Masked Koi: Chapter 13. "Pre-Genin"

He yawned again as a clone puffed away next to him.

"Next," Iruka called. "Nara Shikamaru."

"Here," Mizuki said. He was anxious. Izumo was still strange after the wedding. It had been two years, though. Naruto stifled a yawn and slipped it into his pocket and walked out and leaned against the wall, looking at the other graduates.

It was over, finally. No more homework, no more lectures, no more studying. Naruto could've let out a whoop like Chouji and Kiba did.

"Naruto-kun, you're so cool!" one of the girls said. Naruto gave them the same glare he gave to everyone else he didn't like. They'd grown immune inevitably, saying that he was just shy and didn't want to reveal his true feelings.

He didn't understand girls.

"I hope I'm not on any of their teams," Shikamaru muttered, referring to the group of girls. Now, they were a single group but often split up into different and vicious groups that attacked each other with words and often placed tacks in each other's shoes and slipped bitter coffee into their water. They were unnecessarily cruel to one another. Naruto sometimes wondered why they didn't just punch each other and get over it.

Girls are girls, he supposed. Shikamaru always understood his thoughts regarding the other gender.

The next day, it was team placements.

Naruto worked on some arithmetic problems regarding Kiba and the paper he threw at him and how much time he'd wasted here on average. He summed it up to four years of his life, counting the weekdays he spent, he'd lost here. And, to waste an entire tree with the small squares of paper that were balled up and sticky (Naruto did not want to know why) and thrown at him from his side, it would take somewhere around 300 years. Naruto knew that forests surrounded Konoha, even if they were still trying to grow back after being completely burned to blackened stubs.

"Team 7: Namikaze Naruto, Haru, and Yamanaka Ino."

Naruto had brought his own lunch. He'd retained the bare skills he'd learned from Haru, like frying eggs and making rice and boiling vegetables. He added a bit of creativity by cutting up slices of apple to look like flowers, but at the end, he decided he didn't want to make flowers again. He was fine with just slices. Cutting made his hands hurt after a while, being in the same position for half an hour. He was excellent with kunai, but oddly enough, skittish around kitchen knives.

It wasn't fancy and most mothers would throw his homemade lunch away, saying it was ugly. Naruto sat down at a bench and took out his plain wooden chopsticks. It looks fine, Naruto! I'll eat it. It reminds me of my handwriting and you follow my instructions like it's a cult or something…one would think you're obsessed with me. Naruto smiled at the made-up reaction of Nishiki if she saw his lunch. Making up things like that always managed to bring some sort of positive reaction to him. Many believed the boy to be very gloomy. They'd be right.

"You need a haircut," Shisui said, appearing out of nowhere. Naruto didn't flinch. He gave him a sideways glance and brushed back a lock of hair that blocked his view of the man.

"You wouldn't happen to know anywhere that did that sort of thing? Or, more importantly, who my sensei is?" Naruto asked. He'd regained a bit more respect for the man. It was partially due to the soft dignity and confidence that had returned to the man's eyes. It reminded Naruto of when he was young and looked up to anyone that had a hitai-ate. It reminded him of when Nishiki was alive. The boy smiled a little.

"You seem giddy," Shisui ventured. Naruto resisted the urge to scowl. Instead, he looked a bit deranged. "I'll take you. It won't take long, but your sensei will."

Naruto bowed his head, just slightly.

"Naruto-ku~n!"

Naruto cringed. Shisui understood, somewhat. Koi hadn't done anything about Shisui's admirers during their Academy days…as far as he was aware. But she had reminded him multiple times that he was 'oblivious' and 'stupid'. The two Konoha males sighed and Shisui took the boy away to a barber.

"Just a trim," Naruto said. "Make it so it'll fall around my hitai-ate in the front and down to the top of my neck at the back."

The old woman with even more wrinkles than Sakumo had smiled her toothless smile and nodded. "So Naruto-chan graduated today? Congratulations. I'm sure your mother and father are very proud."

Naruto didn't say anything. He still couldn't get over what plagued his father's household.

