A/N - u^u hello? *taps mic* anyone there? How long has it been since the last time? I dunno, but I'm still here. Obligatory, life update: I'm engaged to my wonderful fiancé now and am the happiest I've been in a very long time. For those of you who still remember my bestie who has helped me with this story, you'll be happy to know that we are still besties and our friendship anniversary is in like a week or so lol but we're still very close if not even closer. I've gotten a new position and will be working full time again soon so I'm looking forward to that. Now that the life update is over, I can talk about the story for a minute.
I'm sorry that I do this so often - disappear with the threat of never returning (though I have no idea whether I ever promised I'd never return or if I left it vague to give myself the option to come back or not). I have no idea if that'll happen again or not, but I wrote another chapter and I'm quite happy with it. I feel really good about it, like so happy. I've greatly missed this story - it's like my baby, to be fair. And I missed my world I had built, the plot, the lore, Naruto, Shikamaru, Team 7, Shikaku and Yoshino, Iruka. I missed them all. I missed you all as well. I always feel guilty when I leave because you all are so supportive and give me the best wishes but I know you all hope I come back one day. I hope me being in a good place will help me update or at the very least keep writing. I hadn't touched a single piece of writing in what feels like over a year. It was incredibly depressing, but I did this in one night and it was amazing.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please bear with me. Thank you.
"Wait!" Sakura raised her hands, making a dramatic 'slow down' motion. Sasuke, equally as dramatic if not more so, sighed loudly, expressing his aggravation loudly. She pouted at him before shaking her head, continuing with her thought, "Are you saying that instead of, as you so kindly put it, throwing my kunai the way the academy taught me how to do it, I should start flicking my wrist like this?" Sakura made a few weak motions, making a noise with her mouth to emphasize the throwing motion.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, head hanging low in his aggravation. He crossed his arms tightly, walking away from her towards the bridge where they were supposed to meet their sensei. "Did you even listen to anything I said?" He grumbled lowly, but not low enough.
She huffed, almost stomping, "That's literally what you just said." Sakura dashed forward so she could stop Sasuke from walking away from her. "You told me 'Don't do it like the academy. Flick your wrist, Haruno. Aim it.' Or however, you said it." Her voice went deeper, head swaying back and forth as she mimicked the way her teammate spoke.
The lone Uchiha's eye twitched, practically looking right through her, almost wondering why he was entertaining this conversation, "Haruno, all I'm saying is that aim and speed is everything when you use kunai. You did… well yesterday against Kakashi-sensei with the extra kunai that Naruto and I gave you, but by the time the kunai reached Kakashi-sensei's location, he had enough time to dodge it. That can't happen again."
"That's what the academy said too." The pink-haired girl sighed slightly, tapping her chin in thought as she reviewed their conjoined effort in taking the bells from Kakashi, "Then, why would I need to flick my wrist?"
"It increases speed." He stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "It's a method that some of the older sharpshooter ninjas around here use to fire off multiple kunai, shurikens, or other sharp weapons at their opponents over a large area." Sasuke side-stepped his teammate, continuing their walk to the bridge. "Even though most of the shots are sporadic, there is little the enemy could do if there were dozens and dozens of weapons flying at them from all directions." Sasuke continued talking knowing Sakura would follow him regardless of where he went, "The enemy wouldn't have anywhere to move and, unless they're equipped to deal with massive amounts of weapons in one go, they would almost always get hit by them."
"Do you flick your wrist when you use kunai?" She asked curiously.
He nodded, "Most of my clan knew how to do it so I knew the basis of the technique fairly well."
Sakura looked down at the ground, shyly tapping her fingertips together "Is there... any chance that you could... teach it to me sometime?"
Sasuke thought for a second, glancing at the girl following behind him who wouldn't make eye contact whatsoever. "We'll see." He finally spoke.
"Really?!" Green eyes shone with excitement and hope, a faint pink blush running rampant on her cheeks.
