Crossover Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ K a z o k u ❯ Team 7 Reloaded ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Four: Team 7 reloaded

 

Aramitama for Courage...

 

Nigimitama for Friendship...

 

Kushimitama for Wisdom...

 

... and Sakimitama for Love.

 

Once these four souls are unified in one person, they form to assemble a very strong balance within the spirit which can be used for good or evil.

 

Arashi was torn.

 

As a father, no amount of courage could keep him from worrying about what fate would befall his children once they became genins and took on missions outside the village. They've survived more than twelve years safe and sound from inquisitions, failed kidnap attempts from those who wished to earn easy money from ransoming the Hokage's children, hidden prejudice from their fellow villagers. He knew how most of the villagers truly felt. Naruto might have grown up with a very different childhood if he and Kagome weren't there to shield him from most of the animosity directed toward him.

 

None of the villagers outright insulted or were openly mean to his son, but most people were still stuck in the past and couldn't separate Naruto the normal boy and Kyuubi the nine-tailed demon who wrecked havoc in Konoha more than a decade ago. The entire village was polite, courteous and generous in front of Naruto, especially when his father was around, but there was no stopping the vicious gossip and unrelenting whispers made behind their backs. He was thankful the Sandaime was wise enough to impose the silence rule regarding the Kyuubi in the village.

 

As a Hokage, he was proud to say that his children were skilled ninja. They were going to be valuable assets to the village, and he knew they were going to become legends of their own in their own time. He didn't think this just because they were his children. He was never one to give preferential treatment to anyone, most especially his kids. As leader of the village, he was under more scrutiny than most to provide equal treatment for all. Naruto and Kagome had free reign of going in and out of the Hokage tower, not all shinobis have access to, but that was just normal. Like the Sandaime before him, if his family needed to talk to him or wanted to spend time with him, without interfering with his important work of course, was acceptable.

 

They were graduating from the Academy soon, and he worried about how they would live their lives as ninjas next. Missions meant exposing them to the outside world and short of putting leashes on his children or constant surveillance on them, he knew they were bound to slip further away from him as they grew up. Even if the village elders and his chief advisors weren't keen on the idea of sending Naruto out to missions that would keep him away from the village, they all knew no one could keep the boy locked up for the sole reason that he housed the Kyuubi within him.

 

Truth be told, if Arashi were to choose between limiting his son's freedom inside the village for those petty reasons and allowing him his debut to the outside world, he would rather choose the latter instead of the former. And his daughter was a whole different matter... he was never going to be prepared for what was to come outside or inside the village.

 

His sadistic former sensei's twisted sense of humor also didn't help his problems much.

 

Suddenly, a pair of stampeding elephants crashed through his door.

 

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!” A red-faced, out of breath, visibly angry blue-eyed raven-haired academy student hollered, startling a flock of birds resting on a nearby tree.

 

Arashi eyed his poor Hokage door with pity. He should probably get a sturdier lock, but he didn't think it would help much. “What is it, pumpkin?”

 

Blue eyes so much like his own narrowed in his direction. “I told you not to call me that in public!”

 

“But there is no one else here and this is my private office,” he replied and swallowed nervously from the `someone is going to get hurt and it might just be you' look in his daughter's eyes. “Sorry, my bad, I did it out of habit.”

 

Uzumaki Arashi: also known as the great Yellow Flash of Konoha, Yondaime Hokage, great leader, model father and master of the Rasengan. Shinobis tremble in fear from the mere mention of his name; he trembles in fear of his five-foot-one daughter.

 

Naruto was right behind his sister, laughing so hard he had to hold on to the walls for support.

 

“Naruto, don't forget to breathe.” The Yondaime reminded his first born. The boy was turning blue from the lack of oxygen because he was laughing too much.

 

“Dad, tell Ru-chan to stop laughing at me -”

 

“Hey!” Naruto wheezed out in between guffaws, “Stop calling me Ru-chan!” Ru-chan was what Kagome called him when they were toddlers. He considered himself lucky his name wasn't Sasuke aka Sa-chan or worse, Neji aka Ji-chan. `Tachi' and `Nabi' were lucky Kagome made the effort to pronounce at least two syllables of their names and Hinata, her long-time bestfriend, was obviously her favorite.

 

“Now, now children.” He cheerfully waved to a startled Chuunin who passed by his office door. The startled guy was newly appointed to the Hokage tower blinked at the open doorway. Kagome was chasing Naruto around, trying to land a flying kick on his head, much to the chuunin's surprise.

 

“Or else I'm going to place a subduing charm on him!” Kagome threatened and stomped her foot. She's had enough of her brother's teasing; he's been laughing non-stop for ten minutes now.

 

“Kagome,” Arashi scolded gently. “What did I tell you?”

The twelve year old's cheeks puffed in annoyance, rebellion manifested in her eyes. “I'm not allowed to use subduing spells on my brother,” she repeated her father's important rule.

 

“Good girl.”

 

“But he's laughing at me, papa! Make him stop now or else!”

 

“Naruto, stop laughing at your sister, that's rude.” Naruto's laughter finally subsided to mild chuckles after a lot of effort. “What were you laughing about anyway?” Arashi couldn't help but ask.

 

“Mushin-sama taught me a new jutsu today.”

 

“That was not a jutsu! What you did was too sissy to be a jutsu! All the stuff you learn from old man Mushin is too sissy to be called jutsus!” Naruto didn't really think that his sister was weak; he was just worried that that kooky old monk with the perverted grandson was leading his sister astray. How was she supposed to become the greatest ninja in Konoha like him and make their father proud together when they kept teaching her sissy techniques?

 

“It's way better than your orioke no jutsu!” Kagome harrumphed.

Using the sexy no jutsu, Naruto promptly poofed into his sexy female counterpart. Arashi buried his eyes in his palm, willing away the mental image of his son in a naked female's body. The boy didn't care that he was mentally scarring his father each time he did that in front of him. “You're just jealous I'm sexier than you and besides, this is merely a prank jutsu! I'm not all serious about it like you are with your disco thingie.” Naruto stuck his tongue out at his sister before changing back.

 

Arashi raised a confused brow and removed his face from his palm, feeling old and un-`hip'. He wasn't as up to date with youngster talk like Gai was. “Disco thingie?”

 

“It's a summoning jutsu, not a `disco thingie',” Kagome sighed exasperatedly. She loved her brother dearly but he could really get annoying at times, especially when he called her techniques sissy jutsus.

 

“Pft! I know what a summoning jutsu is, I've seen `touchan and ero sennin do it lots of times. You can't seriously believe that you can convince me your sissy jutsu was a summoning technique.”

 

“Stop calling it a sissy jutsu!” Kagome cuffed her brother upside the head.

 

“What disco thingie?” Arashi raised his hand like a proper student in class in hopes to gain their attention, turning a blind eye to Naruto's whimpers of pain.

 

“Mushin-sama taught me a kuchiyose no jutsu that differs from yours today and Naruto called it a sissy technique when I showed it to him,” Kagome pouted at her father.

 

“How does it differ from my kuchiyose no jutsu?” Arashi was always eagerly interested in the weirdly different variation of shinobi techniques that Mushin-sama knew of.

 

“It doesn't require a blood contract, hand seals or blood sacrifice. I've seen you summon your frogs before and it's entirely different,” Naruto tattled.

 

“Papa can I place a subduing spell on Naruto?” Kagome asked sweetly, hoping to catch her father unaware.

 

Arashi smiled at his youngest, “Absolutely not.”

 

“Hmph. Will you watch me perform my new technique then?” Kagome looked at her father with big eyes.

 

“Go ahead and show daddy, pumpkin.” Arashi watched curiously when his daughter went to the center of his office before breathing deeply. He waved Naruto over to his side to prevent him from laughing at his sister again, just in case.

