So I actually managed to finish typing a chapter in a span of a few days! I actually completed this a few days ago, but held out in posting it up until I hit the weekend. Unfortunately, I was busy all Sunday, so right now it's Monday morning...

Thanks to:
My beta-reader MidnightCherryBlossoms whom despite being lazy to beta-read for me, she still did it anyway :D
smiler411
Jessluvswriting

Only a small band of readers, but I really cherish each and every one of your support! You are the reason for why I strive to better my writing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters you recognize here except those that don't appear on Naru Wiki.

This story will not have any relation to Naruto's dream of achieving Sasuke Uchiha's return or deafeating Orochimaru. This happens a little bit after the Rescue Gaara arc. In other words, kind of AU. Thought you should know.

"Morning!"

Kohaku looked up from her cereal. Kakashi stood in front of her, a gloved hand up in greeting and a smile in his visible eye. "Good morning to you, Kakashi-nii."

The jounin pulled out the chair opposite where the girl was seated. "So, no breakfast for your good ol' senior?" he asked humorously as he pulled the pot of coffee sitting in the middle of the table towards himself.

Kohaku flatly shook her head. "I am not required to play a part in domestic housework in this mission. If you need me to do my portion of laving the living quarters, I will comply. But, I see no need, however, to take charge and be accountable for meals," a hand snaked over the abandoned spoon beside the half-empty cereal bowl, "And even if I were assigned to do so, I would have to do all the requisite gauging of everyone's nutritional needs before preparing their meals."

Kakashi, mid-way in pouring out coffee into a mug, blinked.

"I have no idea what you just said," Words that Kakashi intended to say were stolen out of his mouth by Naruto, who stood beside the table, clad only in a black shirt and orange shorts.

Unaffected by her teammate's sloppy morning attire, Kohaku resumed to eating her breakfast. The blonde boy lifted a brow. "And good morning to you, too."

The spoon-holding hand paused, and brown eyes looked up. "But I did not greet you in any way."

After an awkward silence passed, Naruto walked to a wall and starting banging his forehead against it, while Kakashi chuckled. "Just go back to eating, Kohaku," he said, pushing the steaming mug of coffee back to the middle of the table.

As it was obvious Kakashi was not going to drink it, Naruto took the coffee for himself. Kakashi's visible eye twinkled in amusement. "She's no good at detecting sarcasm," he explained softly, gesturing towards the girl.

"No kidding."

xxxxx

"...So Kakashi and Sakura are both assigned a class of ten students each," Temari's tone was brisk and professional, traces of sarcasm well-hidden away.

The late morning found Team Kakashi standing in Gaara's office, with the former listening to Temari relaying the mission details, which she hadn't done the day before, to them.

Naruto jumped up when the ambassador failed to mention his name. "What about me?"

At this, Temari allowed herself to roll her eyes. "Not only are you short and annoying, you also have a bad habit of interrupting, you know that?"

Naruto gave her a sheepish grin of apology. "Sorry."

Temari sighed. "As I was saying before he interrupted me, both he and Shishimiya will be in charge of one class together."

Together.

Kakashi and Sakura raised an eyebrow at Temari's announcement. Naruto, on the other hand, had his jaws wide open in an unbecoming fashion while Kohaku remained as impassive as ever.

Temari uttered a 'tsk' as his reaction. "Shut your mouth, shorty. I can see your tonsils."

"But whyyyyyy?" Naruto regained his speech abilities. He had dragged out the last word in a futile attempt to whine his way out of the clearly unfavorable situation.

Kohaku raised a hand, looking up at Temari as she boldly met the blonde's eyes. "Do we have to report together or individually? And by being in charge of one class together means that we both have an equal amount of authority over the students, I surmise?"

Kohaku's immunity - or rather, ability to overlook certain things never ceased to amaze Gaara, as he quietly watched the proceedings with a careful eye on the girl. Temari smirked as she hastened to answer her.

"Individual reports, no. You both have to work out who's going to write the report or to do it together. And for your other question, yes. If you need to sort out things with Naruto, I guess I'll end the briefing now," the fan-wielder turning to her youngest brother, "Anything to add, Gaara?"

Gaara jumped at this opportunity. He nodded. "I would like to talk to Shishimiya, please."

Taking the somewhat enigmatic hint to leave the room, a bewildered Temari motioned for the others to follow her. And then, Gaara and Kohaku were alone together once more.

xxxx

"It's Kohaku, right, Chibi?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes into his best glare of intimidation in an attempt to petrify Kohaku and draw a reaction other than the normal iciness out of her. She remained staring at him, devoid of any emotion. Gaara was suddenly reminded of rows of porcelain dolls staring out of a window in a toy shop he'd passed by earlier in the morning. Their blank, painted eyes reminded him of her own.

