Dysfunctional

~3~

~~~~~

When exactly 7 am came, only Kohaku had arrived. He had perfect punctuality, mostly because it was drilled into his brain from his childhood.

"Always be on time my little Ko-kun." Mother would say, softly humming as she ran her fingers through his short black hair.

Kohaku ran his fingers through his shoulder length black hair, held back by his headband. He remembered his mother's warm touch, his heart heavy.

At least there was Sasuke, although he was difficult to talk to most the time. He had a one track mind, and while he cared for Kohaku, he wasn't his first priority. Itachi was.

Kohaku nervously shuffled his feet, fiddling with his long bamboo staff.

He had chosen to use a weapon that wasn't meant to kill. Cripple? Sure, but kill? No, never.

~~~~~

Hiroto ended up being five minutes late. He hated to make up excuses, but he just had to stop and talk with his aunt. Strangely enough, she didn't seem like she was very into the conversation.

Kohaku sat in the grass, a staff in his lap as he stared down at the grass. Hiroto approached him with a grin, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Good morn-!"

Kohaku had him pinned in a moment, holding his staff up against his neck and straddling him.

"Kohaku-kun?" Hiroto gasped.

"A-ah!" Kohaku gasped, scrambling away. "I'm s-so sorry H-Hiroto-san!"

Kohaku quickly stood, dusting off his pants and stepping back, gripping his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Hiroto asked.

"I'm f-fine." Kohaku nodded with an obviously faked smile.

The two fell into an uncomfortable silence, both unsure of what to say. They honestly knew nothing about each other.

~~~~~

The most energetic of the team didn't arrive until 7:45, and her appearance was deplorable.

Her spikey hair was in a lopsided ponytail and she had a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth. Her clothes were wrinkled and her shoes hadn't been fastened all the way.

Shikika tripped just before she made it to her team. However, she quickly caught herself like any good kunoichi would. She summersaulted into a standing position and glared at her shoes.

"Sorry I'm late guys!" She exclaimed after fixing her shoes. "I slept in!"

"It's fine, Rin-sensei isn't even here yet." Hiroto chuckled.

"W-would you like s-some help?" Kohaku mumbled.

"Help? With what?" Shikika asked.

Kohaku smiled and pointed to her hair.

"Oh! My hair! Sure thing!" Shikika giggled.

Shikika sat down in the grass in front of Kohaku, tapping her fingers on her lap or pulling at the grass to keep her mind busy. Kohaku gathered her hair and put it in a ponytail as neatly as he could without a brush or comb.

"I'm d-done." Kohaku whispered once finished.

"Wow, that looks pretty good!" Hiroto gasped. "I didn't know you'd be so good with hair."

"I used t-to have l-longer hair," Kohaku mumbled. "I r-really wanted to c-copy someone when I was l-little."

"So you had hair like mine?" Shikika asked.