 

His face was briefly visited by a frown when he noticed Kagome had worn one of her short skirts again. His baby girl wearing skirts never bothered him before, but recently her legs have been gathering attraction from males which was very stressful for him. It was cute when his babies were little. They'd wear clothes with identical colors, fabric and design; Naruto's more masculine and Kagome's more feminine when you look at it especially because as a girl she could wear a skirt and as a boy Naruto wore pants. It was cute when they were little and he didn't need to worry about bees buzzing around his baby girl. By the rate this was going, he was going to have high blood pressure at such a young age due to his daughter becoming a teenager. Come to think of it, if Naruto weren't here he would've probably suffered from a mild heart attack already. He could only hope for the best when they officially became teenagers. The inevitable doom was only months away.

 

Hitting puberty and getting her monthly visitor had been a disaster. As a single parent, he wasn't prepared for the barrage of questions his daughter had. He made a really awkward attempt at making her understand the differences between her and her brother, using bad euphemisms like kunai and shuriken because his brain died when his daughter demanded to know why Naru had that thing he could use to pee standing and she didn't. Naruto didn't want to be left out of the conversation and he had two pairs of blue eyes staring attentively at him, boring through his soul while he made an incoherent impromptu speech about the birds and the bees had been one of the most embarrassing moments in his life. His years of denial caught up to him and he wasn't prepared for that moment.

 

He ended the speech with ominous statements which sounded like threats, pointed to Naruto and told him he could experiment if he wanted just as long as he took care of himself and made sure it was safe; then pointed to Kagome and told her she was absolutely, positively, definitely, undoubtedly, doubtlessly prohibited from doing it until she was married and that she wasn't allowed to marry until she was forty.

 

The twins just blinked at his insane outburst, not understanding a word he said.

 

“Do what, papa?” they had asked and Kagome was still upset that her papa didn't know where to get, what size and shape to buy, and how to use the feminine products she badly needed.

 

Disaster in guise of his temporary salvation appeared later when Kakashi knocked on their front door. Arashi rushed to bring him inside and literally passed Naruto on to his arms with a yelled “Kakashi, Naruto has something to ask you. Answer it as honestly as you could for me, all right? Thanks, I owe you one! See ya later!” and then picked up his daughter to make his very first personal house call to the Fugaku Uchiha's house.

 

Mikoto, Arashi was sure, had a reserved spot in heaven, because she took one look at the irritated daughter glaring at the blushing father who was carrying her like a potato sack and the red stain on her otherwise immaculate skirt before she understood.

 

Arashi stood there with a helpless look on his face, not needing to say anything more than “Um... help... please?”

 

The beautiful mother of two understood the situation immediately and helped the girl get off from her father's shoulder and instructed him to bring some basic necessities for the girl. She took care of the rest and Kagome never asked him about those dreaded feminine products ever again.

 

Ah, those were the days...

 

Truly horrible, nightmarish days but unforgettable on their own.

 

Arashi was brought out of his thoughts when Kagome started...

 

... dancing?

 

Yes, she was currently dancing to a silent tune that only she seemed to hear as Naruto and Arashi watched. There was no other way to describe it.

 

This was a summoning jutsu?

 

Watching his daughter perform the steps made him understand why Naruto was trying to discourage his sister to use it. She looked beautiful. There was no other way to describe it. Like an angel; so graceful and delicate, like a gentle swan gliding on water. Her movements were flawless and flowed like water. His daughter was beautiful and he felt pride in that, but he also felt dread when he thought about how boys like the Hyuuga or those Uchihas would think when they saw her like this. Mushin-sama was supposed to be a monk, on the side of good. Teaching Kagome this technique was an act that only someone sent by the demon king would do.

 

Kagome's captivating dance lasted only a few moments even though it felt like it went on for an eternity. A circle filled with writings unknown to him started glowing around her brightly, flashing enough to set the Hokage's office aglow but not enough to hurt their eyes, and when she finished, something gently shimmered into existence beside her.

 

It was a cute little puppy with floppy ears and golden eyes.

 

“Tada!” Kagome presented her summoned puppy to her audience proudly and scratched it fondly under its chin.

 

Arashi blinked at it. Naruto was right; it was very different from the kuchiyose no jutsu ninja used. Not only with the steps of the summoning ritual but also how the summoned animal came. Normally they would appear with a loud poof instead of slight shimmering. He truly couldn't imagine himself doing it and emerging with his ego intact as well. He was with Naruto on this one - it was a girly jutsu.

 

“Woof!” The cute white puppy barked and wagged its tail. Kagome picked it up and rubbed cheeks with it. She walked up to her father and allowed him to touch it.

 

“Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?”

 

Arashi smiled and nodded; unable to prevent himself from scratching the puppy's ear. It was indeed cute. “That was impressive, Kagome. Did Mushin-sama teach you anything else?”

 

Kagome huffed, “No, they left early because Miroku got caught peeping in the women's bathhouse and had to be punished.”

 

“Nasty pervert,” Naruto muttered. The puppy barked in agreement.

 

“Can it talk?” Arashi asked. All his frogs could talk, even the little ones like Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, but he didn't know if tadpoles would be able to talk to him if he summoned any. He never tried it before.

 

The puppy barked and looked at him with real wide puppy eyes. “Woof?”

 

“I guess not,” Naruto scoffed. “That's stupid. Pakkun and the others could talk.” He stared the puppy in the eye. “What're you looking at me like that for?” Blue eyes narrowed and locked into a staring contest with golden ones.

 

“Stop bullying the puppy, Naruto! Only evil people do that,” Kagome glared at him.

 

“He started it!” Naruto pointed accusingly at the innocent little puppy that could do no wrong.

 

Arashi just shook his head. “How do you dismiss it?”

 

“You just tell it you're done and it goes away.” Kagome turned to the puppy. “That's it for now, Inu-chan. Dismissed!” she waved her open palm.

 

“Woof!” The puppy licked her nose goodbye and the circle riddled with unfamiliar writing glowed around the puppy again before it shimmered much like it did earlier, but out of sight this time.

 

“Mushin-sama says I could summon other familiars if I change my routine a little and bigger ones if I put more energy behind it but I didn't want your office to explode. The steps are like the hand seals because there are twelve in all, only they're not really hand seals. I haven't tried any of the other combinations yet,” Kagome further shared.

 

“That was very good, pumpkin. I'm sure Naruto thinks you did well too and is only teasing you earlier.”

 

Kagome blew a raspberry at her brother.

 

“Ah!” Naruto exclaimed, an imaginary light bulb lighting on top of his head, “Speaking of which, when are you going to teach me how to summon, dad? You promised me a long time ago and you said you'd do it when I turned twelve.”

 

“Didn't we agree that Jiraiya-sensei was going to teach you that? He has the scroll you need to make a pact on, not me.”

 

“I haven't seen him for more than two weeks and he's been putting off teaching me each time I ask him,” Naruto crossed his arms in displeasure.

 

“I heard that he was caught spying on the women's bath and got chased by a mob of angry bathers,” Kagome shared. Jiraiya and Miroku got along really well together.

 

Naruto shook his head in disappointment. How can the pervert be considered one of the greatest ninjas in all the land? He was a disgrace! “I bet he's lying dead in a ditch somewhere, beaten to death.”

 

“Naruto!” Arashi scolded. Pervert or not, Jiraiya was still his sensei. “I bet he's floating upside down on a hot spring somewhere after the women gave him a sound beating,” he grinned.

 

“No wonder you spawned such a disrespectful little brat.” An annoyed Jiraiya sat on the window sill of the Hokage's office, interrupting their private conversation. “I came just in time to hear you slandering my name, you no good apprentice!”

