Chapter 13

- One Year Later -

The early afternoon sun was warm as it caressed Keiko's skin. Smiling, she gazed at the clouds and stretched her hands above her head to stretch her sore muscles. She smiled at the man who walked along side her, "We'll be back to the village soon, just in time for you to meet your new squad."

Kakashi cast a glance at the woman beside him and nodded in thought. It had been a year since his last squad of genin, and a year since the two of them had been paired together. "Yes, I do wonder who the Hokage has for me this time around." He paused, hand reaching to scratch at his neck, "I do have an idea who it could be."

Keiko let her arms rest at her sides, "Oh? Can't keep me in suspense now." She poked him in the shoulder teasingly.

A small smile tugged at his lips for a moment though Keiko couldn't see it. "Well, I suppose I will have to keep you in suspense." He could make out Keiko's pout from the corner of his eye and he gave a small chuckle, "It's only a matter of time."

She sighed, "Kakashi, you can be such a tease with those cryptic ways of yours." Keiko cast a sideways glance at him and grinned softly. This kind of conversation would have been nearly impossible a year ago. Kakashi was still a very private and reserved individual but slowly, she had gotten to know him. Their relationship was built upon mutual trust and respect. They had been through thick and thin together. It made her smile to think of how much Kakashi had changed toward her over the last year. He spoke to her, joked with her, and on occasion he would tease her in his own way. He was subtle in his methods but she had grown to appreciate his form of friendship.

He had also began to spend more time with other shinobi as well. Guy was ecstatic to see Kakashi come out of his shell a bit more and they participated in even more challenges. He had also become a lot more laid back, it was evident in his posture and the tardiness that seemed to get a little worse each year since his departure from the Anbu.

Kakashi blinked, "Tease? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Chuckling she waved a hand dismissively toward him, "Sure, sure." Her gaze drifted off once again to the sky and the large fluffy clouds above them. "I wonder if Naruto passed his test... He failed the first one before we left. Two more tries to get it right before he has to repeat a year." The academy offered three chances every year for their students to graduate. Each test was one week apart so that those that failed could have time to try again. Naruto would have either passed or failed by now.

"Hmm," Kakashi said in thought. He had yet to actually meet Naruto face to face. He knew Keiko had an incredibly strong bond with the boy and that they were more or less siblings in each other's eyes. Even though he himself was now well acquainted with Keiko, he never bothered to meet Naruto. Perhaps, it was because Naruto reminded him of someone he once knew...

Suddenly, he was taken out of his thoughts by Keiko gently shoving him, causing him to stumble in surprise. He met her gaze and it was that same warm and compassionate smile he had become so accustomed to seeing. Her eyes closed as she spoke, "You had that far off look in your eye again." She then pointed to the clouds, "Now, don't you think that that one looks like Guy's bowl cut?"

Kakashi looked up and he let out a short laugh, he supposed it did in a way. He glanced to another cloud, "The one next to it almost looks like a dog."

She laughed, "It does, doesn't it?"

The two of them continued speaking nonchalantly about the clouds and the numerous things within them. Before they realized it they were at the gates of the village. Keiko realized this and waved to the two familiar faces at the check in station. "Hello Izumo, Kotetsu, enjoying guard duty?"

Kotetsu leaned back in his chair, "Oh, you know, action packed as always."

Izumo offered her a small smile, "It's been peaceful. Though, I guess you weren't here for that Naruto incident."

Both Keiko and Kakashi were intrigued by this news. Keiko could feel the groan in her throat but she didn't let it surface, "What did he do?" Kakashi glanced at her, easily able to tell that she was anticipating another one of his destructive antics.

"Just so happens that he managed to steal the scroll of sealing." Kotetsu said easily.

Izumo held up a hand to calm her down before Keiko had too much time to ask any flustered questions, "It's fine now though. Iruka found him and the scroll is safe."

Keiko could feel her beating heart begin to slow and she sighed, "I was more worried about Naruto than the scroll..."

Feeling a hand on her shoulder she looked up at Kakashi as he spoke, "I'll go on ahead and enter the report for Lord Hokage. Sounds like you're gonna want to catch up with Naruto." She smiled and nodded as he left her there to speak with Izumo and Kotetsu.

Kotetsu looked at the retreating figure of Kakashi and then back to Keiko. He leaned forward, arms resting on the counter, "So, Keiko, any plans later? You just got back from a long mission, might be nice for you to relax a little."

Izumo happened to notice something neither his friend nor Keiko did, Kakashi had stopped walking. Kakashi did not turn or flinch, as if something made him pause. The action was odd but caused no reason for concern.

Keiko was surprised at the forward invitation but shook her head, "Thank you, but no. I'll have a lot to catch up on and people to talk to tonight. Maybe another time?"