The Uchiha quickly looked away, a sigh on his lips but otherwise didn't answer. He's probably going to regret that. The rest of the walk to the bridge was comfortably silent, Sasuke taking the lead and Sakura following dutifully behind him. As the bridge approached, the two genins could see their other teammate slumped over something on the ground, a concentrated furrow in his brows.
"Naruto?" Sakura called out.
The blond-haired boy lifted his head, eyes brightening at the appearance of his teammates, "Good morning." He waved at the two for good measure.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke was the first to ask, his tone boarding harsh but still curious.
Naruto didn't flinch, whether from not noticing the Uchiha's tone or simply ignoring it, "I'm just reading some old medical texts I got today. They're pretty interesting so far."
Sakura moved to take a seat on the railing behind where the medic-in-training was sitting, swaying her feet up and down in interest. She leaned over his shoulder to look at what he was reading, skimming the text, "I have no idea what any of that means." She looked to Sasuke for help but he just shrugged and found a pole the lean dramatically on.
Never one to shy away from someone's curiosity regarding his favorite interest, Naruto began to ramble, "Before medical ninjutsu was considered a branch of ninjutsu rather than just a practice that doctors and nurses with chakra could do, these practitioners would write all of their findings in books to analyze later. These findings would be shared with one another so all of the practitioners would be on the same page, kind of like if a new practice was being upheld and everyone needed to be updated. It's all super fascinating." Naruto sighed heavily, "However, I just found out upon purchasing these two scrolls from Noboru's shop that these are all excerpts from a much older book from Sunagakure! I'm hoping I can get my hands on it soon."
"Couldn't you just buy the book or a copy of it?" Sasuke questioned with a roll of his eyes.
The blond-haired teen was quick to shake his head, rolling the scroll back up and putting it away in a backpack he always carried on his person, "It's a one-of-a-kind book - that's why there's only excerpts of it in scrolls. There are probably village secrets in the original writings than what is given away in these excerpts. Plus, I don't think I could ever purchase that book in a million lifetimes. I bet it's crazyexpensive!"
Sakura raised an eyebrow in surprise, "What kind of secrets do you think it holds?"
"All kinds of secrets!" Naruto's eyes lit up as he shot up from the ground in excitement, "From what Noboru told me, I can only guess that the secrets in the original book have something to do with poison."
"Poison?" Both his teammates chimed in.
He nodded, "Nearly half of the excerpts I've read so far were about patients dealing with different types of poisons or what different types of poison could do to the body. I haven't read anything about treating these types of poisons yet, but I'm sure there's going to be something in here about it - I haven't gotten too far yet."
"Why poison?" The Uchiha teen questioned.
"Well, because Suna is known for them," Naruto informed, waving a hand, "at least that's what Noboru told me. Now that I think about it, I think Dr. Teruya mentioned something about how some of the best poison makers come from Sunagakure and, honestly, they are some of the most creative ninjas with all kinds they have extracted or made. On the walk here, I saw a newspaper that there is a shipment coming in from Suna in a few weeks that's going to have a lot of new stuff for purchase so I'm going to go see if they have anything on poisons when the time comes."
"Why don't you just ask for the hospital's records on poison control?" A sudden drawl said from somewhere behind the genin, thoroughly startling them.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura breathed, hand on her heart, "Don't do that!"
The silver-haired man gave the group an eye-smile, "Whoops."
Naruto stood up from where he was still sitting, smiling up at his teacher, "While that is a good idea, I've already done that, not that I had much success. I'm not allowed to touch those types of documents since I'm not an official doctor or medic. That's for another time, though, what about our D-ranked mission?"
"Well, I came here to grab you three so we could meet with the Hokage about those missions," Kakashi stated, motioning for the three to follow him.
After some time of walking in silence, Sakura elbowed Naruto gently with her shoulder, garnering his attention, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"When did you start learning about all this medical stuff? You seem to know a lot." She found herself asking.
