.
"Kai!" the girl said as she ran over and hugged her.
"Hey Ino." Kai said laughing and hugging her back.
"Oh my Kami, look at you! You've grown so much… But it looks like you never changed!" Ino exclaimed as she gave the other girl a once over. She had stopped at her hair, picking up an off-white lock.
"Well, you didn't change except for this! You dyed your hair?!?!" Ino said looking from the lock of hair in her hands to Kai who was having a sweat drop moment. It showed on her face a little, but only Shikamaru seem to know the look and chuckled a little.
"I didn't dye it… Why does everyone think I dyed it?" She said confusion tinting the last question.
"I didn't. It's just… Just my Dad's genes kicking in." Kai said with a sad smile on her face.
"So no more brown?" Ino said in a slightly sympathetic voice when Kai had mentioned her own father.
"Nope, no more brown." Kai said as she looked over to the boys, Shikamaru and Choji.
"Hey boys. How you doin?" she said with a grin.
"Fine." Shikamaru answered lazily.
"Good." Choji sad while eating another rice ball, which had Kai chuckling at the familiar action.
"It's good to see that you're back Kai." Shikamaru said.
"Yeah, it is. I say we go celebrate. Barbecue!" Choji said devouring the rice ball he had in his hand, leaving Kai stunned at what had just been said. She had been friends with Shikamaru and Choji; in fact she hung out with the boys more than the girls. She didn't know they liked her enough to actually miss her. She smiled at the boys while Ino gave Choji a deadpanned look for his comment.
"Jeez Choji." Ino said and she couldn't help but laugh. Shikamaru just shook his head at Ino. He looked back to the view in front of him, which had made his eyes widen in surprise.
"Hey…" Shikamaru had said, which caused everyone's attention to be turned to him and then to whatever he was looking at.
At first they didn't know what they were looking for, until they spotted a blonde in a bright orange jumpsuit hugging the wall of the building opposite of them. Kai let her smile grow to unimaginable proportions as she watched Naruto sidle across the wall. It disappeared and was replaced with a look of confusion almost immediately once it was seen who Naruto was heading towards: Sasuke Uchiha eating his lunch. When Naruto was near enough to the window and Sasuke was apparently not looking, Naruto jumped him, the sheer force knocking the window's wooden shudder closed, which obviously left it hard for the group to see what was going on. That didn't however, stop them from hearing everything. There was a great brawl going on in the room and it even made Kai wince once or twice when something sounded extremely painful.
"Naruto! If you hurt Sasuke you're going to get it!" Ino said, shaking a fist while Kai gave her a deadpanned look that stated 'are you serious?'
Ino, who was too busy rooting for Sasuke, didn't even see this and Kai went back to looking at the closed window.
As soon as the fight had started it was finished, the surrounding area growing quiet again besides the distant chatter of birds. It left the four ninja to wonder about the outcome of the spontaneous fight. The shudder suddenly opened and as if to answer the unasked question, Sasuke Uchiha came out smirking at his triumph.
"I guess Naruto lost… and Sasuke didn't even break a sweat." Shikamaru said surprised.
"Heh, Sasuke against Naruto? Please, that's not even a fight. No one can beat my Sasuke." Ino said boastfully.
Kai watched her with a raised eyebrow that only Shikamaru saw. She then turned away from Ino to watch Sasuke. Sensing that something off, she peered at the boy a little more closely. She realized what, or who rather, it was and in a heartbeat and laughed, which caused the others to give her a quizzical look.
"Not all is as it seems…" Kai said laughing and shaking her head slightly. The others just looked at her confused and she took it as her time to leave.
"Hey, I've got to go. I'll see you later with your sensei." She said, casting one more glance at 'Sasuke' before he went off and she herself walked in the direction she came from.
"Okay… See you later." Ino said, still confused by Kai's earlier comment, which Kai didn't feel like elaborating on.
