Thank you so much for the favorites, follows and reviews! Unfortunately, I do not have access to a computer during the summer. So updates will be far in between. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Kimiko had never had a hangover, but based on her father's complaints the few times he had decided to sleep it off at home, she imagined this is what it felt like. Her head hurt and felt fuzzy, and her limbs felt weak and shaky, and while she could sense her teammates around her, they were more like familiar blobs than the sharp essences she usually felt. She also felt nauseous, but that could be because she felt like she was gently rising and falling, as though she were on a boat but vertically. The wind rushing past her felt nice at least.
Suddenly, she remembered the precarious position she and her team had been in. She tried to stand up, only to realize she was being held in place by a strong set of arms.
"Kimiko, the battle is over. You're safe." Kakashi-sensei reassured her. Her panic immediately dissipated at his calm tone, and she forced her eyelids open, squinting in the sunlight. At first, all she saw was green and silver, and finally she figured out that she was being carried on Kakashi-sensei's back.
"What happened?" She rasped, clearing her throat. Sasuke appeared next to her with a water flask, which she drank eagerly.
"I defeated Haku, convinced Zabuza to be our ally, Zabuza killed Gato but Zabuza and Haku died anyway, and I started a rebellion among the villagers to take back their town, and the bridge was named the Great Naruto Bridge!" She heard Naruto crow from somewhere to her left.
"Ha. What really happened?" Kimiko said drily.
"I hate to say it, but he's not wrong." Sasuke said with a grimace.
"I think I'm still asleep." Kimiko muttered, pressing her aching head against Kakashi-sensei's solid back.
"Hey! Why is that not believable?" Naruto squawked with outrage, almost falling out of the trees and quickly recovering.
Kakashi-sensei smells nice. And his hair is soft. Kimiko thought as she started to drift back to sleep. It was only when she heard Naruto cackling and Sasuke's snort that she realized she had spoken out loud. Mercifully, her chakra exhaustion pulled her back into sweet oblivion.
—--
Back in the village, Kakashi-sensei ordered her and Sasuke to the hospital to make sure there was no lasting damage. Naruto said he would bring their paperwork (standard after-mission writing) to them and give the verbal report on his own, which Kimiko knew meant him bragging to the Hokage about how great he had been. Which, in all fairness, he truly had been great.
Naruto arrived after they had been checked out of the hospital, talking rapidly about a "Mr. Ukki" that he had to take care of and they were to meet in their usual training ground in the morning before speeding off. Without speaking, Kimiko and Sasuke agreed to finish their paperwork together at the garden in the hospital courtyard. It was nice, just quietly sitting in the cool breeze under the rustling leaves, listening to the far away familiar sounds of the village past the hospital walls.
They dropped the papers off with a Chunin at the Mission Office, and then turned to go their separate ways. Kimiko was ready to dash away, excited to see her grandmother and sister after so long, but as she turned she saw Sasuke's back and felt…sad. He still hadn't come to dinner. He was going to go home, by himself, after an arduous mission, and what? Who did he have to talk to? Would he sit in silence? Would he talk to his family's ghost? She knew she wasn't Sasuke's favorite person in the world (if he even liked anyone in this world), but the thought of him going home to a dark house by himself just didn't sit right with her.
"Sasuke." She called. He halted in his steps, hands in his pocket, turning to her with a curious gaze.
"Come to dinner." She said. He opened his mouth, surely to protest, but she continued. "Please. My grandmother and sister want to meet you. My grandmother always makes too much food. And…" She bit her lip, wondering if she might be pushing him too far. "I would like you to be there. Please." She said again.
Sasuke studied her for a long moment, and she had no idea what was going on in his head. It wasn't an immediate no, so she took a chance and added, "Give me one good reason for you to not go, and I won't push anymore."
Sasuke was silent for a few seconds more, and then he sighed. "I don't have one." Kimiko smiled in delight. "Great! Let's go!"
"But if you're turning into a fangirl…" He warned, partially serious as he began to follow her. Kimiko shook her head furiously. "Gross, no, never. I mean I respect you as my comrade but…" She remembered the girls from the Academy and shuddered. "Besides, you've seen me vomit on myself after training too hard. It's hard to come back from that." Sasuke nodded in agreement, then, with a rare mischievous smirk, added, "Plus, it sounds like you're Kakashi-sensei's fangirl anyway."
