Chapter Thirty-Three: The Genin and their Sensei
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Sakura
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Graduation from the Academy should have been a more exciting affair. Her parents had showed up dutifully, but she suspected that was because of her big brother Shisui and Auntie Mikoto threatening them. It was fun being arm and arm with her best friends though, Sasuke on her right and Naruto on her left. They'd smiled big for the professional photographer Shisui had hired — some guy named Sukea with a mop of brown hair and weird face paint.
She and Ino had hugged each other in congratulations for graduating. Their friendship had resumed shortly after the summer when Naruto was adopted in Sasuke's family. There were all sorts of kids discovered hidden into the deep bowels of the village. Ino's clan had adopted a pair of brothers — Sai and Shin. Ino had been no longer interested in Sasuke Uchiha and that seemed to end their rivalry over a boy. After that, Sakura and Ino continued their rivalry in regards to skills. Sakura still consistently scored perfect on all the written exams, but then again, so did Sasuke and so did Ino more often than not. And while Ino usually did a little better with some of the ninja skills, after a couple of years of extra training with big brother Shisui, Sakura was easily the most skilled kunoichi of their class when it came to shinobi practical skills. Though, Sasuke and Naruto blew everyone else away. The Uchiha trained their kids to a degree that shamed everyone else.
She'd been invited to dinner at the Uchiha Compound that evening — along with her parents. There had been a massive outdoor party set up— there were four long rectangular tablets that could seat up to eight people with bench seating on either side. However, the table of honor where the Uchiha Head Family sat had an elegant arm chair at the head. Fugaku Uchiha sat at the head of Sakura's table with Itachi on his right and Auntie Mikoto on his left. Sakura sat on the side with Auntie Mikoto with Sasuke and Naruto on either side of her. On the side with Itachi — the Uchiha heir — sat Izumi, Shisui, and Shisui's guest — a shinobi from Sand. Sakura's parents sat at a different table, alongside Shisui's father and Izumi's mother. She didn't know all the Uchiha clan members, but it seemed that quite a few had been invited to celebrate.
Fairy lights decorated the area, giving it a magical glow, and the Yamanaka Flower shop had been hired to decorate the place with overflowing bouquets and arrangements. The sweet scent of jasmine, roses, and irises made Sakura want to bury her nose in those floral displays..
Sakura had gotten to sit right across from her surrogate big brother, Shisui. She never understood why the esteemed Jonin had taken such a special interest in her when she'd been young, but she loved him and appreciated him so much. Despite coming from a civilian background, she'd been able to appreciate both him and Izumi taking a special interest in her over the years. She assumed it was because of her friendship with Sasuke and Naruto.
Earlier that week, Shisui had informed Sakura that one of his friends wanted to meet her at the celebratory dinner. She had hoped it would be the silver-haired shinobi. It was stupid to have a crush on a man that had never spoken to her and covered most of his face behind a mask, but she'd seen him and Shisui sparring before. She, Sasuke, and Naruto had all watched them spar — and it had been magnificent. They probably weren't supposed to watch the Jonin spar and there was no way that the two men weren't aware. Itachi had promised Sasuke that the mysterious silver-haired man would one day be their Genin sensei. She and Naruto were looking forward to impressing him. Sasuke was annoyed that their sensei wasn't someone from his clan— just some man that was clan-adjacent.
Shisui's guest was certainly different. While her own pink hair had been an unusual sight, she'd never actually seen someone with hair red as blood before. Sasori no Asuna was a Jonin from the Land of Wind. The man had a quiet intensity about him and had been unusually interested in Sakura. Her mother had been quite vocal in her displeasure of the man's attentions afterwards, but thankfully during the celebration it was easy enough for Sakura to ignore Mebuki's glares from another table.
Sasori had invited Sakura to train in Sand after she became Chunin — if she was interested. His grandmother would be interested in taking on a protege to learn Medical Ninjutsu. And it would help to strengthen the bonds between the two villages.
Auntie Mikoto had interjected at that time, smiling at Sakura in that maternal way she always did and gently reminded Sasori that the children had just graduated from the Academy. They would need to officially become Genin and hadn't even met their Jonin sensei just yet. And that the Slug Princess would hardly allow her rival to have first dibs on the smartest kunoichi of the new generation of Academy Graduates.
Sasori had seemed to ignore the Uchiha Matriarch as he leaned comfortably back towards Shisui, his eyes never leaving Sakura. "We'll speak again on the matter, Sakura," he promised.
Sakura had exchanged confused looks with Sasuke, but her best friend shrugged. Then her other best friend Naruto had looped his arm around Sakura's neck and kissed her cheek— a sloppy, wet kiss. Sakura didn't miss the mortified look on her mother's face at the easy affection she shared with her new official teammates.
