Stand By Me

Chapter 2 – Team Seven

Settling into her new home was rewarding but also extremely tiresome. After a seemingly long tour with Naruto, which ended on the two of them sitting at the top of the past Hokages mountain, Nabiki got to get a good idea of who this boy was. She was observant, careful of his moves or change in behavior. It stuck with her knowing that he was the vessel of the Kyuubi, a being that she still didn't quite fathom. Omamori village had never talked about the tailed beasts and what they were. It was something that they doubt anyone from their village would deal with since the chance of meeting them was extremely slim. So, she watched him like a hawk, making sure he didn't lash out or seem different from anyone else.

He wasn't.

He was as any other boy would be in his age. He was a loud, obnoxious prankster and yet he seemed to try so hard. When they walked together, she took note of the glares and nasty looks he got as they passed by folks. People uttered under their breaths about him but still the blonde pranced on without a care in the world. It must've been lonely, she thought, for being a vessel for destruction and being shoved away from your own village. Of course, not everyone seemed to despise him. The old man and his daughter at Ichiraku recognized him and welcomed him warmly to their shop, knowing his usual order which was made quickly. At least not everyone in the village hated him, that at least made her relieved.

Still, it must be nice to know someone like that and be welcomed and spoken to familiarly. Nabiki never experienced that. Ever.

Back home, her family, the Ubashis, were a noble and revered clan. Her parents were the head of the family so naturally, she and her older brother Jin were respected and waited on by those not part of the main family. The village itself comprised itself of other smaller clans as well as other branches of the Ubashi but none were as respected as her family. The main family were the originators of their Kekkei Genkai and founders of Omamori village. They were the ones who decided to offer themselves up in exchange for financial support and trade from other villages and established the ultimate bodyguard for high-ranking officials. Honestly, Nabiki would've been proud of being part of such a wonderful and amazing family, but there was no love in it. There was no one who really wanted to know each other except for the sake of growing the clans. The only person who showed any interest in knowing who she was as a person was her older brother, Jin. The reason behind the family's shallow relations with one another is due to their Kekkei Genkai.

Eternal Devotion.

The Ubashi's KG was one that was used selflessly and was something that Nabiki was forbidden to use per her brother's request. She knew what it was and what it meant, but to her, it was just her duty to use. Oh how pitiful it was for a young girl, barely over thirteen, to already be willing to risk her life for another. She didn't even understand the true meaning of it, but she knows that the final form of the KG meant that there was no turning back.

Nabiki had finished pushing the last bit of furniture around and unpacked all her belongings that had arrived later in the evening. The rest of her clothes, shinobi tools and other sentimental items were delivered in a number of boxes, along with her metal staff that stood just above her head. It didn't quite feel like home yet, but in time, she knew it would.

Now the real question came into her mind…who was she going to meet tomorrow?

Who would be her squad?

"Oi….oi! Nabiki! Get up! You're going to be late if you keep sleeping!"

The constant rapping at her door pestered her, forcing her to groan loudly and get up. She didn't realize she had fallen asleep, much less crawled into her new bed. Her eyes hazily looked for the clock and saw the time, forcing her to roll over and fall out of her bed. "Ow!" She yelled, before she ran to the door and yelled,

"I'm awake, I'm awake! Give me like five minutes, Naruto!"

The blonde outside her door crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "Fine! But any more and I'm leaving without you!"

Not another word escaped Nabiki's mouth as she got ready for the day.

Soon enough she flew out the door and jumped right off the railing of the second floor of the apartment complex. "Well?! C'mon!" She called back to Naruto who blinked before shaking his shock off and following behind her. The two dashed towards the academy, with Naruto in the lead since Nabiki didn't quite remember where it was from their tour.

The academy wasn't far off, but Nabiki was too busy feeling butterflies in her stomach to really register the distance. She was excited to meet new people but at the same time, dreaded it. What if she struggled with making new friends or atleast getting along with her new comrades? What if her sensei didn't care for her so much or she was treated differently for not being from Konoha like everyone else? Nabiki were certainly an anomaly that no one had anticipated. Why would some random girl from a village no one heard from be entered into the academy to join with them? Surely there had to be some rule against that right? Not like she knew anything about the rules or politics between villages and lands. If anything, all she knew was that this was her home now, and Omamori was nothing more than her birth home.