 

“That's `Hokage-sama' now,” Arashi grinned like a rascal. He enjoyed tormenting his former sensei and the man showed him no mercy in return.

 

“Sama my ass, you ingrate,” Jiraiya grumbled some more before he hopped off the window and gave his pseudo-granddaughter a hug. The girl hugged him back, grinning happily. She looked so tiny compared to the burly old man and was completely engulfed in the hug. Father and son only received a glare each. “If you must know, I was on a top secret, high priority recon mission.”

 

“Yeah right,” Naruto rolled his eyes. Instead of a hug, he received a noogie for his cheek.

 

“That means he had to go spy on women bathing outside the village until the Konoha women forgot about the incident with him and lowered their guards enough to allow him to peep on them again,” Arashi translated for Naruto's benefit.

 

“Oh har, har. Let's pick on the extremely good-looking and talented man.”

 

Arashi looked around the room. “No one's picking on me, Jiraiya-sensei.”

 

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed at him. “Have you always been this way? I don't remember.”

 

“Yeah, senility comes with old age,” Arashi nodded gravely.

 

Jiraiya glared at his impertinence. “Where did the wide-eyed, impressionable apprentice of mine go? He was a no-good show-off but I preferred him over the smart-alecky Hokage impersonator.”

 

Arashi grabbed Naruto by the neck. “He's only half as good-looking as me even though people say he looks like my clone so you'll have to make-do with him, but he's all yours if you want,” he ruffled his son's blond hair.

 

“Hey!” Naruto protested. “I am so good-looking! Aren't I, Kagome? Stop laughing! Augh, never mind, forget it. Hey ero sennin you promised you were going to teach me how to summon. Teach me now!”

 

“What? I did? Hmmm...” Jiraiya asked, tapping a finger on his chin as he scrutinized the mini Arashi clone. “Alright, I'll do it. But there's only one problem.”

 

“What is it?” Kagome and Naruto asked in unison, perplexed by the graveness of his tone.

 

Jiraiya placed a palm a few inches on top of Naruto's head. “You have to be this tall to learn the jutsu.”

 

The same Chuunin who was startled earlier by the rambunctious twins in the Hokage's office, on his way to deliver more important documents from one top official to another, now goggled at the open Hokage's doorway at the sight of Naruto riding on the Legendary Sannin's back in an attempt to gnaw on his head while the Hokage and his daughter pointed and laughed at them.

 

ღ

 

“Stupid ero sennin.” Naruto was still pouting when they left their father's office a while later. The oldies had something `important' to talk about, so the Hokage gave his children some money and told them to buy something to eat. Hands linked behind his head, his feet stomped on the road angrily, not appreciating people pointing out his height or lack thereof.

 

Kagome walked beside him. “He was only kidding, Naru. And what's wrong about your height? You're taller than me.”

 

“Being taller than a midget is not something I should be proud of,” Naruto hooked an arm around his sister's shoulder. Kagome ducked and easily released herself, then jumped on Naruto's back in an impromptu piggyback.

 

“As punishment for such blasphemy you shall carry me to where the oden is!” A small finger bossily pointed at the direction of the oden shop. “Giddyup, donkey!”

 

“Why the heck am I a donkey?!”

 

“Because you called me a midget, now get!” She used his hair as her reigns, kicked her legs at his sides like a true rider and the burning sensation on his scalp made him follow her instructions obediently.

 

“But I wanted to eat some ramen,” Naruto whined.

 

“Well I want oden,” Kagome replied. And what she wanted, she got because she was the master and he was just a donkey right now.

 

“Why doesn't Konoha have a shop that sells both ramen and oden? Life would be so much easier that way.” Naruto groaned about his aching back even though Kagome weighed nothing more than a feather to him, so he wasn't even winded when they reached the shop. A little pity from his bossy sister wouldn't hurt so he continued to exaggerate his pretend injuries.

 

“Ah Kagome-chan, Naruto-kun! Irasshaimase!” The shop owner greeted, seeing the Uzumaki twins enter his humble stand. He was one of the few in Konoha who didn't hold any grudge and was honestly very fond of the playful duo.

 

Delicious aromas of delicious warm oden assailed their senses and filled the shop with a homey feeling. Customers littered the tables of the store, heartily eating their appetizing meals. The twins chose to take their customary seats near the counter and the padded bar stools.

 

“Just the usual with everything on it, please.” Kagome's legs dangled from the high stool energetically. Naruto grumbled but ordered the same thing she did. “Cheer up, grumpy pants!” Kagome poked Naruto good-naturedly.

 

“I wanted ramen today,” he continued to sulk, lips pouting.

 

“We'll go to the ramen stand next time, how about that?” Kagome tried her best to cheer him up, much to the amusement of some of the other patrons. Most of them forgot their wariness of the Kyuubi vessel whenever they saw Naruto in a good playful mood.

 

“Here you go, kids!” The shop clerk said a little while later, setting down two steaming hot bowls of oden that smelled as delicious as they looked.

 

“I want ramen,” Naruto continued to sulk.

 

“Then you won't be needing this then,” Kagome stopped making funny faces at her brother and swiped a beef tendon from his bowl.

 

“Hey!” Naruto retaliated by stealing a shiitake mushroom.

 

“Noooo! That's my favorite!”

 

“Ha-ha!” The blond made a big show of savoring his stolen loot but was interrupted when his sister took one of his octopus. On and on it went despite the glances they were attracting. Some were amused; others weren't. It was a miracle they finished eating out of the other's bowl without spilling a single drop of soup or ingredient on the floor.

 

Naruto was trying to burp his ABCs a while later after they left the oden shop when they spotted a familiar duck butt head.

 

“Hey Sa-” Naruto was silenced by his sister's hand to his mouth.

 

“Sssh!” Kagome said. She took a deep breath and cupped her hands around her own mouth. “Kyaa! Sasuke-kuuuun!” She squealed loudly, doing a very good imitation of a crazy Sasuke stalker. Naruto busted out laughing when Sasuke turned around to confront the would-be fangirl, looking like a trapped doe ready to bolt at the soonest possible second.

 

Sasuke didn't look amused when he caught up to them. “You know I hate it when you do that,” he glared at a very amused Kagome.

 

“But it's really fun to do,” Kagome grinned at him.

 

“Yeah it is,” Naruto agreed.

 

Sasuke bopped him on the head to shut him up.

 

“Where's Itachi?”

 

Kagome and Naruto didn't catch the sour look that ghosted Sasuke's face. “He's out on a mission.”

 

“Do you know when he'll be back?”

 

Sasuke shrugged indifferently. Itachi, Itachi, Itachi. All everybody wanted to talk about was Itachi! He was tired of living behind his niisan's shadow.

 

“I learned a new technique from Mushin-sama... I was hoping to show it to him... Stop it Naruto!”

 

Naruto dodged the hands that swiped towards him and continued making gagging sounds. “Don't show that jutsu to anyone, especially Itachi. It'll make him ill.”

 

“What jutsu?” Sasuke asked in between Kagome's attempts to choke Naruto.

 

“Kagome-san!” an eager youth jogged up to them before she could answer.

 

“Hojo-kun!” Kagome smiled pleasantly at the boy. He liked to give her really weird gifts for some unknown reason... and predictably, a package was swiftly thrust in her face.

 

“What is it?” Naruto peered at it warily. Tousan warned him about keeping this Hojo weirdo away from his sister.

 

“My father just returned from his business trip and he brought home a lot of this herbal black tea,” Hojo explained. “Your father said you were feeling under the weather again, Kagome-san. He said your weak constitution makes it hard for you to get up during the weekends.”

 

Sasuke raised a brow at the boy. Was he serious? Kagome was one of the healthiest people he knew. Never been sick except that time she got hospitalized when they were little, as far as he was concerned.

