The walk back to the academy was slow and painful, senbon still clutched in hand. Slow because of the near chakra exhaustion, painful because of the chakra exhaustion and the mental agony involved in 'what the hell do I do now?'. Even as tired as I was I could feel Naruto's chakra still in the same place at the academy, no doubt waiting for Kakashi. At a crossroads I hesitated, looking in the direction of home for several seconds before curiosity got the better of me and I turned toward the academy. The lead in my chest made the trip feel like it took hours, and I could help but grimace at every cheerful chakra signature that brushed up against me.

When I was halfway there I noted a familiar chakra signature joining my friends, and when all four chanaged elevation to what could only be the roof I concluded it must be Kakashi. He'd been a part of our regular Anbu patrol, after all. I took my time, leaning against the entryway to the academy long enough for them to finish up their meeting, and when I noted Kakashi's chakra balling up and 'hiding' I proceeded to the roof, using the stairs because my body hated me after that replacement technique fiasco. By the time I got there Naruto and Sasuke were arguing, as per usual, and Sakura was watching with a slight bit of annoyance that gave me hope for their future as a team. The scene certainly explained why Kakashi was spying rather than bailing.

It didn't take them long to notice me, probably because I was laughing at them. They straightened up, and upon seeing me frowned almost in tandem. It would have been creepy if they'd given me time to react. Naruto struggled out from underneath where Sasuke had somehow managed to sit on him, shimmying to freedom and launching to my side,

"Neh, Asuka what's with the face?"

I scoffed,

"Face? What face? It's my face, I only have the one."

Sasuke rolled his eyes,

"Just tell us what happened. Did your jounin sensei tell you about the test too?"

I shrugged, looking away from them and focusing on the needle I was twirling between my fingers, shame keeping me from meeting their eyes.

"Yup. And he failed us almost immediately."

The uproar was instant, and I could feel despair emanating from Sakura's general direction.

"But you were the top of the class, how could you fail?!"

I glanced up at her for half a second, struggling to find the words that would reassure her without giving away that I actually knew they should be fine.

"From the way he spoke the test depended on what each sensei categorized as 'important shinobi values'. He was very much a 'rules' guy. Gave me a scroll and said our 'mission' was to take it a few training grounds over. One teammate gave up almost immediately after we started, and the Akimichi who isn't called Akimichi was in on it the whole time apparently, because he's got an apprenticeship now. Not that I knew that of course. I had the scroll and when Isao went after Satoru I went after Isao, so I personally failed for abandoning the mission. Or was it endangering? Who cares. I wouldn't have wanted him as a sensei anyway, with an attitude like that."

Naruto, predictably, was the first to rave.

"That bastard! How dare he! Konoha has three man teams because teamwork is the foundation of the village, that's what you said Iruka-sensei said in class! I even got that right on the exam! His hair is going to be purple for the next three weeks, Believe It!"

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed and he looked out across the village with a scowl,

"You won't redo the year at the academy."

It wasn't a question, he knew I couldn't stand spending another year skipping class and passing tests, it would drive me insane. Of course he didn't know why I was so desperate to be in the next chuunin exams, but he wasn't exactly wrong with most of his guesses.

"And the genin corp isn't an option."

I flipped the senbon one last time before stowing it away and straightening my black beanie, absentmindedly brushing off the clinging bits of leaves.

"It's my only option until I can find someone willing to recommend me for an apprenticeship. Isao said if I wasn't going to follow shinobi rules I should just be a civilian, so there's no help from that quarter. I'd ask Iruka-sensei, but I dread hearing his answer seeing as I usually left during the first half of his class. My only option is the corp, and hope luck smiles upon me."

It went unsaid that my other option, Mizuki-sensei, wasn't actually an option. The only ones who could testify to my skill levels would be those who I had run missions with, or trained with. Seeing as I'd never run a mission, and wouldn't get a chance to be invited to train with anyone of the appropriate rank until I had connections...it was a mess. I couldn't get connections without first having connections. The Anbu who watched over Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't work because I had never officially 'met' any of them.