Nothing more, nothing less.

"Hehe, I can't wait to find out what team I'm on! Do you have any ideas on where you're gonna go, Nabiki?"

"I know as much as you. The Hokage just told me to come here and I'll be assigned to a squad." She explained, which Naruto only nodded to.

"Well. I hope you get a cool team! I kind of wish we could be together…it'll be easier to have someone you're already familiar with, ya know?"

Nabiki smiled and nodded as the two of them slowed down to walk into the building.

"That's what I was thinking. But if not, well, we can always share about it later, you know? Not like we won't see each other."

It was honestly surprising that Nabiki was getting along with Naruto as well as she did. They only met yesterday and here they were, talking as if they've been friends for a while now. The blonde was just so easy to talk to and get along with, as crazy as he was sometimes. Still, in somewhat, she felt hesitant to say anything more to him. Was it truly possible for her to live a normal shinobi life? Her parents' faces flashed in her head as she shook it off. Yes, maybe it was. She just had to believe everything will be okay.

Naruto led Nabiki to their classroom quickly, knowing that it was about to start any minute now. Without question, the blue haired girl followed, looking along the walls in the pictures of other classes and the teachers here. Her eyes scanned each picture until she spotted one that seemed to resemble Naruto a bit. The eyes and hair were uncanny and she swore that it was Naruto at first. She had stopped in her steps, looking at the picture then back at Naruto who had noticed she'd fallen behind.

"Nabiki! We're gonna be late!"

"R-Right!" She continued, ignoring it for now and headed towards their class.

The room itself was rather large, with long rows that were tiered. Other students sat around or talked with one another, raising the volume of the room as they tried to hear each other. Nabiki couldn't help but nervously look around as she felt some stares rest on her before they moved away. It was stressful! Moreso stressful since Naruto happily walked up to his usual spot and patted the empty seat beside him. Nabiki followed quickly, eager to sit down and not be the focus of anyone. "I hate that people keep looking at me..." Nabiki muttered softly as Naruto grinned and laughed a bit. "Well, it's expected. It's the last time we're all meeting as a class and this random person just walked in. Of course, they're gonna be curious!" She wondered if that was the only reason why they stared at her or if it was also because she walked in with Naruto and sat beside him. She saw how the others treated him yesterday, so what made these guys any different?

Soon, the door slid open and the class hushed immediately. Everyone returned to their seats quickly, muttering to each other before someone walked in. He was older than all of them, wearing his headband traditionally and holding a clipboard. He had a large scar that swept across his nose and his hair was pulled into a ponytail. The man beamed as he gave a small wave to the class.

"Good morning, everyone. Hope you are all excited for today! You'll be meeting with your new squads and will be with them from this point forward. All instruction will come from them." He said loudly, as he looked down at his clipboard and back up. "I know this is rather sudden, but I'd like to give a warm welcome to the newest member to our village, Ubashi Nabiki." His hand was held out, pointing over the blue haired girl who blinked several times in shock. "E-Eh..uh.." She mumbled to herself as she shot up from her seat and bowed,

"N-Nice to meet you all! T-Thank you!" And without another word plopped herself back down. Her cheeks were flushed, showing through her tanned skinned as she felt the heat rush to her face. She should've expected something like this!

A hand immediately raised, calling for the teacher's attention.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Iruka-sensei, it doesn't make sense why someone would be transferred to the academy now especially since we just got accepted as genins. I mean, doesn't she have to go through the course like we did?" The pinkette questioned. She seemed bright, at least, from what Nabiki could tell. She had a point but what Nabiki didn't think the girl knew was that she was already a genin as well…she just didn't wear her headband in the open but rather tied off and hanging from her belt.

"You are correct in that, Sakura, but Nabiki is also a genin level student. She's come here to be placed on a squad with one of you…so…be prepared. One of you will have a team of four, which is unusual but not uncommon." Iruku smiled and nodded as Sakura seemed content enough with the answer she was given.