"Why isn't our new sensei here?" Sasuke asked, directing his question between his father at the head of the massive table and his brother sitting at Fugaku's right side as heir.
Itachi and Shisui exchanged uneasy looks. "He is otherwise engaged. He'll meet you at the Academy tomorrow," Itachi answered.
The celebratory dinner ended around eight and Sakura went home with her parents, her mother scolding her the entire walk home about inappropriate behavior unbecoming of a young woman. How Sakura had been practically throwing herself at the Uchiha clan for years and they would never even consider an outsider. The fact that they'd adopted Naruto was irrelevant apparently. Mebuki assured Sakura that Mikoto only pitied Sakura and that's why she received attention from Izumi and Shisui.
Sakura let her mother rant to her heart's content. It was easier that way. She glanced over at her father, caught his eye and his silence spoke volumes louder than all her mother's yelling.
It had been hard to fall asleep that night, but eventually a restless sleep had been achieved. Sakura woke up early, straightened her room and prepared to start her career as a Genin. She would work hard to be excellent and to impress the notoriously aloof shinobi that would be their sensei.
Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke met the rest of their graduating class at the Academy. Asuma Sarutobi collected Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Ino had flashed Sakura an arrogant smile, having the son of the Third Hokage as your sensei was pretty impressive. Next was Kurenai Yuhi, one of the few female Jonin that was an expert at Genjutsu— though not quite on the level of Shisui or Itachi. Sakura didn't really think there was much she could learn from the woman in that regard, but it might be nice to train with another person that didn't have a magical eye. Hinata had been relieved to be under a female teacher's tutelage. She'd given Naruto a shy smile which he returned with an easy, distracted smile. Kiba and Shino joined her for a scouting team.
That left Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto — a presumably assault oriented team. Their former instructor Iruka had left hours ago, assuring them that their new team leader would be there imminently.
Kakashi Hatake didn't show up for another six hours. Sakura was glad Naruto let that stupid eraser fall on that jerk's head when he opened the door.
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OoO
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Kakashi
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No more Anbu missions. He wouldn't be able to fail this group of kids either. The leaders of the Uchiha — Fugaku and Itachi — had specifically requested Kakashi to be the Jonin sensei for Team Seven. Frankly, he was being demoted to a babysitter to the Uchiha clan's pet Genin trio.
Obviously, he'd seen the three twelve year olds over the years. Shisui was one of his closest friends and he often felt their eyes watching him during sparing matches. The girl's gaze was often the heaviest. And while it wasn't unusual for Kakashi to be the object of crushes, the attention of Sakura Haruno unsettled him.
He tried reading through Jiraiya's books. The Make-out Paradise books were generally entertaining escapes from the day to day stresses being an elite shinobi often presented him with. He particularly liked the reoccurring minor character of Cherry with her luminous green eyes and yellow-blond hair. Though, it was Tales of the Gutsy Kunoichi that really warmed his heart. There was something about the heroine of that series that made him think of half-remembered kisses and a love that ended prematurely — as all good things in his life were wont to do.
On his night of freedom, he skipped out on the Uchiha clan's celebratory dinner that he'd been invited. He didn't know the kids yet, so it felt weird to celebrate their accomplishment. He still planned to use the Bell Test on them. And frankly, if the kids weren't up to stuff, he would fail them and send them back to the Academy regardless of Fugaku and Itachi's demands. They weren't the boss of him. No one could make him do anything — well, maybe if Shisui and Itachi teamed up.
So, Kakashi had left his books untouched, ventured to the shinobi bar, drank too much and brought home a couple of bedwarmers. His temporary partners hadn't minded that he left on his mask. Kakashi Hatake always made sure people didn't leave his bed disappointed.
Well, except for perhaps himself. He was honestly just going through the motions. He still had a very healthy libido enjoyed the temporary endorphin rush casual sex granted him. But it was temporary. He knew he was depressed. He almost failed his psyche eval and that was probably the real reason the Third took him off the Anbu active roster.
Kakashi generally preferred the company of his ghosts. He visited the memorial the next morning, holding conversations with Obito, Rin, and Minato. He thought about visiting his parents on the estate, but decided against it. It always felt like he was missing someone when he visited the estates. Like there was a ghost that he didn't know that had imprinted on his family home. It drove him crazy.
He more than suspected that during one of his debriefs for Anbu one of the Yamanaka in Interrogation altered his memories. He couldn't prove it, but his gut told him he was being tricked.
And before he knew it, he was six hours late to meet his Genin team. He had their dossiers at home. He skimmed over it and had checked out their residences earlier in the week. They were smart kids and their Academy scores were top of their class. But could he really compare these kids' skills to his own at their age? He graduated at five years old. Was a Chunin at six. They were just now graduating at twelve.
