Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters belong to their respective authors
Chapter 2: The first step.
"Too bitter," the girl grimaced she dropped her chopsticks on the counter. "again."
A frustrated groan left her lips, she'd tried everything she could come up with but for some reason no matter how many times she tried it was never quite right. She tried following the recipe to the letter, going so far as to count down the time to the second; she tried altering it a bit, just a little tweak here and there; she tried altering it a lot, basically remaking the whole thing from scratch and yet the result was always more or less the same. Not that the food was inedible, not at all, any self-respecting graduate of the ninja academy should be perfectly able to cook without the risk of self-poisoning. There would be no point in hiring shinobi if they died halfway to the meeting point just because they killed themselves with some unholy concoction or starved to death in a random forest or something of the sort. And Higurashi Kagome was mort certainly a self-respecting graduate, so no, she was not about to send herself to the hospital with homemade cooking thank you very much.
Which didn't change the fact that her breakfast was still not quite as perfectly made as she would've liked it.
Of course, the feedback she'd get would still be the same.
Oh, she could already hear the 'it's good' Sasuke always muttered when he wasn't in a particularly good mood, or the 'you're getting better' accompanied by a small smile he'd give her if he managed a restful sleep or wanted to reassure her. Kagome was quite certain she could place a plate full of burnt, rotten meat in front of him and the words wouldn't change at all. Sure, she was grateful he wasn't giving complaints left and right about her cooking skills but getting the same answer every time her turn rolled around eventually became almost as annoying.
Containing a dejected sigh the girl moved to place the plates as much as she'd like to, the young Higurashi didn't exactly have the right to voice any sort of irritation with the repetitive reviews considering her usual responses on Sasuke's days. Maybe next time she should just let the eggs burn to a crisp, just to see his face as he tried to swallow.
This time she didn't bother to try and repress her resigned sigh, she wouldn't do it, she knew already. Even when they were first learning how to fully take care of themselves any charred or ruined food placed on the table had been genuine attempts, sure half of those times it ended up in the trash after being replaced with a store bento or plain take out but the other half was still eaten no matter how hard it was to pass. Neither of them could do anything but try their best, ever since the 'incident' any and all pranks and worthless quarrels between them turned into ancient history.
Careful the girl placed the dishes only to blink in surprise, plates shaking in her suddenly weak grip.
Instead of the twin mats set by the side of the cups of tea served some time ago, the table was set for five, the smell of the familiar perfectly made breakfast almost choked her. She could almost hear the sound of the door opening to let in the one person that was almost always late, if she tried hard enough she could practically hear his voice...
She blinked.
No, no one was going to open that door. Not anymore. There were only two mats on the table and the food in her hands was just a bit too bitter.
Forcing herself to take a deep breath Kagome shook her head. It was almost funny, really, she never thought she paid that much attention to such small details as a seven-year-old but apparently, her mind could still remember things way too clearly. Granted still living in the same house probably helped a lot. It probably harmed them just as much.
At first, the girl thought about talking Sasuke into moving outside the compound, they had more than enough money to buy a decent-sized apartment without having to worry, she would've been able to sway him for certain. Those thoughts had vanished a bit more with each step they took within the empty streets after their grueling stay at the hospital. The memories were stained and twisted but the Uchiha compound was still home, it was still a piece of her world. And she would cling to whatever she had left, even if its edges cut.
Not really a healthy way to cope, obviously. Heck, this was probably why no matter how much she tried, even after what she saw, what Sasuke told her, Kagome still couldn't bring herself to hate him. Despite the pain, the losses, and the sleepless nights gifted by constant nightmares of being left behind, left truly and completely alone, she couldn't cut him off her world. The girl had the sinking suspicion she never really would, not unless she managed to find out just why he'd done that.
It wasn't about power, no. No matter what he'd told his little brother, Uchiha Itachi never thirsted after power. The same way he'd never rejoiced over taking a life. Kagome was sure of it.
A lie, Sasuke had said, it was all a lie. The Uchiha prodigy had played them all for fools. Her instincts refused to listen to him though.