"It is my predilection to be referred to by my last name, Kazekage-sama, and not my first name or that appellation."

Well, at least she still talked norma- who was Gaara kidding? Everything about the copper-haired girl had the scales tipping to the side of unusual. It had been apparent when he'd followed her yesterday, personally experiencing whatever she did to other people. She was no different when she was on duty, save for the name-calling.

"Well, it is my preference to be referred to as Gaara, Shishimiya."

This extracted a reaction from Kohaku. Her brown eyes slid into a suspicious stare. Clearly, Kohaku did not trust Gaara as much as he had expected. "If there is nothing worth to discuss, I will take my leave, Kazekage-sama. Please excuse me."

She turned her heel and started walking out. Gaara drummed his fingers thoughtfully, before calling out. "Wait."

She stopped moving immediately. She turned her head slightly. "Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

"So, Chibi," If she wasn't going to drop the 'Kazekage-sama', he might as well use the nickname. "What are the chances of me guessing that you probably like to read?"

xxxx

Confusion fluttered over Kohaku's face before she caught herself and froze her features back into the mask of stoicism she usually wore. What was with the lily-livered Kazekage of Sunagakure? Did the peace-loving boy make it a personal mission of his to constantly fool around instead of being serious like all leaders of the hidden villages should?

Granted, she didn't exactly recognize his status in a personal view, but it was her duty as a shinobi to respect those of higher rank, so hence the formality within his name. She had recognized him at once, but because of the specific instructions for the team to meet the rendezvous party, Kohaku had merely kept the information to herself.

"Remote," her voice was icy as she turned around again, continuing her walk towards the door.

"I do have special privileges for seventy percent off mochi here in the teashops."

Kohaku paused this time without being asked to without turning her head to look at him. "It seems like you are fallacious. I may be fond of the aforementioned food, but I do know where to draw the line." From the corner of her eye, she glared at Gaara. "Do not think take me for an ignoramus. Do not judge a book by its cover."

And with those stiff words, Kohaku noiselessly left the room without uttering anything else.

xxxx

Gaara wasn't the least bit surprised by the way the girl had acted, but her last words had left a lot for him to ponder about, albeit it was a well-used saying. The way Kohaku had said them made it seem like a hint or warning of sorts.

Puzzled by the sudden spring of doubt running through his mind, Gaara pushed back into his plush office chair and ghosted his fingers across his lips, deep in thought.

xxxx

"This is my lesson plan. Tons of ninjutsu, tons of taijutsu and I'm not too sure about genjutsu, but I guess I'll try!"

Naruto grinned enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting his disdain for the auburn-haired kunoichi, who was currently looking at him with a condescending look. The two of them were sitting in an empty classroom, as they, along with Kakashi and Sakura, had been given a day to work out their lesson plans. They had been given free reign to teach the students as they deemed fit, and without doubt, Kakashi was probably going to use his favorite shortcuts while Sakura was definitely going to take the theoretical approach, which left the two others to sort out things by themselves.

Kakashi had dropped by earlier, saying that he'd already worked everything out - in other words, he was going by instinct - and had wanted to see how things were working over in their place. Naruto had groused to his mentor, begging him for the reason why he and Kohaku were sharing a class.

"But Naruto," the silver-haired jounin had said, "It's not like you're the most organized and responsible person around. And besides, two heads are better than one, right?"

And he'd disappeared, saying that he had 'business' to do. "Bah," Naruto thought darkly, "He's probably reading that boring porno of his."

Kohaku picked up a pencil, and spread out a sheet of blank paper. "As gratifying as your suggestion sounds, your method needs to be balanced out for best results," she said placidly, her hand gliding over the paper as the pencil created strokes, "Alternating the trainings to once every three days could be a start. And also, we need to know the basics they have learnt thus so far. As we are to be mentors for these eventual shinobi, we need to consider the best course of action-"

"Which is why it's better if we skip the intro and go straight to the main bit!" Naruto interrupted vehemently. He was definite that his luck had run out. No one in their right mind could possibly agree that the both of them could work together properly. He just couldn't see it happening! What with Kohaku being uptight and all…

xxxx

Kohaku was usually unperturbed when it came to aggravating people like Naruto, but this was a mission. A low-key one with only a slight chance of any serious combating, but one of high importance. Why couldn't the loud boy see it?

Kohaku's eyelids lowered, trying to block out all thoughts of possibly shutting Naruto up permanently. She'd met lots of people like him, but he was, by so far in her opinion, the worst.

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," Kohaku said in a tight voice, "A house is not built without laying its foundation. Foundation is the paramount part, for without it, the house could collapse. Please try to compare this to the way you intend to indoctrinate the students."

Kohaku blithely noted the way Naruto's eyebrows knitted together, and the way his lower lip stuck out in displeasure. His eyes narrowed into incensed slits. Clearly, Naruto was either unhappy with the way she had put down his idea or he was still seething about the way they had been thrown together. Either way, Kohaku knew Naruto still disregarded her as a true member of Team Kakashi.

