Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Pakkun would have his own show.

Chapter 5: What You Know

It was weird, I had long decided. It was weird how I had only been in this world for a few years, but it sometimes felt like a lifetime. And it was weird how other times, it felt as if just yesterday I had been at home.

I had gotten better at it but some mornings I still woke up disoriented and for a moment I thought for sure that I was in my bed, home and that everything from this world was but a crazy dream (or nightmare, depending on how I was feeling. Usually nightmare.) Then I realized that no, I wasn't home, and probably would never be again.

But I was okay with that now. Well, not really okay with it. More like resigned to that fact. And I was fine. I was needed here and it was usually that thought that helped me roll out of bed in the morning. When those moments hit me, just going about my day had a tinge of surrealism. On some days, and despite the fact that I'd been here for a while now, it was still bizarre to think about what my life was now.

And today felt downright unreal.

I had done it.

I was graduating.

Oh my god, I was graduating.

The test had been laughably easy really. The written exam I could have passed in my sleep and the jutsus we were required to perform were rather simple, and leading some of my classmates through an obstacle course hadn't been all that difficult either. In a bit of a daze, I accepted the headband from my smiling instructor who congratulated me. The rest of it passed in a haze and we were let out soon. My now former classmates had all run to their parents, who had been waiting for them outside. I had none though.

But there was someone waiting for me under a familiar tree, apart from the crowd.

I was slightly stunned and I quickly made my way to Itachi. I hadn't expected him to come since I figured he had been busy with missions and the like with his sensei, and yet here he was.

I stopped a feet or two in front of him, the surreality of the situation passing now that I was in his presence. (He and Naruto were helpful like that. They were my anchors now, and my reminders that I was actually here.)

"You came," I said, not really being to hide the surprised happiness in my voice. He looked a bit awkward, like he had in the beginning of our friendship, as if he hadn't been sure just how to act around a friend. He had mellowed out as time had passed so it was a little worrying and kinda adorable to see it now.

He nodded and reached into the inside of his pocket to pull something out. I blinked, surprised, when he took one of my hands and dumped a necklace on it. I looked at it, somewhat speechless. It was a thin choker-like little thing with a tiny red gem dangling from it.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Judging from the semi startled look on Itachi's face, this was probably not the reaction he had been expecting. It's not like I was laughing at him, but at myself. I had been worried and a nervous wreck since last night.

I had even considered throwing the test and high tailing it out of Konoha to live out the rest of my life as a civilian. I had only entertained that idea for a moment though. And just seeing Itachi had caused me to relax when I hadn't even known I was tense. That alone spoke volumes of how much he had come to mean to me.

Seeing the necklace he gave me was like being doused in water. What had I been worrying about? I was a shinobi now and I still had a couple of years before shit hit the fan to get strong. I could do this. I was going to do this.

And now Itachi and Naruto had made themselves big reasons as to why failing was unacceptable.

I cut my laughter short before Itachi declared me a nut and ran in the opposite direction. The imagery was enough to cause another bout of laughter before I calmed, only occasionally chuckling.

"Sorry," I managed to get out as I tried to catch my breath from said bout of laughter. "I'm not laughing at you I swear. I'm just relieved is all. I'd been a bit nervous about graduation," I admitted to him, my lips twitching into a smile. "And I feel a little silly for being as nervous as I was."

"I see," he said somewhat slowly and gave me a look as if still thinking I was crazy. I can't blame the guy, really. Before I fell into more relieved, bordering hysterical laughter, my eyes went back to the necklace. My smile softened and an unbidden amount of warmth and affection bubbled up in me.

I was quick to put the thing on, marveling that it was a really good fit and didn't feel too tight or too loose. I touched the little gem and turned with a grin towards Itachi. He really was a super cute kid. Since the gems on the necklace I had given him and the one on mine sorta matched except for being a few shades off, it was like we had friendship necklaces. The thought was almost enough to send me into more laughter.

I was sure I probably had the stupidest grin on my face but I didn't care. My hand slipped into Itachi's as I thanked him. He only tensed for a moment before relaxing ( I had always been a bit of a cuddle bug and since being ripped from my world, the need for physical reassurance had skyrocketed, but I knew he wasn't too comfortable with physical affection so I tried to not overdo it) and when he did I began pulling him towards Ichiraku's.

What could I say? They made some damn good ramen. And a celebratory dinner was in order.

Team assignments were tomorrow, but I wasn't anxious anymore.

And if the request I had put in with the Hokage had been approved, I wouldn't be getting a team.

0o0o0o0o1o0o0o0o0o

Bright and early the next day, I went to the academy for the last time as a student.

When I got there, the first thing I did was count the students. There were fifteen kids which would make five teams. I hid my smile and took a seat. It seemed as if the Hokage had approved my request.