So she replayed that day, that week, that month, that entire year in her head. Over and over, and over but for all of her efforts she kept coming out empty-handed. Half of her nights were spent lying awake next to Sasuke in a futile attempt to drive away the nightmares neither had entirely managed to get rid of as she tried to understand what truly happened that night. Tormented with dreams of what had been, what could've been, whenever sleep won over her and left her feeling more tired than when she lied down. Lost and blind trying to find an exit in what felt like an endless maze.
Not now, she thought, I can think about this later, just not now.
With a shake of her head, the girl pushed back her never-ending spiraling thoughts. This day was going to be stressful enough without having to add a grumpy Sasuke to the mix, the young boy always hated it whenever she thought about Itachi. Not that he didn't know she spent most of her time during the night going over the puzzle of the older Uchiha's motivations. As long as she kept her musings silent though, he was more than happy to pretend not to notice just how much she still cared for the person who single-handedly shattered both of their worlds.
Willing a smile to her face Kagome moved to finish setting the table, there was no use in worrying Sasuke any more than he had to already be. Teams for the new genins were to be decided today after all.
"Morning."
The girl turned to face him, her smile becoming more genuine, even knowing they were in the same house she still felt the tiniest bit anxious when she was alone in a room. "We should leave early today." She said. "Choosing seats will be more annoying if we end up late."
"Is that your intuition talking?"
"Yep, I've got an irritating feeling about it."
"Hmph, that's more inside the realm of common sense," he answered, taking a bite of his breakfast. "you're getting better."
"It's not my fault you have a literal fan-club." Amusement barely managed to lace her voice as she ate her too bitter omelet. "Or that they can't seem to get the hint."
The young boy snorted before looking at her, worried expression etched in his face. "Something's bothering you."
"...It's just..." Crap, her earlier musings were still lingering in her mind. Quickly she tried to look for a legitimate reason to be upset for "Naruto-kun, he really tried hard this time."
"He'll get over it." He didn't buy it, she could tell, still, he played along. "I don't think there's a thing in the world the moron can't get over."
Swallowing down her relief Kagome allowed herself to frown. While she hadn't been particularly worried about Naruto-kun this morning it didn't mean she hadn't stressed about the issue the day before. Of all their classmates and acquaintances it was only Naruto-kun they could actually call a friend, and yet, despite all their combined efforts to help the hyperactive blond he still failed the genin exam...again. "But we're all leaving this time. It's not fair for him to actually have to repeat the whole year this time, you know he trained so hard to make the bunshins. Not even you could figure out why they always come out like...that."
"Fine, fine. If you're so worried about him we can just take him out for some ramen and he'll bounce back."
It was a bit of a sore spot for Sasuke (and if she was being honest for her as well), the fact that neither of them had managed to understand why despite following their instructions and devoting himself to training almost every day Naruto just wasn't able to produce a proper bunshin. It wasn't like the blond had no chakra, they could both feel it building up (heck, when their friend was especially frustrated it even became a little visible), and it wasn't like they could chalk his failures up to poor chakra control. That could influence both the quality and quantity to a degree but the extent of the failed copies was something else entirely. There had to be something blocking Naruto, something neither had managed to pin down in the months of extra training and impromptu lessons.
"Great!" She cheered, unashamed of taking advantage of said sore spot. "We'll pass for him on the way home for lunch then."
It would make for a good way to end their day as well, if their team selection went well it would be a nice way to let their tension melt away and if worst came to worse they could at the very least attempt to raise their spirit together (or maybe just mope).
"Wha...No! I didn't mean...fine, but we're only paying for one bowl. If he wants to single-handedly sustain Ichiraku he can do it with his own money."
Orphans.
He was being given a team of orphans and Hatake Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if Sandaime shouldn't be looking for a replacement with a bit more urgency these days. Because truly you could ask anyone who knew him in the village, and no one, absolutely no one would recommend him to take care of potentially traumatized children.
And from what he ould see in the room he was currently trespassing into at least two of the three brats that had just been dumped to him would certainly be classified as traumatized children.
Whose brilliant idea had it been to allow two small children who had just seen in their family brutally murdered back to the house said family members had been massacred?
Hell, he was in no means trained in how to deal with grief but even Kakashi wouldn't send the kids back to the scenery where their nightmares probably took place in. The fact that every single house in the compound was empty and abandoned could not be something helpful for their psyche and that Kakashi was able to tell just went to show how unhealthy this was.