 

Naruto managed to keep his face straight because he knew their dad wouldn't like it if Hojo found out he'd been lied to. Father just didn't want any additional boys hanging around his sister, not even someone as harmless-looking as Hojo. Ero sennin was constantly tormenting him about it and Kakashi didn't help by taking bets from Miroku either.

 

“It has healing properties and is good for your health, Kagome-san.” Kagome accepted the package and thanked him, silently promising a painful punishment for their liar of a father. Mushin and Miroku's weekly training sessions were never made clear to anyone who wasn't a close personal friend of the family or had a high enough security clearance. The full implications of what a miko was and the uniqueness of her powers were explained to her and her brother when they were old enough to understand what that meant. No one was to know about her uncommon abilities as long as they could help it. They knew she would have to be exposed sometime in the future but they were determined to keep it under wraps for as long as they could...

 

But did he really have to make unbelievable excuses in her behalf? Couldn't their dad at least think of some other excuse for her unexplained `mysterious disappearances' i.e. special training sessions with the monks?

 

“- and after you just got over that case of cholera recently, too! You really should take care of yourself.” Hojo continued, oblivious to the silent sniggers of Naruto, reluctant amusement of Sasuke and increasing annoyance of Kagome. “If only Tsunade-sama was still here. I'm sure she'll be able to pinpoint what the cause of your weak immune system is, maybe recommend what healing herbs you should be taking. I heard someone spotted her at -”

 

“Look Hojo,” Naruto pointed at something behind the boy, “a distraction!”

 

Hojo looked confused when he turned around to see what Naruto was pointing at. “What?”

 

“Go find it!” Naruto encouraged then grabbed his sister and his friend's arms, dragging them away from the perplexed boy. Kagome allowed herself to be dragged away, relieved of her brother's intervention. Sasuke had a slight smirk on his face as he allowed the dobe to place his hand upon his person. “See ya!”

 

Kagome laughed when they were out of sight. “I can't believe he fell for that!”

 

“I've met toast smarter than him. He's a bigger idiot than Naruto,” Sasuke snorted.

 

“Hey!”

 

His sister smiled at him, beaming brighter than the sun. “Thanks for the save, Naru!” Gave him a hug.

 

“He was getting on my nerves,” the blond admitted. “He's always sniffing around the house and giving you strange presents. Dad's this close,” he brought his thumb and pointer finger within a quarter inch of the other “of telling him he's banned from dropping by anymore.”

 

“You should get a restraining order,” Sasuke suggested.

 

“Hojo-kun's a nice guy,” Kagome winced when her companions gave her looks of disbelief. “Really he is. He's just... too eager... too gullible and too... bubbly for a guy. I can't believe he thinks everything that papa tells him about my so-called `diseases' are true.” She shook her head. “And he keeps giving me presents,” she repeated with a bigger wince this time. It made her feel uncomfortable for some reason.

 

“It's Sasuke's fault.” Naruto said with certainty.

 

“What!”

 

“Well you kept giving Kagome all those little things and trinkets before and I'm certain Hojo started copying you.” He pointed accusingly at his friend, “So this is entirely your fault! You should feel bad for being the cause of Kagome's suffering.”

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's dramatics. “This is not my fault.”

 

“Yeah it is!” Kagome surprised the boys with her agreement. “And to make up for it, you have to treat us to some dango!”

 

“But we just ate some of your disgusting oden, Miss Piggy!” Naruto said and then thought about it before adding “We should go to Ichiraku's instead!”

 

“Don't call me that and that's why we're getting dango for dessert, silly!”

 

When it looked like neither one was going to give over, they both looked to Sasuke for a tie breaker.

 

He shrugged, “The dango stand is nearer.”

 

Naruto looked at him unbelievingly. “But Ichiraku's is just around the -”

 

“Yay!” Kagome pumped her fists in the air in celebration. “I win! Yosh! Delicious and free dango here we come!” Naruto and Sasuke let her lead the way, watching her skip towards the dango stand in amusement.

 

“Traitor,” Naruto accused his friend, eyes playfully narrowing at Sasuke's betrayal.

 

The Uchiha merely smirked back at him.

 

In retaliation, even though Naruto wasn't entirely sold on the dango idea, he made sure to eat as many as he could, just to spite Sasuke. “Do you think we'll be assigned to the same team?” he asked in between dango bites.

 

“I hope so,” Kagome answered while Sasuke shrugged.

 

“If we're not, what are you gonna do about it?”

 

He received an elbow jab for that one, “Don't provoke him,” and a glare.

 

Naruto grinned as mischievously as anyone with a mouth full of dango could. “Is that a dare, Sasuke?”

 

“No!” Kagome shook her head and arms, “He's not daring you!” She glared at Sasuke, “You remember the last time someone dared him, right?” Narrowed her eyes, “He got into a whole lot of trouble and he just finished getting grounded.” Turning to Naruto she asked, “You don't want to get grounded for months again, do you?”

 

Naruto considered the possibility. “I dunno, the reward for last time's dare was pretty neat.”

 

She didn't look pleased.

 

“Oh come on! You gotta admit `tousan wouldn't have allowed us to learn the kage bunshin until we're chuunin,” Kagome gave him a look, “okay, jounin level. And I sooo loved the look on Kiba's face when I showed up the next Monday to show him that cool trick. You know as well as I that `tousan's secretly impressed that I'm able to do that jutsu,” he grinned confidently. “He just grounded me on principle because he's the dad and I'm the son... Hey, are you going to eat that?” He snatched the last stick from the plate and ate all the dangos on it in one bite.

 

“Ah! Naru!!! I was going to eat that! Mou!”

 

“Fworry.”

 

“Don't talk with your mouth full, dobe.”

 

“Are you going to eat that?” Kagome asked, pointing at Sasuke's plate where his one and only dango stick sat. He wasn't into sweet things but he ate one obligatory piece so as not to appear rude when his friends were eating.

 

He shook his head and Kagome slapped Naruto's hand away from her prize. He tried not to think about how they were sharing an indirect kiss because she was eating what essentially were his leftovers.

 

After they left the dango shop, Kagome kept giving Sasuke looks that made him feel uncomfortable. When he couldn't stand it any longer, he met her gaze full on and asked “What?” with a gruff voice.

 

“Have you been getting enough sleep lately, Sasuke?” Her question surprised him. “Had enough to eat? Is anything stressing you out? You know you can come to me for anything, right?”

 

“Uh...” Her questions were very puzzling, as always. “Yes?”

 

While Naruto was distracted by a nearby barbeque stand, Kagome rounded in on Sasuke, looking into his eyes concernedly. “If you need someone to talk to, I'll listen to anything you have to say, anytime. If you don't feel comfortable talking to me about it, you could go talk to Naru.”

 

He meant to snort and roll his eyes at the suggestion of him going to Naruto for serious advice but the blue eyes peering through him and into his soul made him look like a trapped deer in the headlights. Stepping back was a good idea - it would've given him a safe buffer of decent space between them - but she didn't allow him the breathing room. Every time he took a step back, she took two steps forward, looking him square in the eyes until he bumped his back on a nearby wall.

 

He was trapped, they both knew it, and as silly as the situation to him was - with him towering over her by a good head or more - he couldn't help but swallow nervously. “W-what are you doing?” He mentally winced at his Hinata impression. Soft fingers reached out to brush the stray bangs blocking his eyes and his gaze was drawn to her pink lips. It didn't help the beating heart in his throat when her fingers started drawing circles on his face, on the patch of skin surrounding his eyes.

 

She was frowning, displeased about what she was seeing. He was trying hard not to shudder from her comforting touch.