Earlier that Morning

Naruto was about to tie his hitai-ate on his forehead when he noticed it missing from his dresser. He frowned and then swiftly left his room, making a beeline for Kayo's room. The girl was eight now and had her own room. Her mother had expanded her kimono collection and whether that was a factor or not in the girl getting her own room was debatable. Naruto didn't worry himself over petty things.

"Kayo," Naruto said before turning the knob to see his cousin trying to apply makeup and braid her hair some convoluted way. The young Academy student looked at him. "What?"

"My hitai-ate. Where is it?" Naruto asked in a clipped tone, his grey-blue eyes narrowed at the girl.

"How should I know?" Kayo scowled. "The babies probably took it but don't take my word for it."

Naruto turned on a heel and went towards the sound of the three-year-olds screaming and playing around. They were in the room that was overlooked by the kitchen with their mother, who was reading the newspaper and drinking tea, along with her husband.

"Yori-san, have you seen my hitai-ate?" Naruto asked.

"Hitai-ate, huh? You graduated," Minato smiled. "Good job." Naruto ignored the man completely. Minato didn't seem to notice. It might've been the orange eyes or the newspaper highlighting the latest tragedies. Naruto hated him. He didn't even know, Naruto thought.

"Gimme!" Yori's eldest child, a son cried out.

"No you gimme!" Yori's daughter protested.

Naruto looked over. They seemed to be in the middle of a tug-of-war and if Naruto had to guess what it was over, he'd say it was what he was looking for. He took a few steps forward, his feet making a certain sound when chakra was compressed and then slammed against a hard surface, being the floor. Minato looked up briefly before going back to his newspaper.

Naruto, with lightning fast speed, grabbed his hitai-ate out of the two toddler's hands. He grabbed the metal part, noting the suspicious wet parts around the ends.

"Naruto-niichan! Gimme!" the boy pouted.

"This is mine," Naruto said simply, his voice not harsh but still held some of its anger and superiority. Kushina's angry and betrayed eyes bore holes into the two orange-eyed blonde-haired children. They shut up immediately.

"Naruto, be nice to your siblings. They look up to you and just want your attention. Give it to them once in a while. I never see you trying to connect with them," Minato lightly admonished. "What do you do all day, anyway?"

"Focus on what's important to me," Naruto said as he washed the ends off in the sink, dried it off, and placed his proof of being an adult in Konoha's eyes into his pocket. Genin were placed under the same jurisdiction that Chuunin and Jounin were, seeing how they were all ninja. Naruto shot his father a dark look before leaving with the homemade lunch he'd made the night before. Minato raised his eyebrows at the look, confused.

"Naruto, if you want—"

The door slammed shut, cutting Minato off. He sighed and sipped his tea. Yori didn't say anything. Minato wished she had. He wished she'd said something like, 'Damn those pre-teenager phases, ttebane!'

Minato's eyes widened. No…Minato looked at Yori. I love Yori, he thought. I married her, after all. She's given me support when I needed it and kept me from working those crazy hours as often as I used to. Kushina and I are over. That's final.

Present Time

Naruto let out a small sigh, thinking of his new siblings. He didn't like them. He hated his entire family, save for his mother and Nishiki. Neither of them had wronged him or made him feel as angry and hurt as he did when he thought of anyone else.

"Alright kiddo, done," the woman said. Naruto looked at himself in the mirror. He nodded.

"Thanks," Naruto said as Shisui paid. The haircut had taken twenty minutes, from washing to drying to snipping.

The two sat on a bench in front of a vending machine in the shade. Shisui gave the boy something he supposed the boy would like, some bottled tea while he bought himself some dango, determined to remember the taste.

"Here," Shisui said after Naruto had finished his lunch. "It's the second of four scrolls she intended to give you. Congratulations on graduating, Naruto. I know I'm a day late."

"It's okay," Naruto said, drinking the rest of the tea. He pocketed the scroll and looked at the Jounin. "Who is my sensei?"

"Just remember to eat tomorrow morning, no matter what anyone says. I think she may have told you to look underneath the underneath, or you have simply heard it because it's part of being a shinobi. Anyway, keep those two things in mind. I've got something I've got to do now, so I have to get going. Good luck tomorrow," Shisui said, patting his head and then vanishing.