This little side trip of his was turning more and more into a migraine by the second.
Uzumaki Naruto's apartment had been...well, not stellar, actually far from stellar. He wasn't expecting a clean and orderly room from a 12-year-old but at the very least he'd hoped not to find rotten food still inside his fridge or on the very top of his trash can (which left him with the sinking feeling the blond had not even noticed the odd/repulsive flavor of the milk and drank it anyway), still while terribly unhygienic everything was more or less what he'd expected. Small, messy, and with a lot of take-out in the fridge. The main house on the Uchiha District on the other hand...
He was silently dreading that what had been originally written in their files as 'very close' had gone way too far for close, past overprotectiveness, and was currently bordering on codependency.
The house was clean and clearly cared for by its only two inhabitants, all but one room obviously cleaned and dusted regularly, the few potted plants sprinkled inside the building were watered and trimmed and you could see the signs of common use in some of the rooms. The kitchen was half full of still edible food (thank the gods because he absolutely refused to deal with three brats suffering from indigestion on the same day) and dry crumbles of their breakfast had managed to get overlooked by the pair before going to the academy and were now scattered through the counter; the armory was missing four sets of kunai, senbons and a bunch of wire plus the odd specialized weapons; the main bedroom while well made had a small bundle of dirty clothes that would probably be washed at some point in the next few days... which would've been fine, really...had it not been for the fact he could see skirts inside that bundle...skirts and underwear that was most definitely not the type a young boy would wear...
Not that Kakashi would judge if one of his new students had some sort of interesting hobby...but while all the other rooms were dusted with a certain regularity the only room that seemed to have constant use was the main bedroom.
An open closet later there were no doubts in the copy ninjas mind that the two children were sleeping in the same room, and considering the lack of any extra furniture in the room, they were also sleeping in the sane bed.
At least, the suddenly exhausted shinobi thought as he inspected the bedroom, it didn't look like the Uchiha brat was forcing the girl. The place hadn't been personalized all that much but judging from the more feminine aspects of the few ornaments and plants he seemed to be giving her tastes and whims priority. Which considering how, according to their academy files, Higurashi Kagome all but became the spokeswoman for the brat (constantly hovering at his side and covering for his rudeness) would heavily indicate to anyone with even one functional eye towards a high level of codependency.
The man contained a groan, Inoichi would've been a better choice for this team. To hell with the Interrogation Squad, these were all potential power-houses and in his humble opinion should really be given some more priority. Even a Yamanaka branch member would have a better clue about how to deal with trauma this size. And if none of them were available then...
What about that new jounin then? Kurenai?
She seemed like the kind to have patience, a gentler touch would probably do all three of them a world of good. An unwilling social pariah, a willing recluse, and a probably reluctant mediator.
The willing recluse was an Uchiha though, and there was a high chance he'd eventually awaken his sharingan, which left Kakashi as the only person still loyal to Konoha able to teach the boy about it. The unwilling pariah was his senseis son, he could do nothing about the demonic fox sealed in him but he could at least try and honor the man's wishes for once and care for him. As for the reluctant mediator, he supposed he really was the best the village could do. With all of her clansmen presumed dead her best bet to fully master her own bloodline techniques was to have someone with a sharingan or byakugan read the scrolls Uchiha Fugaku had salvaged and retrieved from the ruins of the Higurashi compound, analyze her attempts with the eye technique activated, try to understand what was going on and lead the girl. Of course, with her closeness to the only remaining Uchiha, Kakashi was about the only viable thing left.
So maybe Sandaime wasn't as senile as he'd like to think.
Closing the closet the newly appointed teacher moved towards the window, checking a mental list to make sure he'd appropriately replaced all the traps his new charges had placed around both the hose as a whole and the main bedroom. It was already two and a half-hour past the meeting time written in the missive with the information of where and when to greet his brand new little genin team, it was about time for him to get going.
The blackboard eraser could barely be called a surprise, not in an 'oh, I did not see that one coming' kind of way, rather in a 'you really thought something so lame would get me' kind of way'. The ensuing volley of senbons, pencils, staplers, random office props, the occasional kunai, and the bucket of paint (where did that one even come from? He was pretty sure the academy did not keep paint gallons in their storage rooms) on the other hand, that had been a surprise. A surprise in the "I really can't believe you're that stupid' kind of way.