She just smiled, gave them a wave and jumped to the next rooftop, trusting that whatever reason Naruto was guised as Sasuke was a good one, or at least hoping. She talked to the few last groups that were still together. Lunch was almost over after that and she had decided to try and find Naruto's group, the only one she hadn't seen, though she knew in the back of her mind that it was a lost cause to begin with. After wandering around for a bit she had found Sakura and Naruto, the latter yelling something at Sakura, which in turn made her pissed. She walked up and stopped behind Sakura, the girls mumbling too low for even her ears to catch. Sakura turned around and almost walked into Kai, shocking herself when she saw the girl standing there. The shock soon wore off and Sakura smiled at Kai, squealing and hugging the girl at the same time.
"Kai! It's been too long!" She exclaimed with a smile, Kai returning it.
"I know it has. What's up? What was all that about?" Kai said nodding her head in the direction Naruto had gone in. Sakura looked in the direction briefly and then turned her head back to Kai, rolling her eyes in the process.
"Oh nothing, Naruto's just being annoying." She said, waving her hand in an offhanded manner.
"Annoying, eh?" Kai said while raising an eyebrow.
In truth it was only the boys that really knew that Naruto was her best friend, Hinata being the only exception because Kai would tell her about the antics they would get in when she hung out with Hinata. Kai's father had actually been friends with certain members of the Hyuga Clan since he was a Genin letting that friendship grow to his adulthoood, inturn allowing the adult's offspring to play with one another. Kai looked at Sakura but decided not to comment about Naruto's "annoyingness".
"Hmm, guess whatever he was planning didn't work." Kai said, mostly to herself.
"What?" Sakura asked looking at Kai with a confused expression.
"It's a long story. Come on, it's almost time to meet you're sensei. I'll walk you back to class." Kai said moving down the path toward the academy with Sakura.
Sakura did all the talking, though Kai wasn't exactly paying close attention. She nodded and answered at the appropriate times and it didn't thankfully get into what Kai had been doing the past four years. She left Sakura to venture into the classroom where her teammates were waiting by herself and went to meet with the first teams who were with their Sensei. She couldn't believe how fun it was to see the people that taught, worked, and trained with her all those years ago. There were some who were greatly shocked to see her, while others had a mild case for they had heard that particular piece of gossip from the rumor mill. Once they would dismiss their students, she'd surprised them by a tackle of a hug or get one herself from them. They would catch up on some old memories, she telling them a little of the arrangement between her and the Hokage, and then she'd head off to the next group. She was surprised to find no hostility or anyone questioning why she wasn't considered rogue or even asked what had happened all those years ago. She could only guess that was conversational topics for another time.
Soon the list of people had worn itself down to the one group she had left to see: Team Seven. She found herself heading back to the school, shaking her head at how predictable her Uncle was. Of course she had only guessed that once she had seen all the other Sensei that Kakashi had this group, which already had Kai worrying a little. It so happened that she and her short-lived team were to be students of Kakashi, for they had passed by sheer luck (and stubbornness). When all was said and done though, she was the only one from that entire year of students to be able to become a shinobi…
She pushed the past memories and current worry away as she checked the room she had left Sakura in. She knew her uncle and was actually surprised to find the room empty, also a little curious as to why there was a chalkboard eraser on the floor. She shrugged it off and headed to the spot that Kakashi had taken her team to talk years ago. She had reached just in time and hid herself in a nearby tree unnoticed, listening in to the conversation.
Kai P.O.V
I watched as Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura made themselves comfortable, Kakashi taking to leaning against the railing, facing the three. This was just going to be informational, nothing too exciting… Well that's if Kakashi doesn't do to them what he did to us.
"Well, tell me about yourselves." Kakashi said motioning to them. They looked at him confused.
"Tell about ourselves? What do you want us to say?" Sakura asked.
"Your likes, hates, dreams and hobbies. You know, stuff like that." Kakashi offered. Oh, well at least they didn't have to give a whole bio on themselves like he made my team do.