 

“You should be careful,” Sasuke noticed how she bit her lip - it was the version she did whenever something was bothering her. “And try not to go anywhere a lot. In fact, why don't you start spending more time at home? Yeah, that'd be the best thing to do - if you don't go out then you don't... Naru and I will visit you everyday! You don't have to come out of your house at all!”

 

With hooded eyes, he could see her lips moving but he wasn't really hearing the words that were coming out of her mouth. What the heck was she talking about? If he leaned just a little bit forward, their lips would meet and -

 

“What are you doing?”

 

The slowly pronounced question caused Kagome to turn her head so fast, her hair whipped Sasuke across the face, popping his little personal bubble. It took him a moment for his world refocused to include everybody else again, and not just he and Kagome, her delighted squeal of “Itachi!” snapped him out of his little haze.

 

“I was just telling Sasuke not to go out if he doesn't really need to,” she was talking to Itachi, giving him her usual undivided attention that never failed to grate on his nerves. “I think that's the best thing for him to do right now.” She bobbed her head at him gravely.

 

Her face held that light glow whenever she was around his brother. Why was that? It never failed to irritate him when they were younger and the only thing preventing him from reverting back to his `meanie phase' as she liked to call it, was the scolding he was sure to receive from his father once he did.

 

Itachi nodded in understanding but said “He couldn't do that though, you know that right? He has to get out of the house. You're all graduating soon and his genin missions will require him going to lots of places in and outside the village.”

 

His niisan still carried his sword, Sasuke noticed, although he was wearing an Uchiha shirt and not the sleeveless standard ANBU one.

 

“Niisan I thought you were going to be gone for a few days more?”

 

He received a poke in the forehead, “The mission was accomplished earlier than anticipated so we hurried home.”

 

“Cool! Does that mean you'll be here when we get our genin teams?”

 

Itachi shrugged. “I'm not sure but I hope so.”

 

“Because papa promised we'd celebrate and eat outside. You'll come with us, won't you?”

 

“If I have no missions,” he promised.

 

Naruto came back then, carrying several sticks of meat, giving one to his sister and offering the others to the brothers. “Hey Itachi! Finish your mission early huh?” Itachi nodded at him and refused the food. Sasuke did the same with the grumpy look back in his face.

 

“You're not hungry, Itachi?” Kagome held her stick up to him, offering him a taste. He easily obliged by bending to take a bite from it but before anything could happen, Sasuke grabbed one of Naruto's extra sticks and almost shoved it in his niisan's face, surprising them all, most especially himself.

 

Uh... his brain frantically thought, “Here you go, niisan!”

 

Itachi blinked at him carefully. “Thank you, Sasuke.” He said after a while.

 

“Mou Sasuke, I could've just shared mine with him.”

 

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could; sheer force of will alone prevented him from looking like his favorite fruit.

 

“Don't you need to go to the hospital first, Itachi?”

 

“I just came from there and the medic gave me a clean bill of health,” he replied. The mission was easy; he didn't even have a single scratch on him.

 

“Do you think we'll have cool missions when we graduate?”

 

Itachi shrugged. He didn't have a genin team and didn't plan on getting a team in his entire career as a ninja. He wasn't exactly a people person and he doubted he could be trusted with the safety of strange kids he didn't give a fig about. He took a small bite off the barbeque and handed it back to his brother.

 

Sasuke forced himself to eat whatever was left from his niisan's stick, unwilling to let anyone else share the indirect kiss. Naruto finished his last one, hunger finally sated until dinner.

 

“I hope they group us in the same team. Papa won't tell us anything.” Itachi listened to her complaints patiently. “Why is there only one girl per team, Tachi?”

 

“It might be because there aren't as many female ninjas and most females are taught medic skills. Each team only requires one medic since they're precious.”

 

“I want to be on the same team as Hinata so bad!” Kagome wailed.

 

Itachi patted her on the head in comfort and as her conversation with Itachi continued, something finally dawned upon Naruto as he stared at his best friend.

 

ღ

 

“Gome?” Naruto was sitting on a stool in their bathroom with his sister behind him, scrubbing his back. Father was going to be home late today, with the impending academy graduation looming on the horizon to add to his mountainous amounts of paperwork.

 

“Hm?” Nimble hands didn't stop rubbing the washcloth back and forth.

 

He debated asking her the question for a quick second, finally deciding to go for it. “Do you like Sasuke?”

 

The scrubbing didn't stop or lose any momentum. Her reply was fast, sincere. “Of course!”

 

Naruto winced, wishing he knew how to articulate himself more. The awkwardness he felt stemmed from his imaginings of how his friend would react if he found out he poked his nose into this and not from the though of his sister liking anyone. “No. I mean... what I meant is... well, I was wondering if you like him like Sakura-chan does,” he knew he sounded a little sullen when he said `Sakura-chan', but he couldn't help it. The only girl he had ever liked had her eyes set on his friend. He had the worst luck in girls.

 

Kagome frowned, guessing where this was going. “You're still not over your crush with Sakura-chan?” She liked the girl but she was more loyal to her best friend. Hinata was the best girl in the whole world, in her opinion. “She's a member of Sasuke's fanclub. You should consider your options elsewhere.” Naruto noticed that the scrubbing was a bit harder now, “Sakura-chan is a great girl but there are plenty of other better fish in the sea. I don't think she's the one for you.”

 

“Errr...” He winced from the pressure exerted on his back but wisely kept his mouth shut because he could tell she was upset. She always got a little touchy whenever the subject of his crush on Sakura came up. Father said it was probably because she was used to being the number one girl in his life and the thought of him having a crush on Sakura made her feel like that position was threatened.

 

That was silly because if he were to choose between his sister and his Sakura-chan, of course he was going to pick Kagome. It was a no-brainer. Sakura was pretty and everything, but Kagome was family. He will admit to having his crush dampened because of it. If the person closest to him didn't approve of Sakura, then something was probably wrong with her.

 

His heart used to go all aflutter whenever the pink-haired girl was around, but now... well, now it didn't and the only reason Sakura was known to be his crush was out of habit. Not bothering to correct people when they assumed he harbored feelings for the girl was easier than explaining things he had no knowledge of. He didn't really understand how crushes and love worked so he didn't bother with it. There were more important things to him now, like surpassing his father and becoming the best Hokage in the history of Konoha.

 

“I don't have anything against her, she's a great girl,” Kagome continued, “but I just don't think she's the one for you.”

 

Hinata is! Hinata is! Hinata is! She silently commanded, drilling those thoughts into the back of his blond head. It would be awesomely awesome if Hinata became her real sister in the future, and her only hope was her baka brother.

 

Naruto sighed, “To be honest, I don't really have a crush on Sakura-chan anymore. I just don't correct people when they assume I still do because it's a hassle.”

 

She clutched his shoulders excitedly. “Really!?!!!” Shook him repeatedly out of happiness.

 

Naruto could swear he could hear his brain rattle from the force of her excitement. “Ow, ow, ow, ow. Yes, really.”

 

“That's great, Naru!!!”

 

His ears hurt from the squeal that reverberated in their bathroom, bouncing off the tiles over and over again.

 

ღ

 

“Pssst! Hinata!”

 

Hinata looked around for the whispered voice calling out her name but got pulled into a dark corner before she could find out who it was. She squeaked and attempted to scream but a hand quickly covered her mouth.

 

“Sssh! It's just me, Naruto!”

 

He retracted his hand to allow her to speak and Hinata clutched her heart nervously, feeling a little faint.

 

“Gyah! No, no! Don't pass out on me!” He whispered frantically and reached for the smelling salts he remembered to take with him. His sister's best friend had an odd habit of fainting on him whenever he got too close to her. Weird girl.

 

Hinata tried valiantly to do as she was told. What did Naruto-kun want with her?

 

“Er, Hinata. I want to ask you something but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about it. Not even Kagome, okay?”