Gray purposefully listless eyes scanned the room. The blond prankster was currently laughing his ass off, even going so far as curling up in the floor, the only girl in the classroom seemed to be trying to decide between whether to frown in disapproval or keep biting her lip to stop herself from following her friends bad example and the black-haired boy, the Uchiha heir (or technically, since once someone made genin they were legally considered adults he should be the Uchiha head...and it would be better not to remind anyone of that) was hiding his face behind his hand, a frustrated groan accompanying the gesture.
"My first impression of you is...I hate you...all of you." The blond's laughter froze and the former ANBU felt the smallest hint of satisfaction. "I expect you all in the roof in the next ten seconds."
In a poof of smoke and leaves, he left the room.
He was so not the appropriate jounin for this team... especially taking into account he had half a mind to throttle his senseis son at less than a minute of officially meeting him for the first time.
Just when he'd opened his beloved Icha Icha to pass some time the door to the rood was slammed open. They were fast, that was something at least, though he should probably ask Naruto how they opened the door so easily, Kakashi was pretty sure the rooftop was supposed to be closed to all except academy staff.
"Well, take a seat, what are you waiting for?"
"You were the one who was late! For more than two hours!" Right, so Uzumaki Naruto was the quick-tempered one, good to know who he could get the rise out of the easiest.
"Was I?" For once he decided to forgo his usual got lost in the path of life speech, he was just a bit peeved with the little brat. "Funny how things are sometimes."
"Wha..." The boys exalted response was silenced by a subtle elbow nudging the blond, courtesy of the blue-eyed girl.
"Well, now why don't you tell me something about you to get to know everyone here." Apart from the perhaps too intrusive search he'd done in their houses of course.
"Sensei," the girl, Higurashi Kagome politely raised her hand, though the slightly strained tone in her voice told him it was highly likely remaining respectful was taking her far too much effort. "Could you go first to give us an example, I mean, we still don't even know your name sensei." And wasn't that just passive-aggressiveness if he'd ever heard it.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to talk about his likes and dislikes!" he said, taking the bait with a cheerful voice. "My dreams for the future are none of your business...but anyway I have lots of hobbies."
Kakashi took a second to drink in the annoyed looks in the faces of his three new genins.
"Now then, ladies first!" He said, not giving any of them the time to complain.
The girl glared at him for a total of three full seconds before giving up and sighing. "I'm Higurashi Kagome, I like reading and hot springs, I hate lies and tardiness, my hobbies would be hmmm...relaxing in the hot springs after training and training I guess, as for my dream, my goal...I want to keep those I care about safe, to be by their side."
That was...not that bad of a goal honestly. Kakashi had been expecting worse, either some sort of love-struck soliloquy or plain obsessive vengeance, while not sharing blood with the Uchiha the girl was raised by the main branch and no one would forget how intense they could get with grudges. There was a bit of codependency hidden in her words but not nearly as bad as he feared. She moved to her own tune it seemed, and if the slightly surprised look on the Uchihas face was anything to go by he didn't expect her to be as truthful in front of an unknown shinobi. He could work with that...probably...
"Oh! Me! Me!" the hyperactive blond was jumping in his seat, obviously excited to do some sort of grand proclamation. "Let me go next!"
"Mister doom and gloom next." So maybe he was being petty, so what.
"Uchiha Sasuke." If glares could kill both Kakashi and the pouting prankster would be six feet under. "There are too many things I hate, too few I like. My hobby is training, as for my dream...no, ambition would be a better word, is to revive my clan, and to kill a certain person."
Aaaaand, there was the obsession with revenge he was dreading. They really should've gotten Inoichi to deal with that little issue, he was so not the right person for it. That was without even counting the fact that he was pretty sure the only two people the boy cared for (or easily tolerated in Narutos case) were in his team if anything were to happen during a mission...
The copy ninja was certain the Uchiha held no lost undying loyalty to the village, if the Hokage or anyone other than perhaps Kagome tried to intervene or plain stop him in his hunt there was a very real possibility the brat would just disobey orders and leave anyway. Which would in turn tempt the other two into following his footsteps. Kakashi was not entirely sure how he was supposed to deal with that.