"Well, why don't you introduce yourself first Sensei?" Naruto asked. Ooo, this should be good.
"Me?" He asked pointing to himself. Oh yes, this should be really good.
"Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake." He started and Naruto looked like he had a sudden case of Déjà vu. I'm actually surprised that didn't come sooner, but it's understandable.
"I have no intention of saying my likes or dislikes. As for my dream… never really thought about it. And I have few hobbies." He finished and I almost fell out the tree laughing, hand clamped over my mouth to prevent the noise from coming out and them noticing me. I looked on as I tried regaining my composure. All three of them looked annoyed and I almost laughed out loud again at the looks on their faces.
"All we found out was his name!" Sakura exclaimed to the other two, but I heard the remark perfectly.
"Yeah." Naruto agreed.
Hell would freeze over before they found out more about Kakashi than his name and his obsessive love fore Icha Icha Paradise books. Or at least, they had to become his students first.
"Well now it's your turn. You first." Kakashi said pointing to Naruto. He smiled and gladly took first turn.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant cup ramen, but really like the ramen from Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought me even more. I hate the three minutes I have to wait after you put in the hot water. My hobby is to eat and compare instant cup ramens! And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage someday and to make all the villagers respect me and treat me like I'm somebody important!" He said and I couldn't help but smile at this.
He was still the same old Naruto that I had left behind. I didn't realize how much I missed him until right at that very moment. I looked over to Kakashi and noted the smile underneath his mask, and I could only wonder what he was thinking. Well I could find out, but then again, Kakashi's mind will permanently scar mine. Believe me I've been in there once by accident. Don't ask how, why or what because you don't want to know.
"Okay, next." Kakashi said nodding toward Sakura.
"I'm Sakura Haruno! I like… well the person I like is…" She started and looked to Sasuke who was completely oblivious. I on the other hand proceeded to look at her like she was stupid. Something tells me that Sakura's priorities are something I don't want to know about.
"And my hobby is… Well my dream is to…" She said and suddenly screamed like a fangirl. I just had the sudden urge to puke. Something else also tells me I might be avoiding Sakura outside of training, especially if she acts like that.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked casually.
"Naruto!" She said with sudden anger and the ferocious urge to attack Sakura and snap her like a twig took over so quickly I had to dig my nails into the branch pretending it was her neck, the place I wanted to snap first.
The poor branch was splintering under my grip. Naruto went into tears when she said his name for the 'hate' category and I almost groaned out loud. Please tell me he doesn't like her. He can do so much better! Please, she's not even good enough for him! I tried to calm myself down by taking deep silent breaths in and out and looked over to Kakashi in order to get my mind off of killing Sakura. I could almost hear the gears in his head turning after this little tidbit of information. Sakura was one of the typical girly girls of the village; you know the ones that like the idea of love more than training to be a proper kunoichi. I could already tell that. And Naruto is my best friend, so I bet he was hoping I wasn't there yet and hadn't heard that little piece of the conversation. Too late. Much, much too late.
"Last guy." Kakashi said nodding in Sasuke's direction. Sakura smiled at him I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. There are many things I hate, and not many things I like." He started and my irritation disappeared immediately as a sudden red flag went up. I looked at the Uchiha as did everyone else. Sakura had stopped smiling and actually looked shocked. I leaned toward the group a little, intent on hearing the rest of what this kid had to say.
"Also I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream: The revival of my clan and to kill a certain man." He stated and everyone went in to silence.
The red flag was immediately joined by buzzers and bells at what this kid had just said. Forget what I thought about being angry all the time, this kid wanted someone's genitals on a stick, right on top of their head like a kabob. I looked at him, seriousness marked in every fiber of my body. Something was weird about this one… I don't like it. He's keeping something to himself, I could tell. I had actually familiarized myself with every detail I could muster when I had first heard about the tragedy. It did after all happen in my home village, so it wasn't something I could ignore, especially when the mere details were so brutal. I think I had a pretty good idea about who was top on his death list. I made a mental note to keep an eye on him and definitely make sure he didn't stray off the path he'd chosen, whichever one that was at the moment. I don't think it would be good for the people around him, or the village for that matter. I looked back to Kakashi and found him staring intently at the Uchiha, and I could only guess his thoughts were somewhere on the same wavelength as mine. They were silent for moment or two before Kakashi broke it.