"I am not ANYONE's fangirl." She protested.
"But Kakashi-sensei's hair is so soft, and he smells so nice…" Sasuke mimicked her voice. Kimiko gaped at him, shocked and somewhat pleased by his teasing. "I did not say any of that!"
"Sure did."
"Naruto's right, you are a bastard."
"You're a fangirl."
"In your dreams."
—Sasuke—
Dinner with Kimiko's family was…not terrible. He might have even said pleasant, if it wasn't for the constant peppering of questions from her little sister, and the weird feelings in his chest when her grandma gave him a hug after dinner and told him to come by anytime.
"I'm home." He called softly to his empty home. He half-expected his brother's angry voice to whisper in his ear, calling him weak for going to dinner instead of training or focusing on his revenge.
Instead, he heard Grandma Horiba saying, "It was so lovely to finally meet you Sasuke-kun. Thank you for taking care of my granddaughter. You are welcome anytime - think of this as your second home."
Kimiko was…an unexpected presence in his life. She was logical, honest, kind, and hard-working. He was self-aware enough to know that while he could still take her in a one-on-one fight, she had grown significantly, and in turn, had forced him to grow. He unconsciously activated his Sharingan as he remembered watching her fall in the battle. He hadn't thought she was weak, or useless. He had just thought about her as a teammate, and watching her go down had hurt a place in his heart that he thought had closed off for good. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
Naruto too had become a consistent presence in his life, like an annoying leech that yelled a lot. But he too, had forced Sasuke to work harder. His bloodline of seemingly unlimited chakra had at first made Sasuke burn with jealousy, and he had been particularly harsh with his teammate. But Kakashi-sensei had turned his jealousy into gratitude - he had a strong teammate on his side, one that would push him to be better, to constantly pit himself against in a way that he just couldn't do against someone of Kakashi-sensei's caliber, much to his chagrin. Kimiko had helped too - she had gone from being beaten down over and over to winning fights in record time. If she and Naruto could become so strong in such a short amount of time, surely Kakashi-sensei could do something with the Uchiha prodigy.
"I'm on my way." Sasuke whispered to the empty house. "I will avenge you." The prospect no longer seemed completely out of reach, and if in his imagination of completing his goal there were people standing behind him, pushing him forward, well, he chose to ignore that.
—--Kimiko—
"As a reward for all of your hard work, we can move on to Might Guy's Training Course, Level Two!"
"Don't let it touch me!"
"I don't bend that way!"
"Fire, fire, burn it with fire!"
"I AM!"
"MORE FIRE!"
"I've died so many times, my head hurts."
"Move or you'll die for real!"
"That was more difficult than the fight with Haku." Kimiko panted. Her back hurt from a wrenched muscle, and her hands and wrists burned from grabbing Naruto before he fell into a spiked pit. Sasuke was hovering on the edge of chakra exhausting, valiantly leaning against a tree instead of flat on his back like Kimiko and Naruto. Naruto was clutching his head with his eyes closed, whispering to himself as he tried to process what his clones had done.
"You have all earned lunch." Kakashi-sensei said cheerfully, as though he hadn't just watched his students be almost murdered.
"I…i…chiraku…" Naruto mumbled, shakily pulling himself to his feet and stumbling away. Sasuke took out a pre-made bento. Kimiko was going to take out her leftovers from dinner when Kakashi-sensei spoke to her.
"Eat quickly." He said. "You will be doing a different kind of training this afternoon."
—
Green. So much green. And eyebrows. And they were everywhere. If she wasn't tasting dirt, she was looking at spandex. It was a nightmare.
"Yosh! You have shown great youthfulness today!"
"Excellent compliment, my pupil."
"Guy-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!"
"What is this hell?" Kimiko whispered to herself. They started to leave, and Kimiko weakly asked, "Wait. I'm supposed to meet my team afterwards. Do you know where they are?"
Guy-sensei flashed her a blinding smile. "Kakashi-sensei said you are a sensor, and it is a fantastic opportunity to find them. See you at dawn!" Lee waved and then they walked away, leaving Kimiko to curse her sensei in private.