 

Hinata's eyes widened. “W-why can't I t-tell Kagome-chan?”

 

“Because I don't think she knows and he might kill me if he found out I stuck my nose in his business,” Naruto answered wryly.

 

“He? W-who's he?”

 

Hinata could feel the blood rushing to her face when Naruto turned his full gaze to her. “You have to promise to keep this just between the two of us first. Not even Kagome or Hanabi or anyone else could know.”

 

“I promise, Naruto-kun.” She responded to the grave importance in his voice.

 

He smiled at her, pleased. “Okay, I trust you. Now I need to know if you know who Kagome likes,” he glanced around the empty corridor, paranoid of someone overhearing their conversation.

 

“W-why don't you ask her yourself, Naruto-kun?” Hinata frowned at him. “I don't think it's my place to tell you whom she likes. You should ask her, I don't think she'll keep anything from you.”

 

“I know that,” Naruto smiled at her reassuringly. “I tried to last night but the conversation sort of spiraled out of control and I don't want a repeat of the awkwardness anytime soon. And besides,” he made a disgusted face “it kind of makes me nauseous to think that my sister likes someone, you know? I still get nightmares from Kakashi's `birds and the bees' talk.”

 

Hinata didn't laugh at him, she understood. “Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I told you and I think everybody knows about it already... you'd only have to observe the way she acts when she's around him and you'll figure it out for yourself...”

Naruto looked sad that he didn't have a clue to what she was talking about.

 

“B-but it's not a bad thing that you d-don't know, Naruto-kun!” she hurried to smooth out whatever feelings she stepped on. She wasn't implying that he was slow or anything... he was just too innocent to notice these kinds of things... “Boys are very different from girls and -” She cleared her throat. “She likes Itachi-san.”

 

Naruto's eyes bugged out in surprise. “Wait... what!? She likes Itachi??? I thought that...” he thought back to all the moments in their childhood and realized he was probably the slowest person on Konoha. “I thought she just admired him like I do,” he added lamely.

 

Hinata gave him a sympathetic look.

 

“Yeah...” distressed hands ran through his blond hair “So that's a little complicated... Sasuke likes her and she likes his brother... oh man... I never realized -”

 

“Sasuke-kun likes her?” Hinata asked, startled. That was new news to her.

 

“- she liked Itachi. Wha? Yeah, I only guessed yesterday. You won't tell her though, right?” Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, “Because you promised!”

 

She shook her head and assured him, “I won't tell her, I promise!”

 

“Good,” he nodded. “I don't think he wants me to know though, since he broke one of the most sacred rules of friendship. That's why I have to be incognito in finding out.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I thought I could act as a bridge for him but... Itachi? Hmmm...”

 

Hinata blinked at him in confusion. “Sacred rules of friendship?” Why didn't someone tell her there were rules to friendship? Does Kagome know about these guidelines? “What rule did he break?”

 

Naruto grinned, more than happy to explain it to her. He raised his pointer finger authoritatively. “Thou shall not fall in love with thy best friend's sister.”

 

ღ

 

“Akamaru?” Kiba look a little lost as he looked over and under every chair in the classroom. The official Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club was actively talking amongst themselves on one corner of the classroom and he noticed the absence of Akamaru there too. He was worried. Akamaru and he were almost inseparable, like two peas in a pod... peanut butter and jelly... Choji and food... Naruto and ramen... “Hey Shikamaru have you seen Akamaru anywhere?”

 

The Nara genius opened one eye lazily from his laid back position on his desk. “If he's not with you, he's probably with Kagome.”

 

Kiba mentally kicked himself for not thinking of that sooner. “I saw Naruto talking to Hinata just a while ago but I didn't see her with them. Do you know where Kagome is?”

 

“Behind you!” The girl in question surprised him from behind. “Hiya Kiba-kun, I was just taking Akamaru here for a walk,” she grinned at him while petting a very content puppy in her arms.

 

He snatched his dog away and tried his best to give her a glare. “I wish you'd stop kidnapping him,” his reprimand rolled off her shoulders like it was nothing.

 

“You know how he gets worried when he can't find his dog,” Shikamaru added behind a small yawn. Choji sat beside him, bored to tears. He wished their sensei would hurry up already so he can go to that newly opened barbeque stand near the academy. Naruto told him the food was good and he wanted to try it out.

 

“Don't worry Akamaru,” Kiba said to his dog, “Once we don't get assigned to the same team as her, she won't have as many opportunities to kidnap you anymore.” Akamaru didn't look too happy with his owner's statement, halting his wagging tail.

 

“You can't kidnap the willing, Kiba-kun.” Kagome sing-songed. She gifted the dog with one last tweak to the nose before she took her seat.

 

The classroom door opened as their teacher emerged carrying the list of the assigned genin teams. The students who were loitering outside came in with him and resumed their seats. Kagome sat between Naruto and Sasuke while Hinata sat on the next row behind her with Kiba and Shino as seatmates.

 

Iruka performed the last attendance roll call and got down to business, giving them a speech about what was expected of them after they graduated academy. He was both sad and relieved at the same time, now that the twins were finally graduating.

 

Let the outside world know what he's been through these past few years, teaching them.

 

The new genins eagerly waited to hear what team they were going to belong to, hardly containing their mixed reactions when their names were called. All the members of Sasuke's fanclub prayed to be in the same team as their idol but one by one their hopes were dashed.

 

Shikamaru could swear he could feel algae growing on him by the time Iruka-sensei finished shuffling Team Six's members together into one row. Choji could almost smell his future barbeque meal as he got lost in a food fantasy daydream. Ino and Sakura were slowly growing more confident they'd be in the same team as their Sasuke-kun as their instructor dashed all the other girls' hopes one by one. Hinata and Shino patiently waited for their names to be called, the only difference between them was that Hinata was nervously wringing her hands together... and Sasuke just looked bored. It didn't really matter to him who his team members were because he was ultimately doomed to spend time with a girl.

 

“Team seven will be…” Iruka paused for dramatic effect, “Uzumaki Naruto.”

 

Kagome and Naruto were holding hands and holding their breaths, chanting “Let us be in the same team, let us be in the same team, let us be in the same team,” over and over again.

 

“Uzumaki Kagome,” their sensei continued, earning a cry of relief and a happy “yes!” from the twins. The Chuunin couldn't help but smile, knowing that their father had kept the team assignments a secret from them. “And last but not the least... Uchiha Sasuke!”

 

“Yay!” Kagome cheered, throwing her hands in the air and hugging her new team mates real fast. The looks she received differed. Most of Sasuke's fangirls glared at her for that, they knew the Yondaime's `sickly' daughter was childhood friends with their idol; a lot of them threw jealous looks her way, some were even nasty. They would give anything to be in her shoes. Some people just had all the luck.

 

Naruto didn't pass up the opportunity to aggravate his best friend. “Boo! Boo! I want a recount Iruka-sensei! Are you sure you read that right? Sasuke-temee is only going to slow us down.” Sasuke gave him the patented Uchiha glare of slow and painful death and then glared some more when Kagome laughed at his expense. “It's bad enough that I have to be partnered with a girl and my sister at that-” Whatever he was going to say next left unspoken because his sister's elbow collided with his head. Painfully.

 

“Sensei! Kagome's being mean to me again!” Naruto whined, rubbing his new bump.

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance at Naruto's antics but a corner of his mouth quirked ever so slightly, amused at the way Naruto was getting a minor beating. Naruto could push Kagome's buttons with the slightest effort and while he enjoyed seeing the idiot getting it, Inner Sasuke was currently skipping happily in a field of daisies in his head, glad that he wasn't going to be stuck with an irritating fangirl. He will never admit it but he was also glad that he was going to be on the same team as his bestfriend even though he never really acknowledged Naruto to be his bestfriend out loud.