"Alright then, you three have personalities and character. I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow." He said and Naruto immediately became excited.
"Alright! What kind of mission, sir?" Naruto asked leaning toward Kakashi.
"First off we're going to make it something only the four of us can do." He stopped and the blinked once, turning his head to my little hiding spot.
"Or make that five, eh Kai?" He asked and smirked. Took him long enough. I jumped out of the tree, landing lightly on my feet and stretching from being in that position for so long. I smiled at the three as they looked back at me. Each face asked when the hell did I get there, and how long had I been there. I only smirked and looked over to Kakashi.
"Depends Kakashi… How early you planning on starting this little mission?" I asked. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto just looked at me quizzically, not getting my implication on the word 'early' while Kakashi just smirked at me. Oh, he so knew I was there the whole time.
"Hey, what kind of mission is it in the first place?" Naruto asked, getting back to business. I walked over to where Kakashi was and took a seat on the railing and looked at him for his answer.
"Survival training." He said and I raised an eyebrow. Is that what he's tells them now? He looked back at me when he felt the heat of my gaze and copied my gesture.
"Survival training?" Naruto asked. Oh, this should be good.
"If it's a mission, why are we going to train? We trained plenty back at the academy." Sakura said looking at Uncle Kakashi questioningly.
"This is no ordinary training." He answered.
"You're telling me…" I couldn't help but mumble under my breath. Kakashi looked at me and I give him an innocent smile.
"Then what kind of training is it?" Naruto asked, ignoring the little exchange between Kakashi and me. Kakashi looked back at him and began to laugh, which only served to confuse them and make me roll my eyes. I just shook my head at him and sighed as he began to calm down.
"What's so funny sensei? That question was normal." Sakura said. Well guess what honey, the answer isn't and as a warning: it's likely to scare you or piss you off.
"What I'm about to say, which you'll probably find surprising, isn't an answer your really gonna like." He said to them.
I turned my head and looked at him, eyebrows raised. Why don't you sugarcoat it a little more Uncle? Don't think they catch the drift.
The others were looking for him to go on. He looked at them and took a breath before starting.
"Out of the twenty-seven graduates of the academy, only nine are to become Genin. The other eighteen are to be weeded out and sent back to the academy. This training is actually a make it or break it test…" He said stopping off and looking at me. I sigh shaking my head at what he wanted me to say.
"With a failing rate of sixty-six percent." I finish for Kakashi and they all went into shock. Naruto however was the first to break out of it.
"WHAT?!?! No way! I went through so much trouble… Then what was the final exam back at the academy for?" He said going from disbelief to demanding in a matter of seconds.
"That?" Kakashi asked. I cut him off before he could say anything else, wondering if the blow would soften more if it was given by me.
"It was a qualifiers round so to speak. If was to pick out those who might be able to make it to Genin. This right here is the real deal." I said pointing to the ground which we stood on. Yeah, I think the blow wasn't as soft as I wanted it when I saw the look on their faces. Hey, believe me, it's better than being told by Kakashi.
"What?!?!" Naruto shrieked. And yes he actually shrieked. I didn't even think that was possible.
"That's how it's done. I decide whether you pass or not." Kakashi said as he looked at them. At the exact same moment, all three of their gazes land on me, which caught Kakashi's attention and made him chuckle.
"Kai can't do anything about it. She can't give the test herself because she wasn't given a squad... She's is only to teach those who make it. In any case we meet at the training grounds tomorrow. Bring your ninja equipment and meet there at 5 A.M." He said and by the time he finished they were shaking and too busy in their own thoughts.