Looking to the left he found his sensei's son slumped in his improvised seat, pouting.
...Right, the kid had a history of being ignored and mistreated by the villagers, ignoring and purposefully favoring his teammates would probably be a bad idea in the long run.
"Now, now," he said, forcefully adding extra cheer to his words "better late than never, right?"
Naruto just grumbled.
Oh for all the gods "What was it people say, save the best for last?"
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Well, that worked nicely enough. "I like ramen and hanging out with Kagome-chan and the bastard, and training with them. I don't like the five minutes you have to wait for the ramen to cook or nosy people who bother my friends and I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"
Yellow hair turned black. Royal blue became onyx. For just a split of a second Hatake Kakashi felt like he'd gone back in time, the stab of pain cutting right through him was the only thing that reminded him where he was right now, when he was. Fuck, he was so not the right person for this team.
Letting out a slow breath and thankful his mask had hidden any reaction Kakashi himself failed to conceal in time the copy ninja grounded himself in the present once more.
He could also work with that, being starved for attention was a volatile thing and to the villagers' good luck Naruto seemed to have miraculously decided to choose the positive approach to the problem. If he had to guess a big part of the reason why would fall on his new teammates' shoulders. According to the files, the blond had a semi-decent relationship with his classmates after painting himself as the class clown but none of them had ever truly offered a constant companionship to the boy. None but the only living Higurashi and by extension Sasuke, and together with the positive bond Iruka seemed to have created with the loud prankster they managed to steer him out of the dangerous zone he could've fallen into.
Lazily he allowed his gaze to wander between the three who were now bickering amongst themselves and utterly ignoring him. It was painfully familiar in a way. One boy with an ever sunny disposition, one silent and arrogant, and a girl constantly playing peacekeeper but always smiling all the same. And yet he could hardly miss the glaring differences, the exuberant boy had no one waiting for him at home, the serious one while antagonistic to a degree showed a clear fondness for the others and the girl looked at once stronger and more fragile.
Hatake Kakashi was not the right man for this team, he was emotionally damaged and was barely surviving himself, he had no place trying to heal others, in fact, he may be the worst choice for them...
But he would be damned if he didn't do his best, if he wouldn't die to make sure none of these children followed in his footsteps, their footsteps.
So long as they passed the bells test, of course.
It was quite funny, watching Sasukes brow twitch as the young boy was unable to completely mask his disbelief at the huge amount of food their blond friend had managed to wolf down.
In one sitting Naruto-kun had somehow eaten almost the same amount of food the two of them ate in a month. Sure, the boy was a bit hyperactive and Kagome had the suspicion these last few weeks he'd kept training and tackling the chakra exercises they gave him in preparation for the graduation exam so it made some sense for him to need to regain all the calories and energy used. Shinobi, in general, ate a lot more than civilians no matter how thin they may look, their lifestyles simply required it. Narutos amount of food though...
It wasn't like either teen had a delicate budget though so it didn't really matter all that much. As sole survivors/heirs of two different clans, they had more than enough money, honestly taking the only person who refused to give up on them when they were set on driving everyone away with silence and polite refusals from time to time would barely make a dip in their savings. Although she sometimes wondered how the blond managed to digest so many heavy many meals in so little time...
Giving her head a shake to push away unnecessary thought Kagome laughed at the sight of the blond pulling yet another bowl of ramen from the bag they'd been given by Ichiraku-san when they were leaving. It took a lot of effort to convince Naruto-kun to come back to the compound but spending all of their afternoon in the ramen restaurant was no one's (but the blond's) idea of a grand celebration. They still ended up buying half a dozen bowls as takeouts.
"So," Sasuke said, "I was pretty sure you failed the exam."
Their friend froze for a second before swallowing the noodles in his mouth. Right, that question remained unanswered. Not that they hadn't been relieved when they saw their childhood friend enter the classroom, forehead protector proudly displayed, let alone when the teams were finally announced and the three of them ended up together. When everything was added with the fact that Iruka-sensei appeared in the classroom seriously injured that morning however left Kagome with a bad feeling about this whole situation.