She had to wander the village, stretching her chakra sense as far as it went, walking on shaking legs and occasionally leaning on walls and trying not to vomit.
She finally got the slightest ping of static that felt vaguely like Sasuke and moved towards it. At first, she thought she imagined it, and she was ready to despair before she got another brush of his chakra, much closer. She hurried into a clearing and almost got herself blown up from a trap hidden there if Sasuke hadn't pinned her behind a tree.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed - what the hell happened to you?" Sasuke interrupted himself as he got a good look at his female teammate.
Kimiko remembered the green duo and shuddered. "I don't want to talk about it. What have you been up to?"
"Naruto has been trying to catch me with traps while I hide from him. By the end of the training day, he wins if he gets me with a trap, and I win if I avoided him." Sasuke explained quickly and quietly.
"So…you're both hiding from each other? Suppressing your chakra?" She said slowly. Sasuke nodded, surveying the area around them. He felt a chill go up his spine as he looked back at Kimiko and saw a dark shadow hanging around her.
"Kimiko?" He asked, confused.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" She roared, stomping into the clearing. Kunai flew from some trees as she triggered another trap, completely ignoring them as Sasuke blocked them hastily.
"Kimiko, I don't know what you think you're doing, but - "
"COME OUT HERE SENSEI!" She yelled again.
"Uh, is she okay?" Naruto asked, his bright yellow head suddenly appearing from a tree.
"I think she snapped." Sasuke said back, watching her warily like she was a wounded animal.
"Kimiko, did you say something?" Kakashi asked, casually leaning on a tree and reading his orange book.
"You!" She pointed, and Sasuke wasn't sure if she was shaking from exhaustion or rage. "You…you made me train with them! THEM! And then made me walk the WHOLE FREAKING VILLAGE looking for Sasuke and Naruto, KNOWING they were hiding?!" She practically shrieked.
Kakashi-sensei leisurely flipped a page. "I thought you wanted to get stronger?"
Kimiko sputtered for a second, then stated firmly, "Oh, I will get stronger. Screw Jonin. I'll become so strong that I can make you regret what you've done."
Kakashi-sensei finally looked up from his book. "I look forward to it." He snapped the book shut. "Training is done for tonight. Sasuke is the winner."
"Aw man! I almost had him, if Kimiko hadn't - " Naruto quailed under the withering look Kimiko sent him. "Never mind. Good training Sasuke."
Kimiko hmphed and started to stomp away.
"I'll see you both at dinner!" She snarled. "Grandma is making tempura, and she wants help coating it with the batter." Her voice left no room for argument.
"Kakashi-sensei, what did you do?" Naruto asked in wonder, but their sensei was already gone.
"Definitely snapped." Naruto said towards where Kimiko disappeared. Sasuke nodded, finding himself perfectly in agreement with Naruto for once.
—-
The next few months were much the same. Team dinners became a common occurrence, though Kakashi-sensei never joined them. Kimiko continued to shop for Naruto, and that coupled with the training finally sent him into a growth spurt, matching Sasuke in height and beginning to surpass him in muscle and speed, much to Sasuke's anger. This only spurred Sasuke to flaunt his ninjutsu mastery, his Sharingan giving him an edge in taijutsu that evened them out, and their sparring matches soon began to decimate battlefields.
Despite their increase in speed, even Sasuke was forced to admit that Kimiko had become the fastest of the group. Whatever issue she had with Kakashi was quelled when she saw the results of her extra training. She too seemed to be growing into a style, and while Naruto was fast brute force mixed with unpredictable attacks, and Sasuke was fine-tuned ninjutsu and versatility, Kimiko was becoming impossible to hit. Her speed, coupled with the taijutsu Snake Style, meant that even when they were able to break her genjutsu (which was pathetically easy with the Sharingan), she simply flowed around the battlefield like she was dancing. Sasuke found him hitting more precisely and much harder, because sometimes he would only get one hit for an entire match.
Kimiko also used a mix of senbon to force distance, and in a last resort was learning Earth ninjutsu to defend herself (and her teammates), though it was a large chakra drain and still a bit slow. Sasuke was also pleased to note that their combinations as a team were downright lethal. He and Naruto were of one mind when it came to chakra ratios, and their fire/wind combos were the main reason they had to keep moving training grounds. (Some of their D-Rank missions were to repair their own damage, much to their amusement).