A blush rose on his face at the question, sheepishly scratching his cheek, "Um... I honestly don't know as much as you think I do, but I've been doing this since I was... eight or nine? That was only the fundamental things like researching and the like. I didn't start training to be a medic until I was about eleven." There was a pause as the group blinked. "What?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Holy shit!" Sakura suddenly beamed, looking amazed, "That's amazing, Naruto! You're amazing!" She reached out for him, practically shaking him in her excitement.
He chuckled sheepishly, blush deepening in color from the claim, "Not really. I'm not that proficient in it. If you want to see someone who really is amazing, then you should see Dr. Yiruma at the hospital sometime! He just got promoted to Head Medic for Konoha - he's the amazing one, not me."
"Oh, please." Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Stop being modest and just own up to the fact that you have the talent for it."
Naruto's eyes widened by the statement, "But I-"
Kakashi stopped the group to look at his student, putting a hand on the blond's shoulder after Sakura had ceased her shaking, "Naruto, do you even realize how much you've achieved in just four years of practicing something that takes some people decades to learn?"
"Well, I-"
"I even tried to learn medical ninjutsu and I failed." His sensei explained slowly, "You have-"
"MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL!" A booming voice suddenly shouted from behind Team 7, startling all participants.
The silver-haired jonin tensed up, turning around slowly, his students following suit. "Ah, Guy, good morning." He smiled with his eyes.
Before Team 7 was another genin team with their sensei, now known as Guy. "And what a lovely good morning to you as well, Kakashi, my most youthful rival!" The shout turned to loudly spoken words as the other genin team walked up to their group.
Sakura, feeling a tad bit shy, awkwardly looked at the people in front of her. Unconsciously, she found herself scooting over to stand in between Sasuke and Naruto while conveniently also being nearly covered by her teacher. "Kakashi-sensei, do you know this person?" She asked, poking her head out from behind him.
He nodded with a pleasant look on his face, "Team, this is Guy, a jonin teacher of Team 3. Guy, these three are my lovable genin."
"Hello!" Naruto and Sakura coursed together while Sasuke merely just waved.
"Excellent to hear! Nice to meet you three!" Guy gave the group a loud thumbs up, seemingly shining, making Kakashi chuckle to himself, "It's nice to finally meet the team that Kakashi was gushing about!"
"Oh, was he now?" Sakura smirked evilly.
"I wouldn't say gushing." Kakashi tried to defend.
Guy barked out a laugh, arms resting on his hips in a proud display, "Come now, Kakashi! They were all you talked about when I last talked to you! Don't be humble now!"
"Oh, Kami…" The silver-haired jonin grumbled, his genins quietly snickering all around him.
"I'd like you to meet my team." The other man boasts loudly, motioning to the three teens behind him. He moved until he stood beside a pale boy with long brown hair, laying a large hand on his student's shoulder, "This here is Neji Hyuuga, a bright young man indeed!"
The boy now known as Neji stared for a moment before turning away, nose lifted in a snobbish display, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Sakura flushed, hand covering her mouth in shock. "Wow, so polite." She muttered out, getting a look from both her teammates. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other, sharing a similar negative sentiment about the Hyuuga boy almost immediately. They didn't get a polite tone from the other boy, merely a 'I'm-better-than-you' vibe. Neither were particularly impressed with him.
"This young lady here," Guy smiled, patting the only girl of Team 3 on the back, "is our one and only Tenten! She may look sweet, but she packs a punch!"
"Guy-sensei…" She whined at the praise before smiling brightly at Team 7, bowing politely towards the other team, "It's nice to meet you all!" Sakura grinned back at her, waving vividly.
"And last, but certainly not least!" The older man moved over to the last member of their team, moving to ruffle the boy's bowl-shaped hair. Team 7 couldn't help but notice just how similar Guy and the genin looked. "This is Lee!"
"Lee?" Naruto found himself blinking as something in his head clicked. He raised a hand, garnering everyone's attention, "I've heard of you before!"