After that first meeting where he had asked me if I wanted to advance in my classes and then another one after that to tell me they were moving me up again, the Sandaime and I had twice a month short meetings. The purpose for them was to make sure I was handling my classes well and that they weren't too stressful for me. (I think he did that for the all very promising prodigies and probably had them with Itachi too. I never asked.)

Since the war started, they had been cut down to ten minutes once every two months, but the Sandaime was pretty fond of me now. Geniuses often got along apparantly. Not to mention, he was as much of a pacifist as a ninja could be. I wasn't one but fighting and killing had never been my first choice which made sense after a lifetime of 'thou shalt not kill.' Taking care of Naruto to an extent probably helped me into his good graces too. There was no doubt a very few amount of people who would have taken the kid in, but that probably didn't happen because of politics. Ninja politics.

Knowing that he had a soft spot for me, I had gone to him a month ago to ask for an apprenticeship. Having a teacher that didn't have to divide their attention on two more students would be helpful in getting stronger faster. I needed to focus as much as I could on that goal and not on anything else. As cold hearted as it might sound, I didn't want to get attached to any more people. With Itachi and Naruto, I had still been emotionally vulnerable after being taken from everyone I loved so I had latched on to them for support in a way, even if they themselves didn't know it. I had never been to the type to help every person I met that had a problem. I only took care of what was mine, be it family or friends. My only family then had been my mother and sister. And now I had those two.

The Sandaime had been curious as to why I wanted an apprenticeship and hadn't promised me anything, but he had told me that he'd see if any of his Jounin had been thinking of taking on only one student and he'd give them my file to see if they wanted to take me on.

It'd been a bit of a toss up but it had obviously paid off.

And now I was excited. I was pretty impatient through the whole team assigning, looking forward to see who would be my new sensei. The team all trickled out as their new teachers picked them up and I was the last one left. I spotted an unfamiliar, familiar jounin not too long after the last team and teachers had left.

"Are you Suzuki Natsu?" He asked, stepping into the now empty room. I stood from my seat with a nod. He was a tall man with dark grey hair in a ponytail, dark eyes, and a scar on the right side of his mouth. It made him look pretty fierce. "I am Hayama, your new sensei."

"It's nice meet you, Hayama-sensei," I said politely. I already could tell that he was probably a normally calm person. Which was fine, Itachi was like that. And I could be too. Naruto was the only one I knew with such a huge amount of never ending energy. He scrutinized me for a moment and I tried my best not to fidget under his eyes.

Sensei motioned for me to follow him and I was quick to fall into step with him.

"They day is still young," he said, leading me out of the academy building and into the afternoon sun. "We'll spar today to gauge your current level and take it from there. Your chakra affinity is wind?"

"Hai," I confirmed with a nod. The first chance I had, I got chakra paper and tested my affinity. Wind was a little uncommon in Fire Country but not unheard of. And finding out hadn't been too hard. To appply for an apprenticeship, I had to answer some questions about my abilities. And I'd already known my affinity then so I'd included it. I had decided to not become a medic, so I'd kept the fact that I could already do the Mystical Palm a secret.

Together with my new sensei, we headed out to a free training ground. I was about to learn that my new teacher was a damn slave driver.

0o0o0o0o2o0o0o0o0o

We set a routine in the following week. Hayama-sensei was great, and we made a stable little team. It was great that he was a wind user because he would always have a lot of techniques to teach. Our shared affinity was more than likely why he had chosen to take me on and I was really glad he had.

Hayama-sensei and I would meet every morning. On some days, we'd train. Sparring with him was doing wonders for my horrible taijutsu. He was pleased with my good chakra control and often made me do a couple harder chakra excersises. Chakra strings being a common one since it could be easy or hard, depending on how many you had made and what they were attached to.

On other days, we'd go and get missions. The chores were boring but a necessary evil. Considering the war time, I didn't do them for too long. Just for about three weeks and before I knew it, we were assigned our first C-rank mission.

Short chapter and long wait. Sigghhhhhhhh. I'm so sorry guys. I don't even have an excuse.

TinyHippo: Trust me when I say puppetry was like the first thing I considered for Natsu. And I really wanna do it, but are there even puppet masters in Konoha? If I remember correctly, they're only from Suna. So for now, she's just learning general things.

Natsu's current level is above average genin. She can do the Mystical Palm jutsu, not that anyone but Itachi knows, a couple of very rudimentary genjutsus, and the three basic jutsus which would be the clone jutsu, the subsitution jutsu, and henge. Her most defining trait would be intelligence and above average chakra control at this point, and her taijutsu is genin level.

Just in case you were curious. She's gonna be learning cool wind jutsu from Hayama tho.

Speaking of Hayama, he's actually a canon character and I really liked him so here he is.

Barring anything unexpected, I promise to have the next chapter out by next Friday and a long one at that!

No preview this time, just a question as asked by 10th Squad 3rd Seat.

What do you guys think is in Icha Icha?

Hope you enjoyed!

Please leave a review!