DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of Naruto.
AN: Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, added to favorites and alerts. It means a lot to me. I'll try to add more details here. Also if anyone noticed the wrong complex in chapter 4 it's been corrected XD Thanks 4everfictional :)
On The Verge
Of Growing Up
The next morning I reached the training field Minato- sensei had told us to assemble at. I was surprised to find Kakashi already waiting since I thought I was early. It looked like he had already trained if the fresh scratches and bruises were any indication. My hands itched to heal them but I didn't want to offend him by asking. We waited in silence while I mentally counted the seconds in my head.
A few minutes later, Kakashi started some training on his own. He found one of the biggest trees nearby which had no leaves. He glanced at it for sometime before he started to land continuous blows to the huge trunk with open palms. It took me a minute to notice his hands were infused with chakra and that his hands didn't come in contact with the trunk. Instead it appeared as though he was trying to destroy the tree from the inside.
If I remembered the picture in one of the chakra control books I had read, the exercise is to perfect chakra control for A- level jutsus. I wondered if Kakashi had reached jonin level at such a young age. I was startled by the crack of the tree and Kakashi's frustrated groan. The inside part of the wood was completely hollow; there was barely a couple of inches left. There was another crack and a cloud of sawdust had me coughing while Kakashi's mask protected him. Ugh.
"You know it's really an advanced technique?" I asked once I was over my coughing fit. He only looked at me once before glaring at the tree.
"Only skilled chunin and jonin are able to master it." I tried again. This time he just glared at me.
I tried trying to talk but obviously he wasn't interested. I sighed. I could train too I supposed. But it would be incredibly awkward with him at watching distance. Urk. I knew I should have brought a book. A few more minutes passed in silence. Make that awkward silence. He took a book from his pocket and started reading it leaning against a tree. Obito was always late but...
"Um, is Minato- sensei usually late?" I asked.
"No, this is the first time he's been late without notice." Kakashi said without looking at me.
"Do you think we heard the time wrong?" I wondered out loud.
"I'm here too aren't I." He muttered.
"Um wrong place?"
"Don't be silly. Both of us can't get the same things wrong." He snapped.
"What if he doesn't come?" I asked just to get him to keep talking.
"He will." He said confidently.
"What if-" I couldn't finish. "If he doesn't come in a few minutes I'll go look for him." He snapped again.
"Can I come too?" No way was I waiting here alone.
"Why?" He asked gritting his teeth. Great, now I was either pissing him off or annoying him.
"I don't want to wait here alone...?"
"Obito will probably show up soon, so, no." He flipped the page. Hurry up, Obito!
"Do you have a book I can borrow?" I asked after he turned two more pages.
"No." Well great. Now I had find something that would interest him as well as pass my time.
"Do you, maybe, want to spar?" I ask hoping he would agree. I mean ninja never refuse to spar, right? He looked at me raising an eye brow reluctantly nodding once. Score!
We both regarded each other as we took the basic fighting stance then simultaneously sprang to attack. Kakashi was faster than me almost hitting my face but I quickly blocked it with my fist. He didn't give me time to move instead choosing to throw a punch, again I blocked it with my other hand. There was a series of punches that were hard to block but I managed. This was how my first spar went. Dodge. Block. Block. Dodge. Dodge. Block.
Inside, I was cursing myself for being so stupid. It was beyond stupid to challenge someone obviously more powerful than me. Fine, I decided, if I could not get a hit a on him I would not let him hit me either. So I continued to dodge and block as much as possible.
A few minutes later both of us broke apart. I was gasping for air. A quick look at Kakashi showed him panting too. I started healing the little scratches I had gotten while blocking Kakashi's strong punches. The familiar glow of green chakra erased all signs of injury in ten seconds. I made a quick note in my brain to buy some battle gloves in the evening.
"You know medical ninjutsu?" Kakashi asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Yeah, I can heal your cuts if you want to." I replied.
"I guess." And so I did. Almost half a minute later, he was as good as new.
"Impressive fight, you two." Minato- sensei said from behind a tree.
"Just thought to train while waiting for you." Kakashi said with a hint of annoyance and disapproval. "Since you were late."
"You must learn to be patient sooner or later." Minato- sensei chided.
"According to Ninja Handboo-" Kakashi started to be cut off by Minato "It's not always a good thing to follow the rules as I have told you many times, Kakashi." Sensing an argument I thought it best to change the subject.
"It's just we were worried we had the time or place wrong..?" That sounded silly to my own ears. Kakashi cleared his throat.
"I knew you would come but you are never late without notice."
"If you had gone home last night instead of training, you would have found a note on your bed with the right timing and to inform Yumeko and Obito of the same." Minato- sensei told Kakashi sternly.
Kakashi didn't say anything just looked away embarrassed. But Minato- sensei wasn't finished. "Do I have to have another talk about your sleeping and eating habits?"