"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Understanding laced her voice as she interrupted Sasuke before the blond could feel pressured into talking about what clearly was a sensitive topic. "Or if you want to, you can always tell us later." Her foot found Sasuke's as she saw him open his mouth to protest. "Really, we won't get mad either way."
"No...I...I want to tell you guys." And just like the mood in the room changed. "It's just, well you remember Mizuki-sensei right?"
They nodded.
"You see after I, you know...failed, he showed up, told me there was this special way of making up for the exam...Kind of like extra credit you know?"
No, she didn't. In fact, she was pretty there was no such thing.
"A simple infiltration and retrieval mission, really. Just to get this old scroll out of the Hokage Tower," a glance at her right confirmed Sasuke's normally impassive expression had changed into disbelief and dread mirroring her own. "then I just had to learn some of the jutsus inside" oh, this was getting worse with every word "But well, the thing is...he kinda..."
"Lied." Sasuke deadpanned.
"Na-Naruto-kun you can't be saying you stole something from the Hokage Tower...right?" And shouldn't that place be far more protected, why on earth had a not-even-genin managed to sneak in in the first place?
"Ahaha, I guess I kinda did." The blond smiled at her, the cheer in his expression a bit too forceful. "Oh, but I did learn a new super coll jutsu!"
"Just get on with the story moron." the strain in Sasuke's tone was telling.
"Oh yeah, well that was when Iruka-sensei showed up, told me I wasn't supposed to have taken the Forbidden Scroll." Oh for all the gods, the thing even had 'forbidden' in its name. "Then that Mizuki bastard appeared, turned out he...he was kinda trying to... "the blond took a deep breath and judging by the tight fist on Sasuke's hand had formed at her side they both had a good idea where this was going. "he was...trying to kill me...oh but I ended up beating him, all on my own even. All thanks to my super cool new move! I'll teach it to you for free Kagome-chan, Sasuke-teme will have to pay with ramen though."
"Hmph, it can't be that great if you learned it in less than one afternoon." Sasuke scoffed.
"Argh, it so is!" The blond took the bait, rising up his seat and waving his arms around wildly, for once Kagome only smiled at the calculated fight. "Fine, I won't teach you! Not even if if you beg! Kagome-chan and I will be the only ones to grow stronger!"
"Right, right, but Naruto-kun you're spilling your ramen." The girl rolled her eyes good-heartedly before snatching the bowl from his waving hands.
"You're so gonna regret turning down my gracious offer!"
"As if."
Letting out a tired sigh Kagome fell down on the bed, for once she felt almost fully relaxed. The knowledge she wouldn't be separated from one of the only remaining parts of her world did wonders to get the tension out of her and yet she still couldn't help but frown. The talk about Naruto-kun's sudden promotion left her uneasy
There was something off about this whole thing.
"Why do you think he did that?" She asked out loud, turning to her left to find Sasuke's form lying right next to her, their usual position. "Mizuki-sensei I mean."
"The same reason all the others hate him I guess."
Memories of the few times they accompanied the blond to the common stores flashed through her mind, not noticing the looks and sudden change in attitude whenever the villagers recognized him would've been impossible.
"There's a big difference between petty bullying and attempted murder though."
"Civilians could just be too afraid to try anything big." It made sense, she figured, even a genin could kill a grown-up civilian thanks to the academy training. So for them to try and actually the boy would be too risky. A chuunin however, could feel safe enough to go for an actual hit.
"I know he's always making pranks and getting on people's bad side but I hardly think that's enough motivation for a chuunin to basically commit treason."
"They're hiding something is what you're trying to say."
Kagome nodded, not bothering to hide her frustration, ever since the day she met him trying to escape from some ANBU pursuers by hiding inside the Uchiha district she was able to tell there was something odd in the way the villagers and even the other members of the clan treated and talked about the boy. It wasn't only the disproportional amount of hate, there was also fear back when he was just a little kid of five.
"And Naruto probably found out what it is yesterday." The boy sighed, it wasn't hard to see why she was so bothered but as annoying as it was there was nothing any of them could do about it. Instead, he simply turned to face her, pulling her closer attempting to give them both a little comfort, letting her drink in his warmth.