"Now then, I'll call out the names of your squads and where you will report to." He explained briefly before he started to call out the names.

Nabiki waited patiently for her name to be called, looking over to Naruto and whispering to him on what they wanted to do once they got into a squad.

"Man, I really can't wait to get stronger! I'll be training everyday and hope that maybe someone will give me the time of day." He said, looking over downwards to another student who he seemed to eye especially. It was the pink haired girl from earlier. Sakura was it?

"What, do you like her or something?" Nabiki asked innocently as Naruto nodded, grinning embarrassingly as he explained,

"She's the prettiest girl in class, well, in my opinion anyways. She's really smart but she's always trying to get, ugh, Sasuke's attention. Both her and Ino have the biggest crush on him..which I don't understand! He's so annoying and he hardly says anything!"

Nabiki furrowed her brows as she seemed confused on why the girls would like someone like that. Maybe he had a nice personality or was really smart or maybe even cute? There had to be something that caught the girls' attention in the first place after all. "Which one is he?" She asked, as Naruto made a rather annoyed expression before looking up to the corner of the room.

"That one at the corner with the black hair, spiked towards the back."

Nabiki turned around and followed Naruto's direction where she saw a pale boy sitting there, staring out the window. He wore a high collar blue shirt with his headband on traditionally. For a brief moment, he had looked right at her, causing her to blink and turn back around.

"He totally caught me staring." She mumbled softly as Naruto snickered.

"Hehe, he's used to that so don't worry about it—"

"Team Seven! Haruno Sakura—"

"Yes!" The pink haired replied, before Iruka continued.

"Uchiha Sasuke—"

"Ugh! Not him with Sakura!" Naruto whined softly.

"Uzumaki Naruto—"

"What!? No!" Sakura cried from her moment of triumphant to defeat.

"W-wha?! Yes! I'm with Sakura!" He cheered happily, switching up his tune.

"—and Ubashi Nabiki. You four will report to Hatake Kakashi. His instructions are to wait here for him to get you all."

Nabiki stared blankly at Iruka-sensei quietly, her mouth agape from what she heard.

"Nabiki! Aren't you excited! We get to be on the same team too!" Naruto had shaken the girl in excitement as her lips slowly curled into a large smile.

"Y-Yeah! Wow…I don't even know what to say. I'm so happy that I'll have someone that I know at least!"

"Hehe, me too!"

Iruka had continued to call out the remaining teams and soon, the only ones left behind in the classroom was none other than team seven. It was a little awkward for Nabiki since she didn't know her other teammates as well, but she wasn't entirely shy to introduce herself. Sakura had came up from her seat and headed to where Nabiki and Naruto sat. Well, at least where Nabiki sat since Naruto was busy setting up a small prank trap for their new sensei.

"Hi there. Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, but I'm Haruno Sakura." The pink haired girl put her hand out, holding herself rather confidently as she stood right in front of the table.

"It's okay, not like we had time to do any of that. I'm Ubashi Nabiki. It's nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you as a team." She said politely as Sakura nodded and gave the girl an extremely firm handshake.

"What village are you from?" Sakura asked curiously as Nabiki answered,

"Omamori Village."

"Omamori Village….doesn't sound familiar."

"It's a small village in the Land of Wind. Probably three or so days journey if you're being fast." She explained, seeing that Sakura's interest in her seemed to dwindle.

Nabiki knew she wasn't a very amazing or captivating person. If anything, she considered herself a nobody. She wasn't the heir like her brother Jin, so she had no responsibilities or held respect like he did. She was younger and a girl, something that also played a big part in the family since it was primarily a patriarch. The women were usually arranged for marriages that played political powers or helped benefit the village in some way. Sure, she was considered a 'lady' due from her parents and being part of the head family, but besides that, there wasn't much about her. She wasn't amazingly strong or demonstrating any outstanding skills during her time in the academy. She only had one friend and when she told them she was leaving, they didn't really say much to her. Were they even friends then?