"Sorry I'm late!" Obito shouted from a few feet away as he ran towards the clearing. Minato- sensei sighed.
"Okay this will be easy now that all of you are here." Minato said motioning us to sit on the ground while he leaned against a tree.
"Starting today we are a team. A family. Even though you are considered adults in the society there is a limit to your responsibilities. We will have that talk when the time comes. I want you to eat as much as required, no skipping meals from today. Also under no circumstances are you allowed to diet unless stated by a medic. Also get adequate rest. You will have your own bank account from tomorrow and I was there to be at at least a quarter of your pay per week saved in case of emergencies.
"Obito you must learn to be on time. Kakashi no looking down on your team. Yumeko learn to get along with both your teammates. If you have any concerns, no matter what the subject, you are always welcome to talk to me." Minato- sensei finished with a sheepish smile that was the exact opposite of the serious expression he had on a second ago.
The three of us looked at each other after a nod.
"Today we will be working on your individual skills." Minato sensei gave us a blank sheet each and a wooden ink stick. "One of you will fight me while the other two will write down your strengths and weaknesses. Come at me with everything you've got. Understood?" He waited till we all said yes. "We'll start with Obito."
I was somewhat familiar with Obito's skills as we had taijutsu spars frequently at the academy. But this was a different kind of exercise. Obito had average taijutsu but wasn't fast enough. Minato- sensei was blocking his attack at the last moment, no doubt giving us time to analyze. When Obito wasn't fast enough to dodge, Minato- sensei aimed for either his arms or legs. Obito once tried a fire style jutsu but only produced some smoke and ended up in a coughing fit.
Kakashi was furiously writing and gave a snort at Obito's choking. With a glare at Kakashi he started running away at impressive speed. Minato looked confused for a moment before chasing after him. Obito haphazardly changed directions at random moments. I was getting dizzy from trying to keep an eye on him. He aimed his hit in the most unexpected time that was clearly unpredictable.
"Alright your half hour is up." Minato sensei said flickering in front of Obito and keeping him in a headlock. "You knew all along what I was doing. No fair." Obito protested. Minato chuckled as Obito grumbled all the way taking his paper and pen.
"Yumeko, your turn." Minato stood in the center. I walked over to him thinking. Clearly I couldn't do the 'dodge and block' trick I used against Kakashi. I threw a punch first which as easily dodged, then a kick which that didn't even come in contact with his body. I launched the combination of attack with more speed with each attempt. He easily blocked them all using just one hand.
Minutes felt like eternity and I wished I could do some cool ninjutsu or any cool attack like in a video game or a TV show which would make things interesting. But since taijutsu was all I could use at the moment, I did the best I could with it. If I could keep his hands and legs busy he shouldn't be able to touch me unless he used a more serious approach which wouldn't let the other two to assess the fight properly. After all that was the purpose of this exercise. After some time, I was starting to slow down as my speed dropped. Then it occurred to me that I was doing exactly what Kakashi did while we sparred earlier.
"Ok Time's up." Minato- sensei declared not even out of breath. Breathing heavily I sat down with my paper and pen back in my hands. Before Minato- sensei called on him Kakashi was ready and went to the middle of the clearing.
As expected Kakashi was better than us in terms of speed, strength and jutsu repertoire. His skills were impressive but Minato- sensei was stronger, much to Obito's and my relief. Minato could read each move Kakashi was going to make and countered it expertly making sure we could see what he was doing. My eyes were glued to the fight and a sidewise glance at Obito told me he was just as impressed as I was.
All too soon the match was over. "You were holding out on me all this time." Kakashi accused Minato- sensei who only gave a small grin and a wink at us. Gah, he brings a whole new meaning to the word 'cool' was all I could think.
"That's all for today. Have some lunch and think about where you need to improve when compared to your team and learn what you can do to make up for your mistakes." Minato- sensei said. "Assemble outside the Hokage tower at nine. Obito don't be late we are taking our first mission tomorrow. Bring your own lunch box or the boxed lunch at the Shinobi Mess. We'll train after the mission is completed. See you then." Minato vanished with a flicker. Kakashi gave us nod before leaving.
"Yumeko, you know Guy and Genma right?" Obito asked quietly.
"Yeah they are my friends." I replied not knowing why he was asking that.
"You know Rin?" Obito's face was hopeful. Right. Rin was in Guy and Genma's team. Obito was in lo-
"That intelligent girl in our class?" I said. It wasn't a lie, she was one of the top scorers. "I don't really know her but she was my taijutsu partner in one or two classes."
"I guess we better go huh." Obito said with a half smile. "See you tomorrow." Obito lived in the Uchiha compound on the other side of the village from the Hokage compound.
"Bye." I waved watching Obito run deep into the forest before heading out.
Surprisingly Biwako was home this afternoon. I had my lunch and helped Biwako with separating the plants she had collected. We put whatever part was useful in one bundle and the rest aside. We put all the herbs in a glass bottle and labeled them. By the time we were done, Asuma returned home. Dripping wet.