Team 7 found themselves staring at their blond-haired teammate with a confused glance. Lee's big eyes seemed to widen, eyebrows raising in surprise, disappearing behind his bangs. "You've heard of me?!" He glanced at his teacher, all grins, "Guy-sensei, someone has heard of me!"
"That's great, Lee!" His teacher praised him proudly.
"Even I'm a little shocked you've heard of Lee before you've heard of Guy." Kakashi found himself voicing out, only mildly amused by the genins' antics.
Naruto nodded, stepping forward with his hand outstretched in a greeting, "It is a real pleasure to meet you. I'm glad that you are continuing with your career as a ninja who only uses taijutsu. Please keep up your great work, Lee." His words were said with a soft smile, eyes squinted in genuine praise.
Lee's eyes shined greatly as he stared back at the blond. He snatched Naruto's hand up, giving the other boy a large smile, violently shaking hands with him, "Yosh! Thank you! That means so much to me, you don't even know!"
"I'm being honest!" Naruto grinned, "You're like me. We're both specializing in things no one else is so that we can be the best! And that is very honorable!"
"Yes, I agree wholeheartedly!" Lee beamed, finally letting go of the teen's hand, "May I please know your name?"
"Oh, yeah! I forgot!" He chuckled sheepishly, "I can't believe I would say all that and not tell you my name first - sorry about that! I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He finished his statement with a polite grin, but all that followed his declaration was silence from Team 3. Naruto was quick to sense the awkwardness, glancing behind him at his team for comfort. They shrugged, unsure as well. He couldn't have said anything wrong, right?
"Naruto Uzumaki…" Tenten interrupted the silence, "As in that boy who took down Mizuki-sensei?"
Naruto visibly winced at the mention of Mizuki's name. It made his entire body jerk with pain as if he had been stabbed. It was still so hard to go on with life even after he had physically recovered. Painful silence stretched across the teams, Naruto's reaction garnering a bit of awkwardness; a pin drop could've been heard in that lapse of silence between both genin teams. The blond-haired teen receded into himself, unable to stop himself reflecting after Mizuki's mention, face continuing to grow more and more constricted. His eyebrows furrowed together in a painful display. Sakura's body flexed unconsciously at that, stepping out from behind Kakashi where she'd been hiding earlier and instead moving to stand closely to Naruto.
The tension between both teams could've been cut with a knife.
"Ah, yes…" Naruto practically coughed out, grumbling quietly, "Though, I wouldn't say I… took him down per se…" All eyes were on him after that statement.
"Of course, you didn't take him down." Neji stirred since his introduction, a sneer on his lips, "He was a chunin - there are very few people who can stand up to a chunin."
"Neji, that's enough." Tenten was quick to bark at him, shooting him daggers. There was something in her eyes that Sasuke caught easily - their team had talked about the situation before his. Tenten was aware of how Neji felt about it and was trying to keep him quiet, Sasuke mused. He found himself standing with Sakura, crowding around Naruto in case something happened. Kakashi and Guy weren't unaware of the tension.
Neji gave Tenten a look before smirking. "I heard you ran." He spoke with authority.
In a flash, Naruto's eyes met Neji's, startling the Hyuuga so much that he unconsciously took a step back. The blond could feel the warmth of rage spread through his body as he continued to practically stare into Neji's soul. "Shut up." His words were cold. All of Team 7 jumped at the teen's volatile words. Despite only having known the blond for a short time, they'd never seen him like this.
"I'm right, though, aren't I?" Neji was quick to collect himself, "You ran instead of fighting back. You're the reason Iruka-sensei is in a wheelchair." The rest of Neji's team jumped. "Oh, you didn't know? Yeah, Iruka-sensei is in a wheelchair because you ran. You left him when he was already injured. You're a coward! Are you even a ninja?"
Naruto sucked in a breath. In one breath, he was standing with his team staring into Neji's eyes and the next he was back in the forest, Mizuki's laughing coursing through his head.
"I-Iruka…" He laid him on his side, shaking his teacher's shoulder slowly, "Iruka.." He was gone.