I didn't even notice Kakashi had been there the entire time until his signature was gone. I felt a pang of guilt for that, I'd forgotten he was there, if I'd remembered I likely would have delayed my story. From what I could remember his father had died because of a mission that had gone wrong remarkably like my test had, and those kinds of memories should just stay buried. I was just so damned used to his chakra signature hanging around back in his Anbu guarding days that it hadn't really registered for me after the initial realization that he was hiding.

Naruto was scowling when I looked at him next so I clapped my hands together before glancing at all three of the genin in front of me.

"Alright, my team flopped but yours doesn't have to. What do you say we all get some ramen?"

Cheering from the orange corner was immediate, and Sasuke sighed before rolling his eyes to the heavens,

"Why do you enable him?"

"If your team has ramen together tonight I'll make that tomato casserole for dinner tomorrow."

He noticed the stipulation and turned his eyes on his fan girl, favorite food hanging in the balance.

"We're having ramen tonight."

It was more of an order than anything, but the stars in the girl's eyes were evident while she nodded vigorously. That settled, I looped one arm through Sakura's, and the other through Naruto's, letting Sasuke lead the way, ironically enough. Even nearing chakra exhaustion Sakura couldn't pull away to walk beside her crush, but that was probably more because she was distracted by whatever strange ramen-praising chant Naruto was performing than due to any strength on my part. They were going to be a proper team if it killed me, so I positioned Naruto in the middle of the three, and myself beside Sakura. I didn't need her throwing me jealous looks the whole time because I got to sit beside 'her Sasuke-kun'.

Ramen was something I was fond of, though no one loved the stuff as much as Naruto. I managed to make my way through two bowls, a feat I'd never before accomplished in my life, and when I caught Sasuke's question expression I could only shrug and say I'd used a lot of chakra. Keeping out of the conversation was easier than I had expected it to be. Sakura was naturally prone to offering up information when it was needed and she knew it, and Sasuke and Naruto were bound to argue their points with each other, and by the third hour sitting at the ramen stand they were bickering with Sakura too. The shell shocked expression on her face after she won an argument against her crush that was in Naruto's favor was the sweetest victory I could have asked for that night.

Walking her home with Sasuke present probably sent her the wrong message, but it was unavoidable. The moment we had left her street behind Sasuke turned his eyes on me, and his elbow met my gut.

"You were trying to push the two of us towards her. Why?"

I barely stumbled at the hit, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Because you're going to be a team. I recognized the chakra of your sensei hanging around, he's a teamwork kind of person, so if you three can work together then you'll be great, I know it. The next Sanin, I'm sure."

He scoffed, looking away from me and out across the village. I couldn't help but note it was in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Before either of us could dwell on it Orange coated arms were slamming down on our shoulders and dragging us into an equally orange coated body, trying to get a group hug and walk at the same time.

"Of course we're going to be great, and even if you aren't on our team of Awesome you're going to be great too! You've gotta, you're going to be one of my advisors when I'm Hokage, after all!"

That much loud right in my ear had me wincing, but I was smiling through it, because Naruto's cheer is infectious. Sasuke pushed him off, sending the blonde careening into me. We met the ground with a thud, a painful tangle of limbs not helped by the ache that was already there from that stupid jutsu I had tried. Naruto leapt up almost immediately to chase Sasuke through the streets, leaving me to pick myself up at my own pace and follow sedately with a sigh, muttering about 'dorks' under my breath.

It didn't take much cajoling to get them into their own apartments and into bed that night, with the test early the next day looming over them. I didn't have anywhere to be until ten the next morning, the deadline to report to the genin corp. I grimaced as I took my gear off, laying it neatly on the long, thin table by my bed. I had always known it was a possibility for me, as a no-name orphan, but it still stung a bit. Laying the headband down beside my beanie I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride for earning it at all, no matter how easy the academy portion of the test had been, and that I'd failed the rest of it.