Naruto didn't understand. Good luck…tomorrow? He threw away his bottle and sealed his lunch, the container part, into the first scroll Nishiki had given him. There were instructions on how to seal and unseal objects from a scroll and Naruto had been tinkering with it lightly. He wasn't necessarily good at it; it took a few tries, but he was slowly getting the hang of it. The container went in without a hitch.

He smiled triumphantly and then walked back to the Academy. There, Haru and Ino were sitting there, looking annoyed. Both girls looked angry and for all the Uzumaki boy knew, it was for any sort of reason.

"I was looking all over for you!" Haru glared. "Where were you? We're a team now! We've got to stick and work together!"

"Naruto-kun, I've been worrying! Where were you hiding?" Ino asked. There was a hint of drama in her voice. Naruto brushed her off.

An hour passed.

It was then that Naruto was aware of the other team in the room. That was, Chouji, Shikamaru, and some girl with pink hair. Naruto stared at her, trying to remember her name. He didn't have much of anything better to do. He could talk to Shikamaru about problems that plagued their lives and prevented it from being easy.

Nah…

Naruto's eyes drifted to his team. He knew Ino had some technique, being a clan girl. As for Haru…Naruto didn't know. He supposed that after she'd taught him how to cook and taught him that not everyone was like him and didn't push themselves as hard as he did and didn't like his totalitarian method of teaching, that was, 'keep trying until you get it or die'. Apart from being an excellent cook (Naruto would never admit that) and being too upbeat, the girl was plain.

Chouji kept the atmosphere light with his crunchcrunchcrunchcrunchcrunch sounds and then a pop when he blew up an empty bag and then quickly compressed it. It exploded.

Ino eventually started to yell at the boy for making so much noise, to which he replied that she should be used to it because they'd known each other for years. Ino simply yelled louder and turned to Naruto, as if he were a mediator.

Naruto poked his head out the door, frowning. Just where were the last two sensei?

"I'll be going home. Are you sure you all are going to be alright?" Iruka asked. His eyes lingered on Naruto just a moment more than the rest of them.

"Yeah," Naruto said. Iruka nodded and left.

Another hour had passed.

Naruto watched as Haru began to set up some kind of trap. He shrugged; he had nothing better to do. No one did. No one wanted to continue hearing Chouji's complaints about having to wait so long that he'd finished his chips. Even Shikamaru made a sound in annoyance.

"You got any wire?" Haru glanced at Naruto. He nodded and handed a good length over. Haru began to tie things together and set things in the shadows and top rollers of the door.

"Haru, what're you doing?" Ino asked, her voice sounding a bit condescending. She crossed her arms.

"Ino, could you get me a bucket? Actually, two," Haru asked, still busy with the wire. Naruto looked both skeptical and intrigued; he didn't want to be interested, but he was angry like the rest of them that they were forced to wait for so long.

"Naruto, could you find paint?" Haru asked, grinning.

"Sure," Naruto said and walked out. Ino saw this and looked at Haru and then Naruto. She walked out as well, muttering how Haru was using her Naruto-kun. Haru didn't like Naruto, not in any sense other than a potential friendship.

The two came back with what Haru wanted. By now, Chouji and the pink-haired girl were also interested.

"Y-you know, you c-could also gather some leaves a-and have it stick to the two sensei," the girl said quietly. Her green eyes were filled with hope and then gratefulness when Haru nodded.

"That's a great plan. Chouji, Shikamaru, Naruto, Ino, and…" Haru looked at the girl. "Uh…"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura," Sakura said, blushing a bit that someone with such high class ranking was talking to her.

"Sakura. All five of you gather some leaves. If anyone else has suggestions, they can speak now or forever hold their peace," Haru smirked. The five left with a 'troublesome' and came back with dry and brown leaves and bright green leaves. Sakura, a bit uncomfortably, instructed Chouji and Ino and Naruto on what she'd had in mind.