The scream that left his mouth was animalistic, world-shakingly loud. There was a metal taste in his mouth as he screamed and sobbed, punching the earth underneath him, a mantra of 'no-no-no' on repeat in his head. Iruka is gone and he is so, so angry, so full of agony. The warmth of his rage pooled in his chest and filled his wounds. Everything hurts every fiber of his being feeling on fire as he lets the anger fill him. Mizuki would pay.
He wants revenge.
"So, do it."
There's a hand over his eyes, completely blocking Neji from his view. "Naruto, take a breath." Kakashi's voice was almost completely silent.
Naruto grit his teeth and actually growled, "But, he-"
"Take a breath." He reminded the blond-haired teen carefully.
His jaw audibly made a noise from being so tense, a nasty popping sound that had everyone cringing away from it. Naruto breathed heavily through his nose, practically vibrating with anger. How dare he? What expression was Neji even wearing right now after seeing Naruto probably losing it? The thought of seeing that guy's face had Naruto steaming with rage. Was he scared? Is he smug for riling Naruto up, from pushing all his buttons? He deserves-
"Naruto, that's enough." Kakashi's voice was like a cool river, soothing him, but he still felt boiling.
"He was trying to assassinate me." Naruto's words held a bite to it, practically ignoring the fact he still couldn't see anything from behind his teacher's hand, something that was starting to both calm him down but increasingly angrier, "You're stupid if you think anyone would have stayed to fight had they been woken up in the middle of the night to someone crashing through their window ready to kill them!" The silence between both groups was palpable. "Did you think I had any time to gather myself? Do you think I had enough time to reach for any kind of weapon to defend myself with?!"
"Naruto, you don't have to defend yourself." Kakashi murmured out, a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You have nothing to prove."
He ignored his teacher's words, "You wonder if I was even a ninja at that moment, but would you have done something different if you were in my place? I live in a civilian district, Neji. What if innocent people had been hurt in the crossfire if I had retaliated as soon as Mizuki attacked me? Did you even think of anyone else?" He's rambling by now, body shaking and spitting venom. "You criticize my actions, but until you've had someone hunt you down with only one purpose being to kill you without having anything to defend yourself, when you've already been stabbed, choked within an inch of your life, and dehumanized when you've watched one of your favorite people die in your arms begging you to run and have some monster laugh in your face about it, then you can tell me whether I acted like a ninja or not!"
"Naruto…" Sakura's voice wavered.
His eyes felt warm and that made him angrier than anything Neji had said. "I killed him. I killed Mizuki." He said with a flat voice, "And I did it with my bare hands."
He doesn't exactly remember everything he did to Mizuki, but he remembers the way he looked after he was done with him. In twenty seconds, Naruto had killed Mizuki, and had reduced him to nothing but a pile of blood and flesh. His face had been torn off, unrecognizable as his guts spilled out of his body. He had done that to someone in a fit of rage. If Kakashi hadn't stopped him, could he have done that to Neji? The thought made him sick to the core. The crack of thunder laughs back at him, mocking him.
Guy settled into the silence that had fallen over the group over that statement unsure of how to fix the sour atmosphere caused by his student. His eyes found Kakashi's, their longtime friendship helping them communicate without having to say anything. It's how Kakashi knew from the way Guy furrowed his eyebrows that his friend was apologetic and with a flare of his nostrils, the silver-haired jonin knew Guy would be greatly punishing his student from aggravating a situation that didn't need it.
"Guy," Kakashi started, all genins looking at him carefully except for Naruto whose eyes were still covered, "Are you heading to Hokage-sama's office?"
"Yes," The other man responded quickly, catching on to what Kakashi was doing, "We're getting another C-ranked mission."
"Maybe it would be best if your team took the lead and met with the Hokage first." Kakashi expressed, motioning to the building behind them with his head, "Debriefing for C-ranked missions always takes longer than necessary so we'll just wait here until your team is finished."