Kotetsu laughed, "Yeah, yeah, for sure."

Izumo took a glance back at Kakashi who had resumed his walk into the village. This caused him to look from Keiko to Kakashi and back again several times. The two chunin spoke with Keiko for a few more minutes before she left them with a kind wave of her hand and they watched her go. Izumo turned to his friend, "Did you see what I saw?"

"Huh? See what?"

"Never mind. It was probably just my imagination..."

~0~

In her apartment Keiko had little time to unpack before a rambunctious and familiar figure burst in through the window, "Kei! You're back!"

Keiko paused in her unpacking and turned to greet him, "Naruto!" She put down her nearly empty pack just before Naruto wrapped his arms around her middle in an excited embrace. She chuckled and returned the gesture, "It's good to see you too. I heard that you've been a bit naughty while I've been gone. Care to explain yourself?"

Naruto leaned back and frowned, "Aw, come on! Aren't you more interested to know how I did? I passed!"

Her hand landed on his head, ruffling his hair affectionately. "I know, and I never doubted you."

A heat rose in Naruto's chest and spread to his cheeks. He couldn't help but smile widely. His hands locked behind his head, "Yeah, I'm pretty great, huh?"

She nodded before using the hand on his head to turn him around and push him toward the couch. "Now, before we do anything else, I need to hear it from you. What happened?"

And with that, Naruto went on a long rant about the last two and a half weeks. Keiko found her usually calm and lighthearted expression slowly turn into a scowl. She had had a bad feeling about Mizuki from the beginning. Iruka and her even argued about it on occasion about why she didn't want to hang around him. She knew Iruka was good friends with Mizuki but she could never shake that feeling of unease when she was around him. Now, it was safe to say her feeling was right. Naruto became very animated when it came to reenacting the fight, hoping onto the coffee table to better demonstrate.

"How is Iruka?" She asked him as he plopped down next to her, his story now complete.

"Oh, he's alright. A bit beat up and in bandages but he's fine." A smile spread across his face once again, "Iruka Sensei gave me his own headband too."

She poked him in the head, "I see you're still wearing the goggles I got you. I would have expected you to be wearing a headband if you had one." On Naruto's twelfth birthday she had gotten him a pair of goggles for him to wear. He wanted so badly to be a ninja but couldn't have a headband as he had not graduated.

Naruto rubbed the side of his head and looked away, "I don't wanna mess it up before orientation tomorrow."

Keiko could see a glimpse of the little kid she had met six years ago and smiled. He was still immature, loud and crude, but he had a heart of gold. Everything he had been through up to this point proved how resilient he was. Those nights he would come to her with tears of frustration running down his face, she would never forget them. Keiko was confident that everything would work out for the better for him.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close before placing a kiss to the top of his head, "I'm proud of you, Naruto." His eyes grew wide and he laughed, blinking away a few tears. He didn't know what he had done to deserve having Keiko and Iruka in his life, but he would never question it.

When Keiko and Naruto had caught up with one another, Naruto left with the excuse he wanted to get to bed early for his first day as a real ninja. Keiko could tell he was lying, but didn't question him. She had somewhere she needed to go, though she wasn't sure if he would really want to see her.

Eventually, she found herself outside of an apartment door, knocking. She waited for a few moments that felt much longer than that. The door swung open and there stood Sasuke Uchiha. He regarded her with cold and indifferent eyes. Keiko mustered a smile, "May I come in?"

Silence clung to the air for several moments before he sighed, "Whatever." He left the door and walked into his apartment, leaving the door open for her to follow. Keiko walked inside and was reminded of how old her and Naruto's apartments really were. Sasuke had a more modern home, and he kept it clean unlike a certain blond she knew. Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned on the wall next to the window, "What do you want?"

Keiko didn't sit down, she felt she wasn't being well received by him. "I wanted to ask you how your final exam was and to see how you were doing." She wasn't sure if Sasuke knew just how closely she had been watching him over the last four years. She was aware Sasuke wanted little to do with her but that didn't stop her from checking in and even dropping off things when he needed them. Like medicine when he was sick, or extra food toward the end of the month. There were times Sasuke had laid in wait to try and catch who it was leaving these things but Keiko got around him unseen. He was talented, but her skills far surpassed his.

He scoffed, "I passed, it was hardly a test. Can't say the same for that idiot, Naruto. He's going back to the academy."

"Actually," Keiko began, "he will be at orientation tomorrow." She hated to hear anyone talk about Naruto in such a way but she knew better than to try and change his mind.

Sasuke's head snapped toward her, "What? He passed? We all saw him fail!"

She sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips, "Naruto had an... unconventional circumstance."

The irritation was easy to see in his eyes but he scoffed again, "Whatever, just as long as he doesn't get in my way."