 

His charcoal eyes glinted dangerously and he almost allowed himself to smile. Almost. He couldn't wait to see the look on the Hyuuga's face when he finds out who his teammates were. Maybe he should bring a camera to capture the moment.

 

“Naruto, you're too noisy!” Their sensei scolded and continued reading out the assigned teams.

 

Team Eight had Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino in it. Kagome groaned, turned to the girl sitting behind her and asked if she wanted to trade teams. The Hyuuga heiress blushed and stole glances at Naruto as she stammered her reply. Kiba laughed and praised Kagome's obvious good tastes in men and ninja, drawing Sasuke's sharp glare and Naruto's arrogant snort.

 

“You wish, Dog Boy! You just keep telling yourself that,” he said and made a face at his friend. “It has absolutely nothing to do with you. Kagome's just saying that because she loves Akamaru.”

 

Which was true.

 

Kagome loved dogs and often `borrowed' Akamaru away from Kiba, much to the amusement and distress of the boy from the Inuzuka clan. Ninja dogs were taught to be obedient to their shinobi partners and Akamaru was as loyal as they came... except when Kagome got in the way.

 

Kiba liked the Uzumaki girl. He didn't like-like her, she was just one of his very few female friends. Not that she was unattractive or anything, of course; she was way cooler to hang out with than Naruto, who was a loud mouth. He just wasn't attracted to her in that way and he felt it safer to be a platonic friend instead of something else. If Sasuke's glares that could cut through solid steel or Neji's frigid stares that could freeze boiling lava weren't deterrent enough, anyone who thought about pursuing Kagome had to contend with an overprotective brother and an even more overprotective father who was also a Hokage. And if, by some tremendously huge act of God, that anyone managed to survive the Uzumaki males, a certain ANBU captain and clan prodigy who can make grown men wet their pants with just a single glance would send you running to the hills. Or to your grave, if you pissed him off enough.

 

No, the girl was mostly off-limits for any romance but it certainly didn't hurt to be her friend.

 

“Well, it could just be because I want Shino-kun on my team because I like him.” Kagome's definition of like was never to be taken out of context. She liked everyone and she didn't like-like anyone.

 

“Shino is creepy,” Naruto eyed the bug boy who was sitting behind him wearily. He could never get used to the guy.

 

Shino didn't respond to his insult but Kagome gave him a couple more bumps in the head. “No he's not! He's a very good listener and you should do well to learn from him!”

 

The truth was that Shino didn't really know what to say whenever Kagome talked to him. Or anyone for that matter, but Kagome was more confusing than most people. Whenever she approached him to `talk' about `stuff', he would just sit there and nod at the appropriate times. The pauses in between the girl inhaled after a long time of favoring talking instead of breathing seemed sufficient enough. That guaranteed his exemption from head punches and kicks to the shin that looked painful, if he were to judge from the reaction of the recipients of her manifested temper. His perfect tree imitation technique, dark glasses and high jacket collar provided the perfect cover for the look of confusion that he was certain he often wore whenever Kagome talked about `things' with him. Girls spoke another language and he wasn't fluent in girl-speak.

 

Team Nine consisted of Sai, Sakura and Hojo. Sakura was sad that she wasn't on the same team as her Sasuke-kun, but Sai, who looked just like Sasuke if you made his hair stand on one end he was a good enough consolation prize for her. For now.

 

Sai wasn't Kagome's favorite person, but she didn't necessarily hate him. She just didn't like the way he treated her brother. He called Naruto names she didn't like and she wasn't fond of how he would trade insults with her brother. Sure Sasuke liked to call Naruto `idiot' or `dead last' and would often irk the blond kid so much to the point of a physical brawl, but what they had was different from what Naruto had with Sai.

 

Naruto and Sasuke grew up together. Sasuke is Naruto's bestfriend; they're as good as brothers so they're allowed to manhandle each other like Kagome manhandled them.

 

Neji also liked to engage Naruto in fights, verbal and physical, but Neji was almost their family. Almost-families automatically had free passes.

 

People like Shikamaru weren't under the bestfriend or almost-family categories, but he was their friend and long-time classmate. Maybe it was just Kagome's childish nature but she felt something off from the boy. It was as if he didn't have any emotions. Nobody really knew much about Sai, except that he started attending academy with them a year ago. He was a brilliant ninja but something just didn't feel right to Kagome.

 

He wasn't evil, no, she couldn't say that about him, but there was just something.

 

Not knowing what that something was irked her more than anything.

 

Team Ten was formed by Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji.

 

“You'll be meeting with your new jounin instructors in a few minutes. Wait inside the classroom and try to look and behave your best. It's been my pleasure teaching all of you throughout the years and I wish you luck on the path that you have chosen.” Iruka dismissed the class.

 

“I wonder who our teacher will be,” Naruto bounced on his seat in anticipation.

 

Sarutobi Asuma was first to arrive, taking team ten with him. Ino waved a giggly goodbye to Sasuke which he ignored.

 

Yuhi Kurenai came next for team eight.

 

“Good luck, Hinata!” Kagome yelled in encouragement. The shy girl waved at her bestfriend and the new team eight left the classroom.

 

One jounin arrived after another and soon only the genins of team seven remained. The once excited and hyperactive Naruto was now draped on his desk wearily, promising pain and torture to the very late ninja who was to be their teacher.

 

“Maybe our sensei forgot about us,” Kagome bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. Why was their jounin instructor so late? A sleepy yawn escaped her lips, hidden behind a small hand. She leaned back and closed her eyes, wishing she brought a pillow with her.

 

“He's late!” Naruto complained, frowning. He got up and took the used eraser from the blackboard and rigged it into a trap on the door. “This will teach him!” He grinned evilly.

 

“That will never work on a jounin, dobe!” Sasuke rolled his eyes and tried his hardest not to blush. Kagome might not feel anything when she did it, but his whole body warmed up whenever she used him as her very own human pillow. It was both a blessing and a curse for him that the girl still had the mentality she did back when they were little children and found it perfectly normal to cuddle with him just like she did with her father and brother.

 

“Yeah Naruto, that prank is so juvenile. Didn't your father teach you better than that?”

 

“Kashi!”

 

“Kakashi.”

 

“What are you doing here?” Naruto asked.

 

The jounin with one eye hidden behind his forehead protector shook his head in disappointment. “Did you have to take all the brains in the family, Gome-chan? Hmmm... maybe all those traumas to the head killed what little brain cells he had,” the jounin nodded to himself.

 

“What are you doing here?” Naruto repeated his question.

 

Kakashi gave him a withering look. “Isn't it obvious?”

 

“He's going to be our jounin instructor, dobe.”

 

“WHAT!!!” Naruto blew up.

 

“That means I should call you Kashi-sensei now,” Kagome clapped her hands happily. The charm bracelet she received from Hinata on her eighth birthday jingled on her arm, charms tinkling against each other. There were more than just two charms on her bracelet now; her friends and family contributed to it one by one throughout the years.

 

The cute puppy charm was a gift from her father, the fox from Naruto, the Konoha emblem from Tsunade, the frog from Jiraiya, the heart from Miroku (which earned him lots of glares and silent threats of death), the book (which looked like a miniature of an Icha Icha Paradise novel) from Kakashi, the flower from Hanabi, the fang from Kiba, the embossed leaf from Konohamaru, the butterfly from Shino (he was planning to give her a beetle but changed it to a more `girly' shape at the last moment), the kanji for her name from Sasuke, the key from Neji, and the Uchiha fan from Itachi.

 

“Kakashi-sensei has a nice ring to it.”

 

“Yeah but it doesn't sound as cute as Kashi-sensei,” the girl argued.