"I see," Guy nodded exaggeratedly, "Thank you for your generosity, my youthful rival. We'll be seeing you!" He motioned for his team to follow him inside, pushing Neji to take the lead.
It was quiet for a few moments before Kakashi spoke, "Come here, Naruto." He turned the teen away from the rest of his team, walking a few feet away before removing his hand from Naruto's eyes. He searched his student's face carefully, "Okay, you're good, no red eyes."
"Red eyes?" He mumbled out, blinking deeply.
"You were feeling a little angry there, weren't you?" Kakashi asked quietly.
Naruto looked away before sighing dramatically, "He started it!"
"Hey, hey, calm down." He laid his hands on the teen's shoulders, squeezing them tightly, "It's okay to be mad. What he said was unacceptable behavior and, to be fair, I really thought you were going to throw a punch or something, but you handled it very well."
He swallowed thickly, "I thought I was going to hurt him."
"He would've deserved it, to be fair." Kakashi shrugged, trying to lighten the mood, "But you didn't and I think that says more about you than it does him." Naruto glanced back up at his teacher, eyes watering. "Do you want to talk about… that night at all?" He offered, "It's not easy to take a life, Naruto."
"I didn't want to…"
"Liar."
Naruto visibly winced a painful expression on his face as a hand went to his hair, gripping it tightly. "Woah, what happened?!" Kakashi secured his student quickly, eyes widened at the reaction, "Naruto, are you alright?"
"I…" He swallowed around the heat swelling up his throat, "T-The Kyuubi… he's around."
The older man paused, taking the information in, "I see. Is he speaking to you?" Naruto nodded quietly. "What did he say?" Kakashi tried to pry, but Naruto quickly shook his head, unwilling to talk about it. His shoulders sagged as the jonin tried to figure out what to do, "Well, my offer still stands if you want to talk about it. It doesn't have to be today, but whenever, okay?"
"Okay…" He murmured out, feeling almost low on energy. Kakashi gave his student an eye smile before ushering him back to the rest of his team. Naruto made a beeline for a bench, Team 7 watching him quietly.
"Naruto…" Sakura called after him, voice timid and unsure.
"I don't want to talk about it." His voice was quiet as he found a bench just outside of the Hokage's office to sit on, watching as people passed by on the street. His eyes were dull and upset.
"Are you okay though?" She found herself asking despite his very clear instructions not to talk about it. Naruto shrugged but didn't say anything else beyond that. Sakura glanced at Sasuke and her sensei, both quiet and unwilling to do anything. She sighed and plopped down beside Naruto, "Where did you hear about Lee?"
Naruto thought about staying quiet, but decided against it - they were worried and he hated that. "It was this morning when I purchased those two scrolls I was telling you about earlier." He explained, "Noboru had told me that he had actually mixed up our graduating class with last year's group. He said that Team 3 is kind of similar to our team - Neji Hyuuga is the rookie of last year's bunch, Tenten is the top kunoichi, and Lee is the deadlast." He felt a bitter taste in his mouth at the mention of that jackass.
"And that's when you found out that Lee only uses taijutsu?" Sakura asked, glad he was talking.
"It's the same as Guy." Kakashi butted in, pulling out his favorite book. His students gave him a look, wanting him to continue. "Ever since the two of us were in the academy - even if it was for a short time since I graduated early - Guy has only ever used taijutsu. I don't know if it was based on his personal choice because Might Duy used only taijutsu."
"Might Duy?" Sakura tilted her head.
"He was a man known as the Eternal Genin and Guy's father. He taught Guy everything he knows about taijutsu." Kakashi explained.
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, "How is using only taijutsu effective in battle? Isn't it better to use a combination of techniques?"
Their teacher snorted, "If you're asking that question, then you obviously have never battled against a taijutsu specialist like Guy or Lee. They are something… extraordinary."
The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, "So, they're strong?"
"Absolutely, in their own way." He nodded, eyes crinkled in a smile.
"Kakashi!" A voice called out for the second time that day. The group turned around to see Team 3 once again appear, Guy waving at them at the door to the Hokage's office. "We're finishing with our debriefing, it's all yours!"