Keiko's smile turned sad, almost pained. She herself found it hard at times to be around Sasuke. Keiko would never tell Sasuke, but the older he got the more he began to resemble the older Uchiha. Even some of his small ticks and mannerisms were reminiscent of him. Sasuke was a living reminder of what Itachi had done. She had to remind herself that nothing was Sasuke's fault and that this boy was suffering more than anyone else. It's why she insisted on trying to talk to him, trying to help him, even when he did nothing but push her away. She was sure that for Sasuke, she was a reminder of him as well.

She sighed, "Sasuke, you know I'm always here."

"You say that every time, but it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change what happened."

She closed her eyes, pushing away her own memories of that night. "Nothing will ever change what happened. Time will continue to move forward though, no matter what happens or how we feel-"

He turned to her then, shoulders rigid and jaw clenched, "What do you know about how I feel, huh? No one understands, and I don't expect them too. I have my path, and nothing is going to stop me from following it." He turned away from her stubbornly, "Now, get out, I'm not in the mood for one of your thought provoking speeches."

And, that was her time. She nodded, knowing she wouldn't get any further with him. Keiko wished him a good night before excusing herself and leaving the apartment complex. As she walked she could feel that seed of self-doubt eat away inside of her. Could she have done more? Could she have helped him some other way to stop him from being so vengeful? She closed her eyes, vividly picturing the young Sasuke who stood with unrelenting hate burning in his eyes,

'I'll get strong. I'll find him, and I will kill him!'

She looked at the ground in front of her. Sasuke wasn't like Naruto, she couldn't help him the same way she did with him. Naruto had been alone since the beginning, so when she extended a helping hand he greedily accepted. He longed for that connection from someone because he had never had it before. Sasuke, on the other hand, he knew what it was like to have a family. He had had it ripped away from him with no warning and had to suffer through seeing it happen. She had tried to talk to him numerous times about the incident but he refused and would only grow more agitated, so she had learned to not push him on the subject.

When Keiko made it to her destination she pulled back the curtain to be greeted by Teuchi. The older man smiled widely, "Well, Miss Keiko! Welcome back, how was your mission?"

Keiko smiled, "It wasn't too bad, just an infiltration mission that took longer than expected."

While Keiko got comfortable at the counter, Teuchi crossed his arms, "Sounds like some hard work. You came to the right place to take a load off."

"You're ramen just hits different. I'll go with the usual, as always."

Ayame offered her a cup of tea which she accepted and while she sipped away a familiar voice sounded near her, "Hey, Keiko, fancy meeting you here."

She turned to smile at her friend but nearly spat out her tea when she saw the amount of bandages, "Iruka!"

Iruka laughed and scratched the bridge of his nose, "Don't worry, I'm fine." He sat next to her, "I actually wanted to talk to you."

She nodded, "I talked to Naruto and he filled me in. I'm happy you were there for him."

"Of course, but, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Keiko gave him a quizzical look when he suddenly became serious. "Alright, what's on your mind?"

"I know who Naruto's sensei is going to be." Keiko wanted to chuckle but she stayed silent. This was what he was worried about? Whoever it was she only hoped that they were prepared for him. "It's Kakashi."

Now that, she wasn't expecting. She blinked, "Really?" Keiko had to wonder if Kakashi knew that before.

He nodded, "Keiko, I know you work with him. Maybe, you could talk him into going easy on Naruto." Keiko paused before adamantly shaking her head, to which Iruka leaned forward onto the counter, gesturing with his hand to try and solidify how serious he was. "He's failed every team he's lead so far, there's no way Naruto can pass."

"Iruka," Keiko smiled at her friend, "don't worry. In fact, I'm happy Kakashi is going to be his squad leader."

"Only if he can pass Kakashi's test. No one's ever been able to get those bells." Iruka sighed, "No genin can pass that test, not against him."

"That's not the point."

Iruka turned his head toward her, "Huh?"

"Getting the bells isn't the point of Kakashi's test." Keiko trusted Kakashi and she thought back to a previous conversation they had about the bell test. She agreed with the principle of it and thought it was an ingenious test. Keiko smiled at Iruka once again and he was taken aback by the confident look in her eye, "If they work together, I know they'll pass. If not, then I trust Kakashi's judgment."

Iruka sighed, not having the heart to tell her who was in Naruto's squad. If they had to work together, then it would be even harder for Naruto than Iruka originally thought. "I hope you're right."

We all know how Naruto failed the test 3 times but he is the same age as everyone in his year. Just wanted to take a moment to explain my head-cannon to get around this little issue. In my story, there are three chances for each student to pass, each one a week apart. It doesn't fix the issue completely, but that's what I'm going with.

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Posted - 6/20/2021