I emptied my weapons pouch onto the table, organizing the kunai and senbon, as well as the tiny scrolls and thin brushes I carried. As much as I loved to whip out seals mid-fight it had been no use against Isao, I hadn't even had time to reach for ink. It reminded me of the ink beasts Sai would sketch out mid-melee. Some had to be pre-made because of sheer tedious complexity, others I was eager to get a chance to use. I was working on chakra scalpels, the scroll for the technique borrowed from the library the day after I'd gotten the headband, before I'd gone in to get the ID picture taken. It seemed like the perfect way to shear seals from a scroll without a weapon, if I could only get it to work.

It was among my sealing supplies that I found it, the scroll Isao had given me. He hadn't asked for it back, and I wasn't about to track him down to give it to him, no matter how easy it would be for me to find him. After a seconds hesitation I flicked open the scroll, tossing it across the room almost immediately. Nestled in the middle of the seal was: 'Give up'. Fuck that guy. He didn't know what was at stake here. Despite my exhaustion anger kept me awake for a while more, and when I finally did sleep it was to dreams filled with Yuichi drowning in puddles of his own blood while Satoru mocked him for failing again.

The next morning was sunny, but despite that I couldn't help but feel the green mile awaited me. I replaced all my equipment, knowing that I would likely be running low priority scrolls all over the village all day because I had the ability to find anyone at any point, but I didn't want to seem unprepared.

Naruto and Sasuke were already gone, likely waiting in the training grounds for their sensei who would probably be spying on them for a few more hours before finally revealing himself. It was silent as I gathered my things, shoved down a granola bar and some water, and locked the door behind me. The headquarters for the genin corp was located near the Hokage Tower and academy, most ninja headquarters were, actually. It made it easier to protect the villages most important things, her leader and her future.

Iruka-sensei had mentioned to us where to report should joining the corp appeal to us, and I had realized even then that it was phrased as such to conceal the existence of the jounin sensei tests. No one wanted to join the corp. But I still found myself standing in front of the dull green double doors, psyching myself up to go inside. It took two minutes of internal pep talking to get the door open, and another eighteen seconds to actually walk up to the desk, manned by a genin who couldn't have been younger than thirty, wearing her hair long and unbound with fake eyelashes set in place.

"Asuka, genin, formerly of team 6, reporting."

The genin, most likely used to the tone of utter despair, just riffled through her papers, finally frowning when she got to one.

"Hm, says here that's not necessary. Report to the Hokage tower for assignment."

Well that was...unusual. I couldn't help but be suspicious as I wandered to the tower, brief terror flaring in me as I wondered if it was Danzo, after a decent sensor or way to get at the last Uchiha and Kyuubi vessel, but pushed it back easily enough. Surely if it were Danzo I wouldn't be reporting to the tower, there was no way he'd do shady shit like recruiting for the 'non-existent' Root under the Hokage's nose...most likely.

The walk to the tower took an age despite its proximity, and there was a small eternity of being bounced from desk to desk until I found myself in front of the Hokage himself. This wasn't the first time I'd met the man, far from it due to Naruto's influence, but I was painfully aware that this time I didn't have the cheerful blonde as a buffer. Oh, I wasn't the only one in the room, Anbu were abound and Chuunin were rifling through paperwork, with a few jounin thrown in as well.

I didn't even need to stutter out an excuse, heads went up when I entered the room and the Hokage gave me a beaming smile, pipe dipping down as he motioned me closer.

"Ah, Asuka-chan, I had wondered when you'd be in. I'm dreadfully sorry about your team results, but it's no matter. Someone has requested you for an apprenticeship. Do you accept?"

I should really, really, ask who it is and what they specialize in. But it was this or eternal genin servitude.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

I never quite got up the courage to call him 'grandpa' or 'old man' like Naruto did, but he smiled at me softly anyway.

"Good, good. I'll send for him then, just have a seat over near the red bookcases and he'll be here shortly."