"Thank you, Guy. Good luck on your mission!" Kakashi called back out, waving as well. Team 7 watched for a few moments before Team 3 disappeared before moving for the doors to the Hokage's office. Just as they had begun climbing the stairs, a voice echoed from the bottom. They all paused as the voice got closer and closer.
"Wait!" It was the sound of Lee's voice. He appeared shortly after, panting just a tad bit. Naruto openly turned towards the taijutsu specialist, however, the rest of Team 7 openly tensed as if expecting the worst, obviously protective over the blond-haired teen after Neji's displayed aggression and Naruto's reaction.
"What are you doing here, Lee?" Naruto was quick to ask when he'd gotten close enough.
"I think you're the most ninja-like ninja there is, Naruto-kun!" Lee practically shouted, fists balled tightly together, "I heard about that night when Neji and Guy-sensei were talking about it some time ago and I couldn't help but think that a person who can stand up to a chunin when they're just an academy student and save the life of their teacher would be a very strong individual."
"Lee, you-"
"You're not a coward, Naruto." His words stung, not in a bad way, but it made Naruto's eyes feel warm again, "I hope we can train together someday. I think that there's a lot I can learn from you, Naruto-kun." Lee reached for the other boy's hand, shaking it tightly like when they'd first met. "I'll see you, bye-bye!" Naruto watched as Lee ran off to join his team, not having enough time to say something back leaving just his hand in the air.
The rest of the walk to the Hokage's office was somber, and quiet after Lee's statements and his quick departure. Kakashi was about to open the door when Naruto spoke up, "Do you think we could do that?"
"What?"
"Train with Team 3?" Naruto asked quietly, "I feel like I could learn some stuff from them."
Sakura's face twisted into something sour, "You want to train with them even after Neji was rude to you?"
He shrugged, upset about the comment, "I mean… he was the top of his class last year. There has to be a reason for that. I don't have to like him, but I can't deny that if he's as good as his scores say, then there is something to be learned from. Plus, I don't think any of us would be upset about getting some taijutsu or weapons training in. Their team composition seems like a benefit to ours…"
"If you three are okay with that, I can talk with Guy about training sessions." Kakashi offered, looking between his students.
"As long as I don't have to train with Neji, I'm fine." Sakura huffed, "I don't want anything to do with him after how he treated Naruto!"
"I'm interested in Lee's and Guy-sensei's taijutsu ability, so I wouldn't mind." Sasuke offered.
Kakashi nodded, "Okay, I'll see what I can do." He opened the doors to the Hokage's office, nodding his head in greeting the old man.
Naruto looked away. This was the first time seeing the old man after being in the hospital. It's safe to say that he isn't exactly thrilled to see Hiruzen. Whether he noticed the teen's displeasure or not, the Hokage smiled at the team, setting down his pipe before speaking to Team 7, "Good morning, everyone." There was a quiet course of 'good morning's following suit. "You're as late as always, Kakashi."
"I was sure I was early today." Kakashi played to part, tapping his chin in recollection.
Hiruzen sighed, waving a hand, "You're the same as ever, Kakashi."
He shrugged, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, how about those missions?"
"I've recently just received three D-ranked missions that, if you think your team is ready enough, Kakashi, you can do all three of them today."
The jonin nodded his head, reaching into his pocket for that dirty book he loved to read, "Yeah, I think they've earned it for how splendidly they worked together yesterday during their exam." His students beamed silently at the praise.
Hiruzen coughed to gain their attention, "The first one is to pull weeds from the garden in East Square. The second one is the Chase Tora mission - I'm sure you're familiar with that one Kakashi. And the last one is to babysit some of the orphans while the caretakers have to take leave for some legal business. I hope to see you this afternoon with these three missions completed."
"Yes, sir!" Sakura and Sasuke bowed politely, Kakashi moving to grab the three mission scrolls before Team 7 left to complete the missions.