Shoving his hands into his pants pockets and bidding his ghosts farewell, Kakashi shunshined towards the Academy. He allowed Naruto's ridiculous prank to occur, an eraser fell on his head when he opened the door. He'd prefer they think he was a goof rather than to be afraid of him.
The blond cackled in glee at his own cleverness. The dark-haired one was sullen and obviously disappointed in Kakashi's lack of evasive skills. Shisui had explained that Sasuke had really hoped that either Itachi or Shisui would lead their team. And the girl, well, she was ridiculous with pink hair and eyes so green they looked like they belonged on a woodland sprite and not a kunoichi. She made him think of Rin. He didn't like her and she would no doubt become a liability for the rest of their team. Why would someone like her be put on an Assault team? The Hyuga girl would have been more appropriate.
Kakashi ordered them to meet him on the roof of the Academy. He was mildly impressed at the speed of which they followed after him. They didn't know how to shunshine, but they managed He doesn't tell them what he likes or doesn't like. He had wanted to fail them like the other genin teams Lord Third tried to pawn off on him over the last two years, but the Uchiha clan were adamant. And after the fiasco with Danzo and his attempt to murder the noble clan, the Third was often acquiescent to the Uchiha.
Naruto's favorite food was Ramen. His dislikes are when he's forced to eat vegetables.
Sasuke's favorite food was tomatoes. His dislikes were being compared to Itachi.
Sakura's favorite food was dango. Her dislikes were being ignored because she's a girl.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her answer. None of them actually told him what they liked. He didn't ask for their favorite foods. The cheeky little brats were being as obtuse as he was! Their behavior was probably Shisui's influence. The man certainly was persistent at getting under Kakashi's skin.
The next day, Kakashi showed up three hours late on Training Field Three for the bell test.
Kakashi did a particularly brutal Genjutsu on Sakura of Sasuke dying. She's very upset, but Sasuke was the one to break her out of the illusion. He whispered for her, "Remember what Shisui taught us." Naruto was on the receiving end of the thousand pangs of death finger up the rectum. Sakura fished him out of the lake. "We can't turn our back on him, he does that multiple clone thing." Sasuke threw a slew of kunai and they noticed his ability to use substitution.
Kakashi had trapped Sasuke underground, only his head visible above the earth. Sakura had dug him out. The kids were filthy- covered in dirt, mud, grass stains, soaked from the water jutsus he threw their way.
The three worked well as a team, sussing out his abilities individually and helping each other out whenever they were attacked. This surprised Kakashi. He assumed they boys would be fierce rivals and the girl would be useless when under duress. The time limit for the test was nearing its completion and they still haven't gotten the bells, not that Kakashi actually expected them to succeed.
The three adolescents then convened and attacked Kakashi from two fronts and from above. They were exhausted, but they helped each other. They used the tactics they learned at the Academy plus Naruto with his multitude of Shadow clones, Sasuke with his fireball, and Sakura has a pretty intense Genjutsu she puts on him— where Pakkun hobbles towards him injured! While he knew that was an illusion, Kakashi did hesitate for a fraction of a second at the unexpected sight.
Kakashi was able to evade and dispel these attacks, but they were pretty good for fresh graduates. They weren't at war, so their lack of killing intent was understandable. He could work with these brats. It might not even be terrible — maybe.
Kakashi held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, you pass. I'll take you as my students." They didn't get the bells, but they were were a hell of a lot better at team work than his group had been under Minato's bell tests.
While Kakashi was announcing his benevolent decision, Sakura — the tiny little girl — jingled the bells in front of him.
Kakashi didn't even bother to hide his shock as he blinked owlishly at the trio. He's grateful for his mask lest his mouth might have been seen hanging slightly open. "How?"
Sakura looked back at the boys, lifted her frail shoulders, her long pink hair fluttering in the breeze. "Team work."
So, Kakashi took his newly minted Team Seven, had their group photo taken and then started training. He had them do physical exercises early in the mornings — push ups, sit ups, pull ups, runs, climbing all with weights tied around their arms, ankles, and vests around their torsos. He'd have let himself get out of shape if it wasn't for his friends. Shisui, Itachi, Guy, Genma, and Tenzo were constantly goading him. He did his exercises early in the morning before the sun rose, rarely finding a training partner that could keep up aside from Guy and Shisui— both were annoying more often than not so he avoided them when he could.
He had his Genin train without his supervision most mornings. Sometimes, it was because he'd show up late after visiting the Memorial and he'd give them a lame excuse about getting lost on the path of life. Other times, he preferred to watch their behavior when they didn't think they had an adult observing them. It became clear the three were extremely close friends. There was also a very obvious rivalry going on between the trio. Sasuke had the most innate talent, Naruto struggled using his chakra due to the seal that kept his tailed beast at bay, and Sakura had pathetic chakra reserves compared to the boys' massive pools.