One of the Anbu presences disappeared, and for a second I thought they'd gone to fetch the guy, but the same presence just went off to another room nearby and began taking the hallways back to our position. My eyes narrowed as I mentally followed the signals path, overlaying with a mental image of what I knew of the layout of the tower. The closer it got the more I could feel it, and the familiarity only became stronger until the person was right in front of me and I knew. I snapped back to the present, meeting his eyes.

"You."

I didn't dare mention Anbu or guard duty, or anything of the sort, not here, but I met brown eyes and pointedly touched a single finger to the ribbon at my neck. I finally had an answer as to who the mystery sender was. Or, well, a face. He had brown hair, shoulder length and his Konoha headband spread out like a bandana to keep it out of his eyes and cover the top of his head, a senbon hanging out of his mouth. With a sigh he motioned towards the door,

"Come on kid, we've got a lot to talk about."

I followed him after glancing at the Hokage and getting a nod and an encouraging smile in response. No harm in making sure I was following the right guy, after all. He lead me down the hall and out of the building, through the village in silence. Finally we reached a deserted training ground and he slumped to sit at the base of a tree, motioning that I follow. With a seconds hesitation I sat down opposite him, legs crossed under me. The silence endured for a few more moments as he looked up through the leaves and finally he sighed again,

"The name's Shiranui Genma. But I believe you knew me already by a different moniker."

This was the Anbu that crashed into my living room ready to start slaying when I tried hiding my chakra signature that first time, and now that I could feel his chakra up close and without that feeling of terror and shock distracting me I could tell it was the one hanging around the necklace I had been given. The only gift I had ever been given, if you discounted the various scrolls Sasuke filched from the Uchiha compound and dumped wordlessly in my living room.

I grinned sheepishly,

"Eheh, I'm Asuka. Nice to meet you, officially, I suppose."

After a beat of awkward silence I screwed up the courage to ask a question.

"Um, Shiranui-san, why exactly did you request me for an apprenticeship?"

His expression was the closest to 'bitch please' that I'd seen yet in this place.

"You regularly routed out Anbu that were trying very hard to hide from you, and you were studying advanced fuinjutsu before you even entered the academy. You're exactly the type that needs to be given an apprenticeship when a genin team falls through."

"That doesn't answer my question, why did you request me?"

He made a face, scrunching up his nose and shaking his head,

"A favor, kid. Old Anbu...teammate heard about your issue and came straight to me. I owed him, and now here we are."

The only one I could think of that was familiar from the old Anbu guard that had been near me recently was Kakashi, and in that moment of contemplation it all came clear. My eyes went from his bandana to the senbon in his mouth, mind flashing to the needle I'd been holding and the beanie on my own head, sighing in frustration. That scarecrow had cut and run for the first person he thought of who owed him a favor, and I'd accidentally shifted his thoughts toward this guy. I suppose I should be thankful Kakashi did anything at all about it, he didn't need to. I didn't expect he would.

All I could remember from the show about this particular guy was that he had been a proctor in the Chuunin exams when the other guy had been killed, and I couldn't even remember if he'd done a particularly good job at it. But he was Anbu, which had to mean something. So I pulled my nerves together and leaned back on my hands, observing my new teacher.

"So, Shiranui-sensei, where do we go from here?"

"Well first of all Genma will do, I'm not against Genma-sama."

I gave him a blank look until he cleared his throat and continued,

"Ah, first off we'll be going over what you know already and where to go from there."

Here he paused to rub the back of his neck,

"I've never had to be a teacher before. I'm a Tokubetsu Jounin, though no doubt I'll make the leap to full jounin once this apprenticeship is over. We're lucky that bastard chose me to call in a favor from because I've got some experience with sealing. Not much, but more than most shinobi, Konoha or beyond."

That was interesting, and a good sign for my future training. I nodded, and he continued.

"However I'm not the best person to train you for tracking, which is a good fit with the sensor thing, so I'll have to set up a few training session with someone who would know. But for now, I believe a spar is in order."