I looked at Kakashi, giving him the "happy with what you've done?" look. He just shrugged at me. Man, I wondered how we were related sometimes. He stood up and turned, ready to leave after finishing his task of potentially ending another three kids dreams before they began. He stopped and turned back to them, probably to crush them some more.
"Alright then, meeting's over. Oh and don't eat breakfast tomorrow. Unless you want to throw it back up." See, what did I tell you? Their eyes began to bulge more and I just gave out a deadpanned look, first at them then at Kakashi. He looked over to me when he felt the heat of my gaze.
"You know you're scaring them half outta their minds right?" I whisper harshly to them. After all, there really was no reason to scare them… that much at least.
"Yeah, and?" He whispered back. I just shook my head slightly and narrowed my eyes as my memories came flitting back to me.
"You did this to us to… And yet looked what happened…" I say but what turned out to be a smug comment at first made me go quiet when I had uttered the last syllable.
I bit my lip in remembrance and a silence passes between me and him. I know he didn't like to talk about that time as much as I did, though his reason differed from mine. He looked down at the ground running a hand through his hair before looking back at me and I immediately noticed the concern in his eyes and I look away. I watched as the three academy students walk away dejectedly, and I couldn't help but let my eyes land on one of them. You know, the one with the blonde hair and the bright orange jumpsuit? Instantly every thought was cleared from my mind as I watched him. He looked to be walking away the slowest, so it wouldn't be hard to catch up with him…
I look over to Kakashi and give him a puppy dog pout, not a full blown one, but one to get by for now. He looked over to the person I had been looking at before and sighed before chuckling.
"Make sure you're back before ten and try not to cause too much trouble." I beam at him, showing all my pearly whites.
"Hai!" I said before breaking out into a sprint to follow Naruto.
"Naru-Kun!!!" I call when I'm at least a foot away.
He turns around just in time to see and catch me in a hug as I jump him. He manages to swing me around twice before we fall to the floor from the force of my jump, me on top of him. Sasuke and Sakura both look back in time to find us on the ground laughing. I manage to gain some control first and get up, giving Naruto a hand once I was steady on my own two feet.
"Kai! You haven't changed a bit." Naruto said laughing and pulling me into a real hug.
"Why would I?" I ask laughing as I hugged back.
"It's good to see you buddy. Been too long since I've seen these blue eyes and blond hair." I said as we let go and I ruffle his hair.
"I would say the same about you but, your hair isn't brown anymore…" He said staring at my hair. It was then that he noticed that he was looking up.
"And you're taller." He said, measuring the distance from his head to mine just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He mock frowned at the fact but then let out a really big smile.
"Well, my Dad's genes are kicking in. It was bound to happen sometime." I say and I knew my smile had faltered a little, but I pushed any and every thought of my dad to the back of my mind and talked before he could notice anything.
"Anyway, enough about me. How's my best friend in the whole world? Come on, let's go celebrate this reunion with some ramen!" I say putting my arm around his neck.
I suddenly felt someone's eyes on me. I turned back to see Kakashi just shaking his head. I raised an eyebrow but suddenly smirked at a plan that I had just thought of.
"And you can buy all the ramen you want. We'll just put it on Kakashi's tab!" I said the last part loud enough for Kakashi to hear.
He so didn't know what I was pulling him into. We walk away after that, talking so fast that anyone who wasn't us would think we were speaking another language. I ignored Sasuke's look of actual confusion and Sakura's look of 'why would you want to be seen with him?' Oh, I was so going to have to fix that girl later.
But all that can wait, because I'm with my best friend and nothing could take away my immense happiness that moment. Everything felt complete and unchanged in that instant, even if the little voice in the back of my mind said that wasn't true. Well I didn't care what the hell that voice said, I was with one of the people I cared about most and far away from any and all problems, and everything about that was just right.
~To Be Continued~
Serenity Angel: Hope this is coming out good. Tell me what you think!