 

Kakashi didn't have the heart to tell her, because it would've been useless anyway (he knew from past experiences), that a grown man and a feared jounin like him didn't need to be cute.

 

“This is so unfair!” Naruto pulled on his hair in frustration. “Out of all the jounins in Konoha, why did they have to assign you to us? Why?”

 

Kakashi merely smiled at him. He was already planning on ways to torture Naruto as payback for all the hard times he had to go through babysitting the boy. “Yoroshiku ne, Naruto.”

 

“But this is great, Naruto. Kashi-sensei is one of the best jounin in Konoha, papa says so, and we already know him so we're going to have fun in our missions.” When her twin didn't look convinced she added, “Just imagine if we had Gai-sensei as our team leader.”

 

All the males in the room shuddered involuntarily. Kakashi from reflex; the boys from remembering Neji's trauma when he told them that the green spandex-wearing, mortal enemy of the fashion police, super duper shiny-teethed, self-proclaimed Kakashi rival and official spokesperson for the benefits of youth was his team's instructor. The Hyuuga looked like the he needed therapy. Lots and lots of it.

 

“This is normally the part where I tell the team to meet me at the rooftop to initiate the introductions but I think we can skip that part. Why don't we go around the room and list our likes, dislikes and dreams for the future instead?”

 

“Boooring!” Naruto booed. “We already know all those. You already know all those! What do we need to do that for?”

 

“Naruto,” Kagome narrowed her eyes at him disapprovingly.

 

“But it's true!” Naruto didn't want to get another beating so he hurriedly explained. “You like dogs, chocolate, oden, reading those old musty scrolls you borrow from old man Mushin, shopping,” he wrinkled his nose before pausing then scrutinized her attire that was made from the same cloth and had the same spiral clan symbol on his back, and gagged, “the color pink, all those girly jutsus you have,” he continued counting. “You like everything except spiders!”

 

Kagome crossed her arms “I do not!” and huffed.

 

“You're easy to read and we all know you, Gome.”

 

She felt ganged up on when even Kakashi and Sasuke were nodding their heads. “I dislike lots of other things too!”

 

“Name one aside from spiders,” Naruto challenged.

 

Kagome's forehead wrinkled in thought. “Ummm…”

 

“Ha!”

 

“Shut up Naru, I can remember one! Oh! Oh! I know! Math!! Math!!! I hate math!” She stuck her tongue out childishly at him. “Double ha!”

 

“Well duh, who doesn't? That still doesn't prove we don't know each other's likes and dislikes. I already know Kakashi -”

 

“Sensei, he's our sensei now Naruto.”

 

“Oh fine! I already know Kakashi-sensei loves that perverted book of his,” he shuddered from repressed memories; the one where his father abandoned him to the evil clutches of Kakashi and the man had given him a very, very detailed instruction of the birds and the bees - complete with scandalous illustrations - with the help of that orange book. “And he loves being late,” Naruto deadpanned.

 

“What about Sasuke's likes and dislikes?” Kakashi asked.

 

Naruto grinned evilly. “You wanna know who Sasuke likes?”

 

Sasuke glared at him. “Shut up dobe, I don't like anyone.”

 

“You like your brother...”

 

Silence from Sasuke since Naruto was right.

 

“... your mother... your father...”

 

“Shut up, dobe.”

 

“... me...”

 

“Yeah right,” he snorted. “Shut up, dobe.”

 

“... my si- ow you bastard tomato boy, that's my knee you're kicking!”

 

“I can speak for myself.”

 

“Nya wa wa nye wa nya,” Naruto mocked him.

 

“If you don't shut up usuratonkachi, I'll aim a little higher.” Sasuke's death glare was menacing.

 

“Alright,” Kakashi stepped in before things escalated further. Naruto was already doing his patented `annoy Sasuke dance' and the Uchiha was predictably falling for it. “Our first team activity will be tomorrow. Meet me at Practice Area 3 at sunrise and don't eat any breakfast.” The kids blanched when he told them they'd likely regurgitate any food they ate for breakfast and told him he was gross.

 

Naruto, forgetting that there was a blackboard eraser wedged between the classroom door and the door frame, fell to his own prank when they exited the classroom.

 

“Ah! Damn it! Who's the clown who placed that eraser there?!” He desperately patted the icky chalk dust away from his hair.

 

Kagome and Kakashi laughed at him while Sasuke shook his head, “Baka.”

 

ღ

 

The next day, somewhere a ninja duck was not, Arashi waited nervously while pacing a path on the floor.

 

How long has it been since their test started? It was past lunchtime, Kakashi should be done testing them by now... shouldn't he? He was confident his babies would pass their tests before, but the lateness of the hour was making the nervous butterflies in his stomach want to puke.

 

He had been in his best behavior until now; he even avoided the questions the two bombarded him last night and told them to do what Kakashi instructed. Of course he knew what the copy-nin's objectives were; he was the one who taught him after all... not realizing at that time that his student would be the future teacher of his children. Life really does come at you fast. It seemed like it was just yesterday when Kakashi was but a cocky punk with an attitude... and now he's out there, judging the twins if they were worthy to be ninjas or not.

 

Iruka quit watching his Hokage a long time ago, the man walking around in circles made him dizzy. It was useless to tell the Yondaime to relax since the man was too worried to hear anything at the moment. There was just no reasoning with a worried mother... er... father-hen. He was worried about the children too, especially when their sensei was The Hatake Kakashi who was known for not passing anyone. Iruka was torn between worrying for his students and worrying for his sanity; if Team 7 failed, he wouldn't survive teaching the twins for another year. The queasy feeling in his stomach wasn't solely caused by their potential failure of the jounin's test though, oh no, that wasn't the only reason.

 

The whole bloody family was out for his blood, he was sure of it. It was their goal to make a sport out of making his life as difficult as possible. The one to cause him the greatest discomfort was the winner. So far Naruto was leading by a mile, followed closely by his father. He should be a little thankful that Kagome was at least considerate enough not to give him constant headaches like her brother does but Kagome's unofficial bodyguards more than made up for whatever stress she didn't give him.

 

He couldn't calculate the exact amount of years shaved off his life due to having unanticipated visits from certain prodigies. It was one thing to have an academy student with sharp Byakugan eyes to scrutinize you. It was another to have twin Sharingan stare you down in a dark school hallway... with no students or staff around to bear witness if you got murdered.

 

...

 

Not that he believed Itachi-kun would murder him, of course... he hoped... it was just really intimidating, unnerving, unsettling and yes, he was nervous around the kid, okay? Is that what you wanted him to say? Because he would admit it... not to any of the other ninjas of course, because he didn't want to look like a coward or appear weak, but hey - who wasn't nervous around the Uchiha prodigy?

 

Anyway, forever came and went until Kakashi finally made his appearance. He was the last of the jounins assigned to the new genins to report back to him and the Yondaime.

 

“You're la-” the accusation died in Arashi's throat as soon as he saw the state Kakashi was in. The accusing finger stopped midway as he stared at his former student.

 

“What happened to you?” Iruka gaped at the jounin. His hair was unnaturally unruly; some parts of his clothes were singed and the edges of his pants were tattered.

 

“I was hit by lightning,” Kakashi replied sourly. Arashi and Iruka started to laugh but stopped halfway when they saw that he didn't look like he was kidding.

 

“No, seriously.” Why was Kakashi glaring at him? “What?”

 

“Just like I said,” Kakashi said, refusing to repeat his earlier statement while frowning behind his mask. “And I'd rather not talk about it. If you want the details you can ask your hellions,” he glared at the Hokage.

 

Iruka coughed discreetly into his hand.

 

Allowing the subject to drop, Arashi grinned at him brightly. “So does that mean they passed?”

 

ღ

Kagome's summoning jutsu is inspired from Final Fantasy which is owned by Square Enix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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