A silent reminder she wasn't alone.
"I...really hate lies."
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
OMAKE
To say she was surprised and glad, to see the hyperactive prank-loving blond enter the classroom was the understatement of the century though his ''I'll explain later'' made her feel just the tiniest bit worried because getting promoted after failing the exam was certainly not a common occurrence. Still, her relief was more than palpable.
The past week she'd manage to nag the lazy Nara genius into telling her how he thought teams were decided and they ended up agreeing that it probably was a combination of balancing the teams and compatibility.
Shikamaru, for example, was pretty much resigned to ending up with Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji, since for several generations the combination of their particular bloodline limits proved more than successful.
Any rough edges between them were probably expected to be polished with an abundance of D-ranked missions.
Which was precisely the reason Kagome couldn't help but worry. If they were talking about balance in a team with both a sharingan and her own bloodline then the girl wasn't really certain who between them could fit. Taking only balance into consideration then the most logical decision would be to separate the two of them in two teams.
Compatability was probably their best shot. Her kekkei genkai was probably one of the most adaptable, and while her own clan seemed to have focused on the medical aspect (which could actually work in her favor, standard four-man teams tried to have a medic after all) it didn't mean it didn't have more offensive applications that would work well with the sharingan once Sasuke unlocked it. Plus, years of training and sparring together had made it so they knew each of the other's moves and knew how to compliment them. The main problem was ironically the exact same as with the balance. Nobody quite fit, not only speaking from a combat perspective but also from an...amaiability perspective.
Other than Naruto, Kagome seriously doubted someone would be able to handle Sasuke's moods. Sure since childhood the boy had been a bit arrogant and closed off outside the compound, but after the incident, he'd become completely and absolutely socially inept.
The Hyuuga heiress could maybe work, her temperament much calmer than Sasuke's most passionate fans would not set him off and the two girls had a somewhat friendship, somewhat companionship that stemmed from being isolated from the majority of their female classmates. But while Hinata personally might work well with them her clan was sure to object to placing her with the one remaining Uchiha. Plus, a team with so many unique bloodlines was sure to be considered way too overpowered. Useful for the occasional A-rank or S-rank mission but wasteful for a regular team.
As for their male classmates...well Sasuke would probably manage to offend any and all of them, the only one she hadn't outright discarded was Aburame Shino but that stemmed more from the fact the silent boy kept himself at arms-length from anyone than a knowledge of his temperament.
So when Naruto all but crashed into the classroom she couldn't have been happier and while the moody Uchiha would probably never accept it she knew Sasuke had been relieved as well...or at least he'd been relieved up until Naruto began rigging the now empty room as retaliation to whoever was assigned as their jounin sensei for being so far two and a half hour late...
''If any of that'' Sasuke grumbled glare fixed on the precariously balanced bucket of paint placed as a failsafe in case any of his other twenty or so earlier projectiles failed ''falls on us I swear dobe you'll wish you weren't promoted to genin.''
''Relax bastard you won't get your fancy clothes dirty.''
''You better not be planning on pinning the blame on any of us''
''Like I'd give you credit for being creative here.''No, the blond wasn't one to pin the blame on others, to try and avoid it sure, but to drag someone else into it, no it wasn't his style. Both of them knew. Sasuke was just bored...and Kagome was five minutes away from knocking both of them out just to be blessed with ten seconds of threat free silence ''And it's his own fault, wasn't being punctual something important for a shinobi or something like that.''
''You really think a jounin will fall for something that stupid''
Perhaps she was just a minute away.
Or five seconds
''Stupid! This is a...''
Whatever it was the blond was about to say was drowned by the opening movement od the door.
A shock of white hair and a bored expression was the only thing Kagome managed to glimpse before the person had to duck and throw themselves on their back to avoid the avalanche of things Naruto-kun had rigged.
The sting of pain from her bitten lip was the only thing containing the bubble of laughter inside of her as she watched what was probably their jounin sensei pick themselves up from the ground. You could always trust in Naruto-kun for unforgettable first impressions after all.
AN: So, here's chapter 2, the omake was actually something I'd already written but while reading the chapter realized didn't really flowed as I would've liked. Thank you so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews! Hope you guys keep enjoying the story.