Naruto, with his mass of clones and AOE wind jutsu, was becoming a frontline tank. Sasuke played mid-close distance, attacking with whatever the team needed, either taking out a precision target with lighting, helping AOE with his fire, and using his Sharingan to call out weaknesses and make battle plans. Kimiko supported them by weaving genjutsu, jumping in if they needed a reprieve, distracting with her senbon, or providing shelter with her earth ninjutsu.
He felt stronger. Seeing the strength in his teammates made him acknowledge the strength in himself. Most of all, he felt…perhaps not happy, but content. He was working towards his goal. Naruto didn't annoy him as much, especially since he wasn't AS dumb due to his one-a-day-clone informant. Kakashi-sensei was an amazing teacher, and Kimiko wasn't annoying at all. When Kakashi-sensei told them he had put them up for the Chunin Exams, he was very eager. Soon, he would see just how strong he had become.
—-Hokage's Office—
"Kakashi." The Hokage's voice stopped him from following the rest of the shinobi from the office. Iruka shot him one more glare before disappearing, obviously putting the majority of the blame for the rookies being nominated on Kakashi's shoulders.
"You've been very harsh with your Genin." Kakashi didn't respond, having expected this conversation at some point.
"Has it been worth it?"
"You'll see that it has been, Hokage-sama. Their teamwork is stronger than ever, and while they don't know it, they are definitely Chunin level. They have been for awhile." Kakashi admitted.
"I also noticed that you have been training. You're pushing yourself too hard." The Hokage cautioned. Kakashi-sensei tensed. It was true. Despite spending all day training with Team 7, he had also gone to his own personal Training Ground in the Hatake compound each evening, working furiously on his skills.
"I disagree, Hokage-sama. I am not pushing myself enough." He said levelly, maintaining eye contact. His students should never have been in danger on the Wave mission. He should never have fallen against Zabuza. If his students had had to face Haku while Kakashi was on the ground unconscious, they would have died. Never again.
The Hokage read his expression, smoking on his pipe, before sighing and letting the smoke flow out. "Very well. I will trust you to know what you are doing."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kakashi-sensei bowed, and his shadow clone disappeared. The real Kakashi paused, a lightning blade crackling in his hand, before launching himself forward again to continue his training.
OMAKE - Iruka testing Team 7
Iruka leaned over to grab Moegi, intent on pulling her away as a hostage, and his ribs almost caved in as a wave of air pressure shot towards him. He threw himself backwards, dropping Moegi, and was almost skewered by two clones who manifested behind him and threw themselves forward in a taijutsu style he had never seen. He quickly disengaged from the combat entirely, each clone and Naruto himself moving forward to block the younger students. The thing that really convinced Iruka that Naruto was ready was another clone beginning to run away, under orders to alert the first shinobi it found of the possible incursion.
Naruto…you've really grown up. Iruka thought, impressed.
—-
Out of all of the rookies, Sasuke was the one that Iruka was least worried about. Sure enough, Iruka barely substituted in time from Sasuke's paralysis jutsu, and almost lost a limb to his lightning wires. He used the giant fireball as a chance to escape, letting himself relax once he was far, far away. Kakashi, did you really have to teach him so much ninjutsu? He thought with exasperation.
—
"Iruka-sensei, why are you disguised as Naruto?" Kimiko asked casually on their walk.
"Uh - what do you mean?" Iruka-sensei sputtered, scratching the back of his head.
"I mean, you're definitely not Naruto, and I'm pretty sure you're Iruka-sensei. You feel like…" She cocked her head to the side. "Like rubbing chalk on a chalkboard so fast it gets too hot to hold. Is this a test of some sort?"
"Gotta go, bye!" Iruka-sensei squeaked, running away. Kakashi, I think maybe you've been teaching them too well. Or I've been slacking. He admitted grimly to himself. He wasn't happy about the early examinations, but at least he was pretty sure they wouldn't die in the first round.
I'm sorry it's so short after so long. Again, I don't have access to a computer. I'll be back to work in August, so at the latest,expect an update then. Love you guys, thank you for your encouragement.
Next Time: Chunin Exams!