If anything, Nabiki faced many internal struggles and battled countless thoughts that screamed in her head. Would she be more than just an Ubashi kid? What did she want to do? What did she want to accomplish as a shinobi? She always asked herself these questions and every time she came up with nothing. No answers. Only countless ideas and roads that she could take yet none of them seemed to call to her.

What was she living for?

So, when Sakura seemed to lose interest in her, finding her uninteresting or maybe even quiet, Nabiki wasn't surprised in the least. If anything, she only smiled and said,

"Well, I'm going to introduce myself to the last member of our team. I assume you all are well acquainted with one another since you know, same class and all." Nabiki got up from her seat and walked down the long row and headed up to where Sasuke sat quietly. His attention was still drawn towards the outside, even when the blue haired girl had walked up and stood in front of him like Sakura had done to her.

"Hi. I haven't met you officially, so I'm Ubashi Nabiki. It's nice to meet you." She held her hand out for him to shake, but Sasuke, to her surprise, simply responded coldly.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uh..huh…right.." She pursed her lips as her hand closed into a fist and dropped to her side as she nodded. It was clear that the raven was far from social butterfly. He didn't care to get to know her, which was kind of relieving in a way. She didn't have much to offer and if anything, just felt awkward by this entire encounter. She moved back to her seat and let out a sigh. Sakura seemed to hang around, sitting on the desk and yelling at Naruto,

"There's no way he's gonna fall for that. He's a jounin, after all."

"Ha! That's what you think! He'll be expecting something bigger than this and BAM! It'll drop his guard." Naruto was confident his plan would work. He was enthralled in making sure that the string would tip the chalkboard eraser just right so when the door would open it would fall on the target's head. At least, that's what he hoped would happen. He didn't exactly test it out.

Nabiki found herself at her seat again, sighing heavily as Sakura had looked over to her.

"What's wrong?"

"I dunno…is your classmate always so…cold? Moody?" She asked with a defeated tone as she leaned back to slouch. She wasn't sure why, but having someone like that on her team really put a damper on things.

"Oh, Sasuke? Yeah, he usually doesn't talk to anyone. Just kind of does his own thing and stuff." Sakura confirmed, but didn't exactly agree with the words that were used.

"I see."

At least Naruto and Sakura seemed to be welcoming enough that she didn't feel like a burden. Still, she wondered why he was like that at all. He was so distant, but she wasn't gonna ask him what his problem was. It wasn't her place and she had just met him like five minutes ago.

No, instead, she was gonna focus on when the hell was their sensei gonna show up and when she could finally get some lunch.

"I see. That's what the Lord Third wanted me to know?" A silver haired jounin had walked beside Iruka who nodded.

"Straight from him. Any means necessary as well…though I'm not sure if you should let the other students know. Who knows how they'll take that information."

The silver haired man chuckled as he closed his eyes and wore an innocent expression.

"I'm sure they'll learn at some point. Keeping something like that prevents one another from connecting with them truly, especially as a team. I'll leave that up to timing."

"I mean…I guess so. Well, I gotta go. Your students should be inside." Iruka said as he had left the man behind at the front of the academy, but not before stopping to say,

"Oh and Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"Don't give them so much hell."

Kakashi only smiled through his mask and he shrugged before he headed in.

"SHHHH! I hear someone coming!" Naruto hissed, as he jumped to one of the tables and waited quietly as the door eventually opened…

Thwap.

The eraser bounced off of Kakashi's head as he showed no expression at all. Sakura and Sasuke both were shocked that this actually worked in the first place! Wasn't he supposed to be a jounin!? Shouldn't he have sensed that or something? Naruto began to roll on the table and soon the floor from laughing so hard and Nabiki couldn't help but snicker to herself as well before straightening herself in her seat.

Kakashi took a deep sigh as he shook his head.

"Well, that's a terrible first impression. Naruto." He shot a glare at the blonde who stopped laughing and gave a funny look.

"C'mon. We're going up onto the roof." Kakashi gestured to his new team as he turned on his heel and headed out.

On the roof, everyone sat on the last step of a small set of stairs. The bright blue skies were clear and gave a warm air, enveloping them as they basked in the sun.