No matter, for Kohaku did not care for anything of the sort. The only thing of worth to her was the mission given to her, and she would complete it without fail, even if it had to come to violence. For now, though, violence didn't seem to play into the equation.

xxxx

The next day saw a very excited Naruto and a detached Kohaku standing in the middle of a ring of prospective shinobi. Naruto preferred the outdoors, and Kohaku had no preferences, so the class was being conducted in the sandy compound of the academy. Each of the students were clad in different materials of clothing, all with colours that blended well with the sandy surroundings of the village. As was to be expected, all ten were immediately taken by the free-spirited blonde, who was currently regaling them with tales of being a qualified shinobi. Kohaku, on the other hand, could be considered a piece of eldritch furniture that none of them bothered to go near.

Putting it short: Things seemed pretty bleak for the Naruto-Kohaku pair.

"So these clones are actually better than the normal ones?" a starry-eyed child asked Naruto as a shadow clone of himself draped an arm around the real Naruto.

"Yep! They're super-helpful for ambushes and fighting!" Naruto confirmed with a toothy grin. "I learnt it for my own final exams in the academy!"

The students immediately burst into another round of chattering, all begging the blue-eyed boy to teach them how to make their own shadow clones. Kohaku, tight-lipped, was evidently displeased with the way things were turning out.

xxxx

At the suggestion of learning how to make their own shadow clones, Kohaku was alerted by two things:

One, the shadow clone technique was a forbidden technique only used by jounins and ANBU. A forbidden Konohagakure technique. Allying only went so far, and Naruto had crossed the line.

And two, Kohaku could at least pick out a fair amount of students that had no idea how to control their chakra.

So, she opened her mouth for the first time. "I doubt that would be a good idea," she said, her voice loud and clear over the incoherent mix of chattering and conversations.

As the noise ceased, Naruto looked at her in skepticism. "What do you mean? It's not like it's a super-technique that'll devastate the world of shinobi or anything," he snorted sarcastically.

Kohaku threw him an icy look, which was meant for him to stop talking. "I would like for all ten of you to be truthful: How many of you have absolute control of your chakra?"

Her question brought about absolute silence. Without any prompting, Kohaku continued. "A technique cannot be properly executed without proper handling of your own chakra. Use too little, you might as well not try; use too much, you waste your reserve for fighting," her voice rang loud and clear in the silent compound as the students stared at the girl who was finally speaking, "Basics are important, but I doubt any of you understand why."

xxxx

Naruto threw Kohaku a glare. "As a shinobi, it's always best to trust your instincts," he growled through gritted teeth, "And screw basics! When it comes down to the real thing, you only have your gut to depend on and the belief to do the best you can!"

Obviously, Naruto did not appreciate being reminded of when he'd failed the exam for another time, despite Kohaku not doing it intentionally. His lack of chakra control - which he would only learn later with the tutelage of Kakashi in the Land of Waves - was what had caused him to fail so much. God, why did Kohaku have to make things so difficult for him?

"I am afraid you are mistaken, Uzumaki-kun," Kohaku's voice was coated in ice, "I do not recall a part where instincts and belief had anything to do with the power of great shinobi,"

A corner of Naruto's eye twitched, visibly angered by Kohaku's interference and invalidation of his words. Here he was, trying to inspire a bunch of aspiring shinobi, and all Kohaku's words were doing was shoot down every single one of his statements with words of refutation. Now he was even more convinced that Kohaku was just like how Sai used to be - or maybe even worse. Sai, albeit the fact it wasn't whole-hearted, at least managed to stay civil with that infuriating false smile of his. But the apathetic face of Kohaku was on an entirely different level. Naruto wondered how the academy students even managed to put up with her prior to her joining Team Kakashi.

"I give up!" Naruto threw his hands into the air, starting to stomp out of the circle, "It's useless! It's not gonna work, no matter what Kakashi-sensei says!"

He was referring to what Kakashi had said about both of them being able to work together. He could not see it happening at all. "Anyone who doesn't want to stay with this anal, sorry excuse of a shinobi can follow me to another place where we won't be bothered!" he growled as he walked away.

All the students - no surprise there - immediately stood up, some with a bit of hesitation, and followed after the hot-headed blonde. Kohaku was left alone, unaffected by Naruto's anger.

xxxx

"I would like to know what are you doing here when you're supposed to be teaching my village's next generation of shinobi."

Gaara had been in the library to pull out a few books of reference from the restricted section to help with his paperwork, and so you could imagine his surprise when he found Kohaku, skillfully tucked away in the remotest corner of the central library with a pile of dusty books next to her on the table. If he hadn't been looking for the only copy of a book which Kohaku had happened to take, Gaara wouldn't have found her.

