Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don't steal and don't sue. Thank you *Phantomness bows*
Chapter 2: Team 7
Hatake Kakashi studied his team.
Uchiha Sasuke was dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants with bandages wrapped around his calves. He was wearing gray shin guards and arm guards and a breastplate with a katana strapped to his back. He at least looked serious. Overall, it matched his profile.
Haruno Sakura was dressed in a red dress and had been fangirling over Uchiha Sasuke. Uzumaki Naruto was in an eyesore of an orange jumpsuit. Both of them were screaming at him for being late. But, at least they weren't hungry. Interesting… had they disregarded his instructions to not eat breakfast?
So he explained the instructions for the bell test, and watched as the three of them dashed off into the woods together. Interesting… had they figured out that they should look underneath the underneath? He ambled after them, noticing that even though they were clumsily disguised, they had at least attempted to set up traps. There were quite a few traps. Some traps had been so obvious that he avoided them. They were clearly there to catch the eye in the hopes he wouldn't miss the other traps underneath. Cute, but still genin-level…
The three of them attacked together. Sakura's taijutsu was hopeless. He caught her in a genjutsu easily, but Sasuke broke her out of it seconds later. He sent Naruto flying with a powerful kick. Naruto bounced right back at him, still in a sloppy Academy stance. Sasuke at least attempted ninjutsu on him and he buried him up to his neck in the earth. And still the three of them kept coming at him.
Kakashi was surprised when Sasuke dug himself out, grabbed his arms from behind, and yelled "Naruto, now!" Instantly, Kakashi was surrounded by Naruto's shadow clones. He didn't expect them to do any damage at all, but instead of attacking, Naruto transformed. And suddenly, Kakashi was surrounded by naked, busty, women, all making excessively realistic noises and motions.
His eyes widened.
Sakura cut the bells from his belt and giggled. The alarm rang.
"Okay…" Kakashi said slowly. "I guess you pass…"
Sasuke smirked. Naruto grinned. Sakura cheered.
"So, are you going to teach us an awesome technique now?" Naruto asked.
"Maa, maybe tomorrow," Kakashi said. They pouted.
"We haven't even had lunch yet," Sasuke pointed out. "It's still early in the day."
"So it is," Kakashi said. "How did you dig yourself out so quickly, Sasuke?"
There was a strange glitter in his eyes. "Family secret…"
Kakashi's gaze sharpened. He didn't quite like the way the boy said that. "Well then," He sighed. "I suppose I could train you guys… eat your lunches, I'll go get the team registered."
"But there are only two lunches," Naruto pointed out, his stomach grumbling.
"We'll share," Sasuke said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, I packed an extra." He reached into his backpack and pulled out another bento box. "Here you go, Naruto."
Naruto was goggling at the fact that Sasuke of all people had made an extra lunch for him but he decided to accept it. "I guess you aren't so bad, bastard."
Sasuke said nothing.
"Don't call Sasuke-kun a bastard, Naruto!" Sakura's hand curled into a fist, ready to punch him into a tree.
"Don't hit him, Sakura, he's our teammate now." Sasuke cut in. "Even if you don't like him, you still have to trust him to protect you and be ready to give your life for him on a mission. Otherwise…" His voice trailed off ominously.
Sakura flushed. "S-sorry, Sasuke-kun…"
Naruto wasn't sure his eyes could go any wider. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with the real Sasuke?"
"Tch," Sasuke replied. "We're not in the Academy anymore. We're Genin now, aren't we? And we were put on a Team for a reason. So let's act like it."
Not far off, Kakashi observed their interaction with surprise. He had thought Sasuke would be the divisive element on the team, but this… this was a surprise.
"If Kakashi isn't going to teach us anything, I brought scrolls from home." Sasuke concluded once lunch had been eaten. "Sakura, I know you have good chakra control, so I brought you an illusion technique. And Naruto, I heard from somewhere that you have wind chakra, so I brought you a wind ninjutsu."
"Awesome!" Naruto cheered.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura blushed.
"What about you?" Naruto asked after a moment.
Sasuke just pulled out a medical textbook.
"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head to the size. "You're not going to learn a super-awesome technique yourself?"
"Weren't you paying any attention to my introduction yesterday, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "I told you that I was studying medical ninjutsu. That means I'm not on the front line, remember? My role is to stay alive and heal the rest of you."
"Right," Naruto nodded. "I was just testing you, dattebayo!"
Okay, Kakashi thought. He had observed them long enough. It was touching, how Sasuke was willing to go so far for his teammates, but wholly unnecessary.
"Put your books away, kids," He said cheerfully. "It's training time!"
Naruto and Sakura jumped. Sasuke did not.
"All right," Kakashi clapped his hands. "Let's start with three laps around the village, chop-chop!" He watched as they stuffed the scrolls in their backpacks. Sasuke calmly put away his medical textbook, as though he dared Kakashi to say something else. Kakashi vaguely felt like punching him, just to see how he'd react. They started running.
By the end of the day, Sakura was running ragged, Naruto was panting slightly, and Sasuke didn't even look winded. Kakashi hadn't exactly pegged the Uchiha for one with stamina, as being previously partnered with Itachi in Anbu, he knew the Uchiha Clan were bred for speed, not endurance, and that medical textbook looked pretty heavy. What kind of individual training had Sasuke been doing?
When Kakashi dropped by the Uchiha compound to check on his student that night, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. That only deepened his suspicions. The place looked far too lived-in for only one person. Sasuke was in his room, reading a medical textbook, but he could hear a muted conversation in the kitchen and smell cooking food. Only, when he went to that window to check, there was no one there.