I stood as he did, following him to the center of the clearing, mind already turning over plan after plan,

"Anything is allowed, Asuka-san, give it all you've got. Your goal is to land at least one hit."

Well that wasn't happening. I huffed, scowling when there was a cloud of smoke and then three copies of Genma were standing in front of me. One hand went to my supplies pouch as I leapt to the side, kunai sent flying in the direction of the clones, soaring through them as they faded out. Academy level illusion sort of clones then, he most likely wasn't giving this anywhere near his full attention. While that was slightly aggravating it would make it easier to catch him by surprise.

He was calm, a small smile on his face as he dodge waited to see what I would do, eyes widening as a scroll unfurled. Ink splashed against paper and I had a working seal in less than three seconds, enough to leap backwards into a tree and gain the high ground. I sheared the length of paper away from the scroll, tensing my legs underneath me and leaping across the clearing and over his head, sending a spark of chakra into the seal as I did and dropping it down on his head. He dodged, of course, but that wasn't the aim. Black smoke filled the clearing and I grinned to myself.

Most people were blind without their eyes, though a lot of shinobi were capable of using rudimentary echolocation and could enhance their sense of smell for finding people in shitty visible conditions, but those tricks couldn't hold a candle to a sensor's ability to 'see' without eyes. I would have to keep chakra surging under my skin of course, wary of changes in surrounding air pressure that would mean approaching projectiles, but I'd had some help from a rather enthusiastic Naruto and gleeful Sasuke, both were happy to blindfold me and use me for target practice with bright orange rubber balls.

I heard Genma sigh in the distance, along with a very Nara-like exclamation of 'troublesome' before I launched myself from my new position, chakra string attached to the tree I had left, anchored through the pre-prepared seal I'd slapped down. I threw a few Shuriken at him as I passed as a diversion from what I was doing. None of them met their mark, of course, but I wasn't expecting them to. After seven passes I dropped down on the far side of the string from him, holding up two fingers in front of my face.

"Kai."

Useful for fluctuating chakra and breaking genjutsu, and my favorite for activating and deactivating seals. The smoke cleared almost immediately, no chakra to hold it together. Genma turned and faced me, eyebrow raised.

"What, realized those little things weren't going to work?"

I shrugged, finger still raised.

"Never expected them to."

The last vestiges of smoke were carried away and he finally noticed the strings. I hadn't wasted any time making them small and invisible, not feeling the need this time. Before he could move I surged chakra into the hand seal, flaring the barrier into life, chakra connecting the seals and making a seven sided wall before the ceiling piece connected. He just stared at the yellow wall before looking back at me, face blank.

"You...you made this?"

I shrugged with one shoulder,

"Sort of. I bastardized a few bits of seals I've encountered, and then added my own flair to it. This barrier allows for the chakra of the castor, me, to enter or leave freely. Anything else, not so much. I didn't put near enough chakra into it for it to keep you in there indefinitely, but it's stable enough at the moment that I could probably get away with spitting grand fireballs into that five by ten space until I run out of chakra, the sun goes down, or you're crispy, either one."

He pointed down,

"Or I could tunnel out with an Earth jutsu."

I stared at him for a second before facepalming, loudly. The crack echoed through the clearing before I was muttering to myself,

"Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of fucking course, Earth jutsu, fucking hell…"

He laughed, loud and long, and when I looked up there was finally a genuine smile on his face.

"I think that's about enough for this test. I didn't get to see much, but I've seen enough to know this apprenticeship can work, if we're willing to put in the effort."

I beamed at him, shattering the barrier with a flare of chakra, small sparks lighting and disappearing from where the tags self destructed after their task was done. He clapped his hands together, still grinning,

"Now, let's start off with some taijutsu practice!"

My own smile faltered and my eyes narrowed, a dark feeling coming over me. Why did that not sound like a good thing? Why did that expression look slightly evil?

~TimeLordOfPie