The librarian's own words had been, "An eccentric child; you know, Gaara-sama, one of the Konoha shinobi you employed to come here?"

The 'eccentric' and 'Konoha' was all Gaara needed to know that it was Kohaku she'd been talking about.

"Is it part of the lesson plans or something like that?"

Kohaku, despite her emotionless face, wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. Naruto's insurgency had left her with nothing else to do, and at the doors of disemployment. Seeing Gaara was the very last thing she'd wanted at the moment.

"No," she might as well not lie, "Uzumaki-kun led a mutiny that revolted against me, so instead of frittering my time away, I decided to come here."

"Mutiny? Wait a moment," Gaara carefully deciphered her words in his head. "Oh. The students don't like you?"

It took all Kohaku had to not lose her patience with the redheaded Kazekage. "That is not what the word 'mutiny' means, but in a wider range, then yes."

Gaara gave the girl an uncharacteristic smirk. "Can't say I'm surprised, Chibi,"

"Kazekage-sama, I appreciate your candor," Kohaku's eyes narrowed at the nickname, "But I am afraid we will have to discuss the allocation of teams. Would it be reasonable if I were to be paired with someone else from the team? Kakashi-nii, perhaps?"

Only then did Gaara realize that Kohaku referred to Kakashi by his name, much less as her older brother. This confused him, because common sense told him that they weren't related in any way, and also because Kohaku wasn't exactly the easiest person to make friends with.

"Kakashi-nii?" his voice was incredulous.

Kohaku showed no signs of answering Gaara's unspoken question, and instead pretended to not hear it. "Uzumaki-kun and I have different convictions, which led to the discord earlier. I feel like I will be able to cooperate better with Kakashi-nii."

There it was again. Kakashi's first name and the suffix for older brother. No 'Hatake's or '-san's.

Gaara was flummoxed indeed. Well, he'd leave the investigating for later. Now, he had to deal with work problems. "Chibi, I can't change the assignments now. It's all archived and sealed already," he said in his best authoritative tone, "I advise you to fix your problems with Naruto if you don't want the mission to be aborted. Wouldn't look to good on your resume now, would it? Abortion because you refuse to cooperate?"

Kohaku wordlessly sent Gaara an icy look. It was, by no means, blackmail, but Gaara's words were infuriating all the same.

"If you call yourself a shinobi, then have the sense to see and accept your mistakes. I don't care about pride or anything useless like that. As Kazekage, I do not take to petty fights kindly, especially when my village's future is involved," Gaara continued, "I don't know much about you, but it would be best for you if you took the initiative to try to understand the people around you. Naruto, especially. He hates it when people are cryptic, much less when they're nothing like him. Stop being childish and act professionally."

xxxx

Kohaku was taken aback by Gaara's words, albeit she didn't show it. Now she knew, despite the fact he had that silly tattoo on his forehead and tendencies to ask pointless questions, Gaara was unusually wise for his age; fit to be the Kazekage to bring Sunagakure to a new era.

Still, she didn't like him. Or trust him for that matter.

"It would, perhaps, be rude of me to ask, but why do you support Uzumaki-kun so much?" she asked, turning her cold gaze upon him, "After all, even if I may have made many mistakes on my part, Uzumaki-kun is no more innocent than I am, either. I was not aware the Kazekage of Sunagakure doled out special treatment for those considered to be more than acquaintances and mere subordinates."

xxxx

Biased. She was calling him biased!

Gaara fumed quietly beneath his cool exterior. "Naruto has helped me more times than you can imagine," he replied smoothly, "It is only because of him that I am here today. But that does not mean I do not find any fault in him."

For the second time, Kohaku raised a cynical eyebrow. "To confute that statement, I would refer you to the conversation we were having earlier," her voice was deathly cold, "Kazekage-sama, it seems as if you have heard Uzumaki-kun's side of the story, and not mine, despite the fact it is the other way round."

Gaara couldn't deny the fact that he hadn't thought about it properly. He'd only been focused on the way Kohaku was handling things - not in a professional way, mind you - and hadn't thought about her predicament in the least. Albeit the fact Kohaku was most definitely at fault, Naruto was guilty as well.

"I-I'll talk to him later," Gaara hastened to say, "But please think about what I've told you."

Kohaku threw him the same condescending look that she'd given him the day before. Picking up a book, she started walking away quickly. "I will," she said, "Then good day to you, Kazekage-sama,"

"You too, Chibi," Gaara sighed.

Few minutes passed when he realized something.

Kohaku had taken the book he'd been looking for. He had been so caught up in lecturing - or attempting to - the girl that he'd forgotten to ask for the book. Now he had no reference for his paperwork.

Kohaku - 1

Gaara - 0

Damn it all.

Author: Remember, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

Luv,

Pichuzilla