Well, the date with Sakura hadn't been a total waste. She was over the whole fangirl thing. Sasuke was grateful for that. She hadn't started to reach her full potential as a shinobi until she stopped fantasizing about him. He knew the whole three items thing was weird, but that was exactly what he was going for. He'd made it up on the spot, and went through with it.
After Kakashi had passed them, they'd gone back to the Hokage Tower to report a success. After Kakashi repeated what happened during their evaluation, leaving most of it out to save himself some embarrassment, they were filed as Squad Seven. Sasuke missed being called that, it'd been a while.
Iruka was waiting for Naruto outside, anxious to hear whether they'd passed or not. Naruto told him everything that had happened, not caring about Kakashi's reputation. Sasuke filled in details that Naruto left out. This happened in front of the hokage, so he still got to hear what Kakashi had left out. By the time they were finished retelling the story, the hokage's anbu guards were trying not to laugh. Kakashi was glaring at them with something that could only be described as the opposite "Gai-Lee".
"I was going to take Naruto out to get some ramen," Iruka said after he'd gotten his breath back. "Seeing as how you all helped to pass, I think it's only fitting that we all go to get something to eat together."
All three of the newly made genin said they wanted to go, Naruto and Sasuke a bit louder than what was necessary. Iruka winced a little as Sasuke shouted that he wanted to go, but the Uchiha was to busy arguing with Naruto over which ramen was the best to notice. Iruka turned towards Kakashi.
"You might want to come too. Getting to know them may help you to teach them later on." Kakashi huffed a little as he thought about what he would have to during the rest of their time as genin, and quite possibly chunin.
"I don't want to spend any moment with them that I don't have to."
"They're usually not this bad Kakashi. They're usually better behaved, it's probably just because you threatened them yesterday. These kids don't take kindly to that sort of thing." Iruka glanced around for the kids before saying, in a much quieter voice, "Something's going on with Sasuke. Three days ago, he hated Naruto, and wanted nothing to do with anybody that couldn't help him get stronger. Now, he's helping to pull pranks with the kid that he swore was a complete idiot for it. He even went on a date with Sakura, who is now acting like she feels nothing but brotherly love for him. I don't know what happened, but I need help keeping an eye on Sasuke. I used to know everything everyone of my students was going to do, and exactly when they were going to do it. Now, I hardly even recognize these kids."
Kakashi's mouth tightened as he heard yet another creepy, abnormal thing about his new students. He decided that Iruka was probably right, and the three would need someone to keep an eye on them. If only to preserve the peace within Konoha, if for nothing else. Everyone turned as they heard a small cough behind them.
"You all can go on your first mission tomorrow," Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, said. "Luckily for you, there are no Tora missions at this time. Mrs. Inuzuka is needing help with her dogs though. She's going out of town, and needs someone to look after them. You may have that mission."
Sasuke could feel Naruto deflate beside him. He wanted to get the energetic kid something that he would be happy with, but Naruto wasn't ready for a C Rank yet. Sasuke still hadn't helped him get to the level that he needed to. They weren't doing anything even remotely hard until they had to deal with the drunk old man from Wave.
He nudged Naruto in the shoulder, "Think of it as trying to infiltrate the Inuzuka Clan, and gain the dog's trust." The kid looked at him a little bit before he grinned.
"Yeah! I'll be the best dog sitter in the world, believe it! Just another step to becoming Hokage!" he said, punching the air.
Iruka chuckled a little, "Alright, master dog sitter, lets go get some ramen!"
Ichiraku's was very busy that night. Naruto sat beside Iruka, who was on the end, and Sasuke sat on his other side. Sakura was on Sasuke's left, and Kakashi was sitting next to her, because so far, she seemed to be the most normal. The entire ramen stand was filled by the group of five.
Ichiraku grinned at where he saw Naruto talking to the boy in the blue shirt beside him. It was about time the cheery little kid had some friends.
"Come on, old man," his daughter, Ayame said, sneaking up behind him. "Stop smiling at the customers and start serving them ramen." Ichiraku chuckled at the humor in his daughter's eyes. He knew she was just as happy for Naruto as he was.
As he brought the ramen over, he could hear what the two boys were talking about.
"Naruto, if you want to get a C rank mission, you need to be stronger. Which is why-"
"I'm plenty strong already! We just beat Kakashi sensei's butt!"
"Let me finish! If you want a C rank, then you need to get stronger. Why don't we all meet up at the training grounds a couple hours before Kakashi sensei will-"
"So when he tells us to show up."
"Yes. Now, if you interrupt me one more time, I'm going to steal your ramen. We'll meet at the training grounds so we can all train, then after we're all better at fighting, we'll ask for a C rank.
"Fine. Who's going to teach us though? Sensei definitely won't, he strikes me as the petty type."
"I've got scrolls at home. I can bring some, and if you need help, just ask me."
"I'm all good with that, except for the whole thing where you think you know everything and can teach me. What do you think Sakura?"
"I'm fine with that plan. Unlike you, I don't plan to be the world's best dog whisperer or something. I'd rather get a C rank as soon as possible."
Ichiraku finished putting serving them their ramen, and he was just about to join the conversation when he saw a flash of red in the corner of his eyes. Looking over, he saw that the dark haired boy's eyes had turned red, and that there were three black dots swirling around within each of them. All eyes turned towards the kid, except for the eyes of the person he was looking at.
Sasuke smirked as he watched Kakashi take off his mask. He didn't know why he never thought of this when he was a genin the first time. It was really a bit of a letdown that when he saw what Kakashi's face looked like. It was handsome, but there weren't any giant bucked teeth, or a deformed nose or something. He just shrugged, he now had something he could lord over anyone in the world. No one had seen Kakashi's face and lived except for Kakashi, and now himself.
He deactivated his sharingan and turned back to his ramen, ignoring the stares that were now being sent his way.
Kakashi didn't know why everyone was laughing. He'd already checked, and he didn't have a "kick me" sign on his back. He knew it had something to do with something that Broody had done. That evil little menace wouldn't give him a break. Sakura had already left the group, since they'd already passed her house. Iruka looked back at Kakashi and laughed a little more. He almost growed at the chunin, but just managed to stop himself. That was exactly was Broody wanted, and Kakashi wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
He walked on, trying very hard not to care about the not-so-subtle glances being sent his way, and the even less subtle giggles that could be heard coming from his present company. He wouldn't acknowledge it. That was exactly what the kid wanted. He wouldn't let the brat inside his head, he wouldn't let him win. He knew it was just a matter of time before he found the kid's weakness, and then it would be on. He would make Broody wish he hadn't messed with Kakashi Hatake. But first, he had to survive the onslaught, and make sure the boy didn't get inside his head.
It took him a couple seconds to realize that Iruka and Naruto had both left. Now it was just him and the kid. It was just him and the blasted kid. He tried very hard not to glare at the boy, to make sure his opponent didn't know what he was thinking. He almost flinched and ran as he saw the kid smirk at him, anbu training or not.
"Be careful you don't put too many seals on your apartment tonight, or else you'll be too tired for our mission tomorrow. Dogs can be very hard to control, especially Inuzuka ones."
Kakashi went home that night and practically graffitied his home with seals, then laid awake all night in bed imagining all the things that Sasuke could do with dogs to make his life miserable.