However, they had potential.
It was after the mission to the Land of Waves that he really started to like the trio. And he wanted to teach them, he really did. But his Jutsus were complicated and he'd never had anyone explain them to him. Could he really dumb them down for a trio of adolescents?
He felt he could probably teach Sasuke techniques. Sakura's chakra levels were too small for most of his attacks. Naruto couldn't properly use his chakra with the seal keeping his tailed beast contained. He would need to train under Jiraiya to fully harness his powers.
Compared to him, they'd been so sheltered. He'd been a Jonin when he was their age. He focused on teaching them substitution, dispelling genjutsus, taijutsu, and chakra control. They didn't need help with projectiles — all three had precise aim.
He'd been surprised when Sakura mastered tree walking on her first try. He watched as she explained the technique to the boys in a much less complicated way than he'd planned to do. He taught Naruto a couple of water and wind Justus, hoping he'd be able to do the Rasengan at some point, but there really was too much interference from the seal on his belly. Sasuke and he focused on lightning and fire, hoping he'd be able to master Kakashi's trademark Chidori.
Unfortunately, Sakura's chakra pool was too small. He taught her an earth jutsu that he couldn't remember where he learned it, used for mapping out the area and tracking. And he'd practiced water walking with her. It wasn't enough. He knew it wasn't enough. And whenever she beamed under the very mild praises he would sometimes give her or when he ruffled her extremely pretty, silky hair, it might have warmed his withered decayed heart a tiny, little bit.
Kakashi signed them up for the Chunin Exams.
He probably should have waited an entire year. That's what Guy had done with his students. But then Asuma and Kurenai thought their Genin were ready? Kakashi was certain that his kids were superior to those other brats. So, he ignored Iruka and Guy when they tried to talk him out of it. Itachi agreed that they should participate for the experience if nothing else. Shisui also thought they could handle it. But then again, for some reason Shisui seemed to think that trio hung the moon. Kakashi still couldn't quite figure that one out.
Shisui Uchiha was the number one cheerleader for Team Seven.
Kakashi tried to be a good mentor for the trio, but what did they need him for? Sakura had two loving parents and a surrogate big brother in Shisui Uchiha of all people. Sasuke was the cherished son of the leader of the Uchiha clan, his parents had adopted Naruto years ago, and Itachi was obsessively enamored by his younger brothers.
The three hardly needed an emotionally stunted orphan, last survivor of a noble clan, unable to control his own feelings so much that he always wore a mask. And there was a rage inside him. Nothing seemed to calm down his inferno of anger. There were days where it felt like he was grasping at straws — he'd had everything and then had it snatched out from under him. There seemed to be a big gaping hole in his memory, but he couldn't quite figure it out. Damned Yamanaka!
And that little girl with the pink hair and haunting green eyes had the biggest, most obvious crush on him. It was so off putting, because Kakashi was NOT interested in children. She was always trying to impress him and it was kind of cute, especially when she discovered his favorite food and would pack him a neat little bento box whenever they had team practices. And sometimes she'd make him little pancakes in the shape of pug dog faces — and maybe that was just a tiny bit endearing.
So, Kakashi's female student had a crush on him and it was kind of sweet at times. So, he worked hard to distrac himself by banging willing, warm bodies — he couldn't help if he often thought of luminous jade green eyes. Though, the hair was blond in his mind's eye. However, there were times it would be pink and that upset him and he would purposely ignore the little girl on his team for days afterwards. She was probably very confused by his hot-cold behavior. He treated the boys with the same casual indifference every day.
Maybe it did bother him that it was often Sasuke that would comfort her and sometimes Naruto. The three were close — it was on a level far superior than the established trio of Ino-Shika-Cho. It reminded him of the legendary Sannin back in their prime, before Orochimaru defected. Except, his father had defeated the Sannin back around that time. Kakashi hoped he would never be pitted against his precious students.
And he could admit, there was something about Sakura that made his stomach feel funny. And he thought often of that day when he'd been twelve and Obito's mysterious friend had showed up to help with the Bell test. He thought about that girl often— he couldn't remember her name. I was always on the tip of his tongue. She was probably dead, but he hoped she wasn't. He hoped he would one day see her again.
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A/N: So…I don't know how many chapters this will end up. I thought it would go to chapter 35. But, apparently, I'm wordy and I still want some stuff to happen and this chapter was getting ridiculously long….soo…. This will continue to be my longest story ever. This is the final arc though so it is wrapping up. 160K…how does that even happen?
At the end of March, I'll have another KakaSaku (Hope Lies in the Dawn) where the war goes to hell. It will be my contribution for the Scarecrows and Cherry Blossoms group's event for Sakura's birthday.