It's haunted, he thought immediately, but quashed that thought immediately. Ridiculous! There were no such things as ghosts!
But if there weren't ghosts, who – or what – was in there with Sasuke?
Slowly, Kakashi lifted his hitai-ite, revealing his Sharingan. If there was an illusion, he would penetrate it. But even with Obito's eye, he could see nothing, could not hear what those maddening whispers were saying. He did, however, feel a sudden flare of chakra. He turned and saw Sasuke watching him, a fully formed Sharingan in each eye.
"Kakashi," Sasuke stood at his open window, with a kunai in each hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I just came to check on my student," Kakashi replied, feeling the killing intent radiating off the boy. "Is something wrong?"
"Tch, you could have just knocked on the door. Come in, I'll make tea." Sasuke invited. Kakashi shrugged and took the invitation. He slipped in Sasuke's window, noticing as he did that he could hear the shower running.
"Do you have guests over?" He asked casually.
"Of course I don't have guests over. Don't be ridiculous," Sasuke replied as he led Kakashi past the bathroom and into the kitchen. Kakashi noticed with alarm that the pots and pans on the stove were still sizzling and bubbling merrily, and that there was no one tending them. Sasuke lifted the boiling kettle off one of the burners. An unseen force handed him a tin of tea leaves, followed by two cups.
"Thank you," Sasuke said politely, putting the tea leaves in a teapot and pouring the boiling water over them. Kakashi sat numbly in a chair and tried to remind himself that ghosts did not exist. He mutely accepted the cup of tea and drank it scalding hot, trying to keep a hold of his composure.
"So…" He finally said. "When you said your family taught you how to escape from my technique, you were speaking literally…" God, Sasuke was living with the ghosts of the dead Uchiha Clan. That couldn't be healthy.
Sasuke knew exactly what erroneous conclusion Kakashi had drawn, and he didn't particularly care. "Yes."
Kakashi finished his tea. He needed to talk to the Hokage, and he needed a drink, perhaps several drinks. "You know I'll have to report this to the Hokage."
Sasuke nodded.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was astonished when he heard the news.
"Which ones are they," He asked Sasuke when he met the boy a few days later.
"Tousan and Kaasan and a few of my aunts and uncles," Sasuke lied effortlessly. "Not everybody stayed behind. Most of them left…"
"I see…" Hiruzen spoke. "And… they take care of you?"
Sasuke nodded.
"Do they ever… tell you things?" He prodded. "About why they died?"
Sasuke shook his head. "He killed them. That's all they remember."
Perhaps that was for the best.
His team had already mastered the tree-climbing exercise. Now they were picking up trash from the river while they practiced water walking. Sakura had mastered it quickly, Sasuke already knew it, and Naruto was at the shallow end of the river. Kakashi sighed as Naruto spluttered and cursed again.
Well, he'd get the hang of it soon enough.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura began.
"Hn," He turned around to look at her.
"Kakashi-sensei mentioned something…" She looked a little frightened. "He… he said something about your family… but isn't your family dead?"
"Yes," Sasuke said, grinning a little. "Dead, but not gone."
Sakura's eyes widened. "W-What do you mean?"
"Tell me, Sakura," Sasuke leaned in a little closer. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
Sakura almost lost her balance. "W-what do you mean, ghosts?"
"Think about it," Sasuke replied, before scooping up another rusty can.
"So I heard you have ghosts at your house, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled.
"Hn," Sasuke continued walking.
"And I want to see if it's true!" Naruto continued, oblivious to his teammate's rising ire.
"Ghosts are invisible, idiot," Sasuke continued on his way. "But if you'd like to have dinner, you can certainly join me."
Naruto wasn't about to say no to free food. Sakura watched the two of them, and then plucked up her courage. After all, this was her chance to impress Sasuke's parents, even if they were dead!
They could smell the food cooking before they even reached the house. They took off their sandals in the entryway, and Sasuke announced that he was home and had brought guests. It was a little creepy, Sakura admitted, how the lights turned on and she couldn't see anything, and the door opened for them.
"Tousan and Kaasan aren't home," Sasuke said brusquely. "They're not always here."
Sakura was disappointed. Naruto didn't particularly care.
Dinner was stir-fried spinach with salted egg yolk, spare ribs in black bean sauce, stir fried carrot and celery slices with cuttlefish, sweet and sour pork and dry cooked chicken, steamed rice and a light soup. It was all very good, and the portions were generous, as though they had known Sasuke would be bringing guests home.
They ate in the dining room. There were presences all around them, also eating. Seeing the food disappearing into thin air was somewhat unnerving. Naruto talked loudly, Sakura tried to make conversation, but it wasn't easy. Sasuke barely spoke at all.
"They think you should cut your hair short, and not wear the dress. It's not practical for a ninja," Sasuke told her when dinner was over.
"Dinner was delicious," Sakura said, feeling awkward.
Sasuke nodded. "I'll lend you another scroll on genjutsu."
Her eyes lit up. She followed him into the library. He handed her a scroll of D-rank techniques. Their fingers touched. She blushed, but he looked away.
Another hand brushed hers. She shivered. It was freezing! She thought she heard a dark chuckle, and trembled.
"Naruto, would you like to stay the night? It's getting late. You can use the shower, and I've got some spare clothes."
"Thanks," Naruto yawned.
Sakura walked home alone. The next morning, she showed up with her hair cut short and in a dark blue shirt and shorts. Naruto was wearing a jumpsuit in forest green this time. Kakashi heartily approved.
End Chapter
Completed 3/25/16
Started 3/25/16
The Clow Cards are invisible to others, hence, the 'ghosts'.