Kakashi sat across from them and sighed heavily as he said,

"Well, I figured we get to know one another before we do anything else. Makes sense, doesn't it? Now then, why don't we start with you Naruto."

"Huh?! Me?!" The blonde seemed surprised, but Kakashi urged him.

"Yes, you."

"Okay uh…well...whaddya wanna know?"

"Just tell us about yourself. Your dreams or goals in life."

"Oh okay! Easy! Well I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant ramen, but I love the ramen from Ichiraku even more! I dislike waiting for the instant ramen to cook after you put the water in. My dream is surpass the Hokage and get the entire village to acknowledge that I exist!" Naruto was confident in himself, fiddling with his headband as he announced who he was and his dreams.

Nabiki, who sat on Naruto's left side, couldn't help but feel in awe of his aspirations. She figured on why he must want such a thing and if anything felt a little sad that he would have to do that. Just to get someone to acknowledge they exist? No one should even have to do that! Shouldn't just 'being' there be enough!?

Kakashi was rather intrigued by his introduction, as he nodded for the next person to continue.

"And you?" He looked over to Sakura who smiled brightly.

"I'm Haruno Sakura! I like…well I mean who I like…" She blushed as her eyes flashed to Sasuke as she continued. "What I dream is…and what I want is…."

"…Your dislikes?"

"Naruto!"

"HAH!?" Naruto nearly fell back in defeat, shocked by Sakura's answers. If anything, Nabiki was confused as hell as what she even said!

"That was more confusing to listen to than anything…" Nabiki said softly as she gave Sakura an odd look. The girl was too busy squealing at her own answers to really acknowledge anyone so Kakashi sighed as he moved on to Sasuke.

"Okay..go on."

"Uchiha Sasuke. I have a ton of dislikes and not many likes. My dream…no..my ambition because I will make it a reality, is to restore my clan…and kill a certain man."

Silence fell between the group at Sasuke's answer. It was certainly dark for one and secondly, did he say KILL!?

Naruto was certainly spooked by it, but tried to laugh it off. Sakura didn't say much but wondered just who Sasuke was referring to while Kakashi seemed to piece things together in his head. He nodded slowly as he said, "I see. That's a large ambition to strive for…though if killing is a good thing or not is what truly begs the question."

Nabiki, on the other hand, stiffened. Her eyes softened as she looked over to Sasuke, who stared forward and didn't give any of them another look. She was curious on what his ambitions meant. What happened to his clan and why did he want to kill someone? She was lost in the dark, but felt that it was probably a heavy subject to even mention. Naruto and Sakura seemed to silence themselves as they looked away, unsure of what to really say.

"Well. How about our final member?"

Nabiki swallowed hard as she blinked and nodded,

"I'm Ubashi Nabiki. I like training and swimming. I dislike desserts and being woken up from a nap." She laughed lightly as she continued, her smile slowly fading. "My dream…is…" Her mind flashed to her parents' covered faces, then their tombstones, and eventually remembering when she sat in her room, in the dark and alone. "…is…to live a normal shinobi life." She said weakly, as she finished. "Nothing big."

"Hm…well depends by what you mean by 'big'. What do you consider a normal shinobi life?" Kakashi asked her, curious and also boggled by her answer.

"Just..going on missions…coming home…etc." Nabiki didn't really have a vision or dream. She couldn't see herself in five years, much less see what she would be doing tomorrow. There was no way she would have such an ambition as large as Naruto's or Sasuke's even.

"I see. Well, maybe think about your dream a little more. You don't have to think of an answer..it'll just come to you one day." Kakashi assured her as Naruto seemed eager to know about him.

"What about you?! We didn't hear anything about you yet!"

"Huh, me? Well…I'm Hatake Kakashi. The things I like and dislike..I won't want to talk about. And my dreams? Well, I never gave that any thought." He said simply as he smiled.

"…so we just know your name." Sasuke said plainly, as Kakashi shrugged.

"Great." Sakura said with a sigh.

"Well, now that we know who everyone else. We meet at dawn tomorrow at the training grounds. Oh and don't eat breakfast. Don't want you to throw up or anything from my harsh training…and trust me." He stared down his students.

"It'll be harsh."