The plan would work within seconds. First, the sensei would open the door and the two buckets of paint, red and yellow, would be tipped onto their heads. Then, they'd trip the wire at their feet, allowing the bag of leaves to be dumped onto their paint-covered heads and hopefully their necks and shoulders.

The Genin all sat down again, silently.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Tap.

They all tensed. They were coming! Haru glanced at Naruto, her eyes shining with anticipation. He smirked and went back to fiddling with a pen, taking it apart and putting it back together. Shikamaru pretended to sleep. In reality, his ears were perked up like a dog, patient. Chouji, if he'd had chips, would've been eating with such speed that it would be a miracle he didn't choke. Ino held her breath and Sakura was covering her mouth in fear and disbelief and hope that it would work.

Two hands appeared, one at the frame and the other at the edge of the door, pushing it open. It opened enough to reveal two Jounin.

The two looked at the Genin, wondering what was so funny. Suddenly, realization had a new meaning: paint and leaves plastered on their bodies.

"Team 7…my first impressions of you. I fucking hate you. To the roof," Kakashi growled and disappeared.

Naruto glanced at his team. Both girls looked nervous. Naruto wasn't afraid in the slightest. He'd known how the two Jounin would act. They were prideful and confident and being bested and taken by surprise with mere paint and leaves was humiliating. Naruto would only get mad if Kakashi decided to be vindictive. Then Haru would be his first target. She'd thought of it. It was all her fault, and that Sakura girl's fault.

He couldn't possibly be at fault. It wasn't like he agreed and was an accomplice or anything.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. My hobbies are drinking coffee and…you're too young to know that…My likes include coffee. My dislikes are overconfident Genin who think they can get away with anything and those who act superior. My dream…I don't think I should say it. Yamanaka, your turn," Kakashi said. His voice was cold like a blade and it cut into Ino's flow.

"I-I'm Yamanaka Ino. My hobbies a-are flower arranging. My likes include…" Ino stole a glance at Naruto. "My dream is to become a master mind-reader! My dislikes include Haru because she always acts like she's better than everyone!"

"What!? That's Naruto!" Haru cried out. Kakashi gave her a stern glance as he wiped off the paint in vain. "Right…I'm Haru. My likes include pocky. I don't like very many sweet things. My hobby is threading and training sometimes. My dream is to find my family."

Kakashi's single eye slid over to Naruto. "I'm Namikaze Naruto. I don't like anything but training and a candy called 'Black Thunder' and bottled tea. I dislike almost everything else including people who disrespect my mother. My dream…I'm not saying it."

Kakashi gave them another hard glare. "At 5am, you all are to be on Training Ground 7 to begin our first mission. Do not eat breakfast. Dismissed," Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto stared at where his sensei was for a moment before getting up.

"Hey, Naruto. How are you?" a dangerously friendly and cold voice asked. Naruto froze.

Ino and Haru gasped as a bucket of orange paint was dumped into the boy's head. He wiped it away from his eyes and lunged at Shisui, who lazily dodged with a smile. Naruto was slow. He scowled and applied chakra to his legs, increasing his speed. Slow.

"Watch your back, kid. You never know when I'll strike next," Shisui taunted in a way that sounded so much like Nishiki and then grabbed Naruto's short hem, and with a blur, dumped white paint into his shorts. Naruto turned stark white in shock.

Then his eyes narrowed dangerously and he angrily began weaving seals. Wind rushed out at Shisui, who jumped high into the air and disappeared. Naruto growled, his vision swimming in red.

"H-hey, N-naruto," Haru tried to say. She covered her mouth with her hands, her cheeks bright red. "Y-you o-okay?" She couldn't do it; she burst out laughing and the dropped to her knees, weak from laughing.

"I fucking hate you, Haru," Naruto seethed and disappeared with a shunshin he'd learned from the scroll.

Ino glanced at Haru, looking red from trying to hold back laughter as the black-haired girl wiped away her tears with one hand and held her stomach in the other. Ino tried to scowl at the girl but found that as the seconds ticked by, it became increasingly harder. Ino eventually succumbed and laughed until her sides hurt. However, she sobered up much more quickly than Haru did.