They had their first mission. Asuma gave me rundown of the whole thing but not before rubbing it in my face that he had done his mission before me. The mission was to weed a garden of the local florist. Apparently he and his teammate thought it was a 'sissy job' till their sensei and Kurenai reminded them that these missions were taken by even the elite ninja when they were genin. Grudgingly they had completed it and then the hose was brought out. Asuma and Shiro (his teammate) got more water onto themselves than the garden. We both laughed at that and glanced at our garden hose but Biwako's throat clearing alerted us that she not only heard everything but also not even think about hosing ourselves. It was curious she too had a small smile.
After dinner I mentally prepared for Minato- sensei's assignment. With a plan ready, I fell asleep within minutes.
The next morning I had a full breakfast and prepared my own lunch box. Kakashi and Minato were already waiting outside the gates. To our surprise Obito was only ten minutes late. He had apparently left his house an hour early.
Our first mission was a baby sitting mission. The father, a merchant had to meet someine in the next town but his son was sick and couldn't go to school. So we get to take care of the sick three year old and the father was rich enough to afford a genin team to keep his son safe from his business rivals for five hours.
Needless to say it was horrible. The kid, Eiji, puked on Obito who cried. He had an accident while Kakashi was holding him. Let's just say, Kakashi was glad to have backup masks. He wouldn't drink the soup I made, it was chicken soup, the ultimate fever remedy but no. The soup was fed to my hair. At one time, I asked if I could heal his fever and give the herbs I always carried in case of emergencies; but no. That would be against the mission objective: Take Care of My Sick Child.
We had an elaborate plan where Kakashi would distract Minato- sensei while Obito stood on guard as I healed Eiji without disruptions. We wept in relief along with the kid when the client arrived. We got half an hour to go home and freshen up and I invited them to my house which was the closest as Obito lived far away. We all agreed that having children was too bothersome. Even Kakashi voiced his agreement. In short, we were scarred.
That afternoon we had one on one spars. Since we had observed yesterday, it was somewhat easy to counter and attack. The problem was the opponent too had the same knowledge. By the end of the day we had all backup fighting methods apart from our usual way.
Exhausted but excited, I gave Asuma a rundown of the whole thing. He got a kick out of it and agreed that pulling out weeds was better. He dramatically sniffed my hair and declared it still stunk. Horrified I took another shower. Biwako tried assuring me that kids weren't that bad but Asuma and I screamed.
The rest of the week went on the same way. We did D- rank missions during the day and trained in the afternoon. So far we had relatively tame missions. Rescuing a lost pet, weeding, cleaning, getting some herbs from the forest etc. Kakashi and Obito had many verbal taunts but didn't get physical. Minato sensei usually mused that he was thankful there wasn't a love triangle with a teasing glance at me which never failed to make me blush. I would huffed and tell the boys to break it up. They would grin sheepishly at me before stopping the argument.
I was lounging in my bed on a Saturday afternoon. It was my day off. We didn't get the while weekend off like in the academy. Half the Genin had Saturday off and the other had an off on Sunday. Asuma's team had mission today so I was all alone at home after a long time.
Minato- sensei had told he was pleased with our progress and we would be knowing our chakra nature soon. Obito claimed he had an affinity with fire and Kakashi already knew he was a lightning element. I was giddy with anticipation and nerves.
I was lost in my own thoughts when I heard a noise from upstairs. I frowned, no one was to come home till evening. I had set up the front alert seal so whoever was inside didn't use the front door like a normal guest. Instantly I was alert. Clutching my kunai I set off to where the noise came from.
My mind was conjuring all sorts of horror movie scenarios. It could be a robber but who in their right mind would want to rob the hokage. Assassins? Could be but there was an ANBU guarding the compound 24/7. Someone from the Mazuka clan? They might want to kill or kidnap me. Why would they so openly attempt it in broad daylight? There was another crash and a curse. Ok, maybe I could takeout whoever the intruder was.
I stood outside the unused room waiting for another sign to know I was in the right place. There was a sound of a box opening and I concluded that there was some sort of treasure in this room because the Hokage's room was right next to this one. The door opened and I instantly attacked whoever came outside.
I didn't get the stranger. He was a spiky black haired guy in his late teens with his headband spiking his hair up. He had a familiar grin and had my hands loosely bound in one of his hands.
"Wow slow down there kitten!" The guy said amused. I calmed my heart down assuring myself that he was no psycho killer. I had let my imagination run away with me again. I knew it was him although I had never met him in my life, only through an old photo Asuma had and that was from some years ago. I felt silly now.
"I believe we aren't properly introduced. My name is..."
AN: Um that's it till I go find a name! Let me know what you think and who u think this guy is... He never comes in the show/ manga but we all know he existed :) Still looking for a Beta, so this chapter is unedited!
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