Chapter Twelve — Two Twins, Two Colors

"Tousan!" Kyoko squealed, stumbling over herself as she raced through the Academy doors. "Tousan, I did it!"

Kagami laughed brightly and dropped to his knees, catching her and wrapping her up in his arms. "I see that! I knew you could so it!"

"No, no, no, not that!" She wriggled out of his arms, grinning and clutching her brand new hitai-ate. "I tied with Niichan's teammate." She smiled proudly up at him.

Kagami blinked, reaching out and combing through her bangs with his fingers. "Obito's teammate? You mean Hatake?"

She lifted her chin. "Yes."

He grinned. "Well done, Kyoko-chan! That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!"

She thrust out her headband. "Can you tie it on for me?"

"Of course." He took it from her.

Kyoko tilted her face up towards him, closing her eyes. She felt him brush up and hold her bangs out of the way and then cloth settled against her forehead. It tightened around her head as he tied it.

"There you go. Look at you!"

Kyoko looked up at him. "Tousan! Are you crying?" She reached out and tried to wipe away the tears on his face. "Are you sad?"

He laughed, pulling back. "Of course I'm not sad. These are happy tears!"

"Tousan!" someone shrieked. Shisui barreled into both of them. Kyoko squeaked in surprised, holding on to him as she fell and dragging him with her. He laughed and sat up, grinning down at her. "I tied!"

She lit up. "You tied with Niichan's teammate too?"

"I tied with Niichan's sensei!"

"With Minato-san?" Kagami asked, voice rising in surprise. "That's amazing, Shisui-kun!"

Shisui scrambled up and thrust his hitai-ate at Kagami, asking him to tie it on. As he did so, Kyoko sat up and frowned. "Were Minato-san's scores good?"

Her brother reached up to feel his headband and proudly announced, "The highest ever!"

"Oh." Kyoko bit her lip and glanced at her dad then back to Shisui. "That's really good."

He bounced on his feet and then reached out, running his hands over her hitai-ate. "How'd you do?"

She smiled and pressed her fingers into the etching on his headband. "I'll catch up."

"Are we going to be on a team?"

Kyoko looked up at him, eyes wide. "I'd like that."

Shisui grinned. "We'd be the best team ever. Don't you— Tousan!" He shot up from the table, his voice cutting through the chatter of the other fresh genin in the room. He slid to a stop in front of the door, grinning up at the newcomer. "Are you a sensei now? Are you here for us?"

Kagami ruffled Shisui's hair with a laugh. "I'm here for you," he confirmed.

"I didn't know you were going to be a sensei," Kyoko said, hopping to her feet and moving to stand beside Shisui.

Kagami smiled. "Wanted it to be a surprise. didn't know that Shisui would be my student until this morning, though."

She faltered, frowning. "Shisui?"

Her father crouched down and tapped her chin to keep her looking at him. "Hey, don't worry, okay? I met your sensei. She's . . . a lot, but I think you'll like her. I'm sure you'll learn a—"

"Is that her? She's so cute!"

A hand clamped down on Kagami's shoulder, muscling him out of the way. And then the woman was in his spot, kneeling in front of Kyoko and grinning brightly. Kyoko pulled back, wide-eyed. "What?"

The kunoichi beamed. "Hi! I'm Kushina. I'm gonna be your sensei, dattebane! Do you like ramen? Let's get some ramen."

"I—" Kyoko glanced to the side. Shisui was staring at Kushina with stars in his eyes. When Kagami gave her a nod and a smile, she squared her shoulders. "Where are we getting ramen?"

Kushina squealed and snatched up Kyoko's hand, dragging her out of the classroom and down the hall. "Ichiraku is the best place for ramen. Have you been there before?"

Kyoko stumbled after her and tugged until the jonin released her hand. She eyed Kushina warily as she followed her outside and down the street. "No. Tousan is a good cook, so we eat at home."

"Ah. Well, my cooking is," —Kushina winced— "questionable. So you should prepare yourself for a lot of time at Ichiraku, kid."

"Welcome home!" Kagami called brightly when she opened the door. "Just in time. Dinner is ready."

Kyoko stood in the open doorway, staring at him. She looked at Shisui and then back. "Tousan?" she whispered.

He paused, halfway through setting the food at the table. Then he set down the dish he was carrying and straightened. "Is something wrong? How did your first day with your sensei go?"

She shifted from one foot to the other. Finally stepping inside, Kyoko closed the door. Keeping her head down, she mumbled, "Did you not want to be my sensei?"

There wasn't a response for a moment. And then a hand cupped her chin, tilting her head up. She stared up at her father, eyes stinging. Kagami's brow furrowed, but he gave her a smile. "Kyoko-chan, I'm not the one that decides who gets which students. I would have loved getting to teach both of you. But if the Hokage apprenticed you to Kushina-san, it's because he thinks that she can teach you something that I can't."

"That's ridiculous. There's no way she knows stuff you don't."

He laughed at that. "I'm hardly an expert in everything. And Kushina-san is well-renowned and feared for a reason. She's a ninjutsu powerhouse. Her taijutsu is incredible. And she's smart, Kyoko-chan. She's smart and creative, and that might be exactly why you're her student. Because you are too."

"This," Kushina announced, holding the weapon up, "is a kunai."

"I know," Kyoko said flatly. "I couldn't graduate without knowing what a kunai is."

The jonin snickered. "Well, you never know. But no, this is important." She flipped the kunai around so she was holding it by the blade and offering up the handle. "We're going to spar, and this is the only weapon you can use."

Kyoko took it slowly, frowning. "Why? What's the point?"

"The point is that you're an Uchiha, so you've grown up using weapons all the time. And there's nothing wrong with that! You'd probably be cute with a little tanto and some proper training. But in real life, you don't always have all your weapons. So that's the only one you get for this spar." She dug out a single bell and held it up, dangling it on the end of a blue cord. "And you're going to use it to get this from me."