I barged back into the Hokage's office and ran to Tsunade, giving her a huge hug.
"Oh, uh, Y/n..." she laughed softly.
"I can't thank you enough!"
As I pulled away, I wrapped my arms over Jiraiya, "And you too!!"
Jiraiya laughed loudly.
"You have such a cute laugh!" I complimented while laughing with him.
I was on cloud nine, and no one could take me down from that.
I turned to the white haired jonin, and threw my arms on him too... because why not.
He stood as still as a statue and after letting go, I looked at him.
"Hey, I'm sorry for being rude earlier," I sheepishly rubbed my neck.
"You shouldn't hug people you don't know."
I titled my head to the side, "Are you saying you didn't like it?"
Jiraiya laughed loudly, "Don't scare him, Y/n. He's going to be your new partner."
I whipped back to him and Tsunade, who were both smirking at me, "My new partner? I don't need a partner... I work alone."
My tone took a drastic turn from its previous cheerfulness. I guess my good mood had a quick expiration date.
"It's good to see you haven't changed after all these years," the masked man said coldly.
"Y/n, you've been gone a long time. Kakashi is going to help you integrate back into the village."
"I don't want to integrate into the village. I want to go on missions, and then I want to go home."
"Does she even know what her new assignment is?" Kakashi asked.
"My new assignment? You said I was a jonin... I just assumed I'd be going back to the Anbu."
I heard Kakashi laugh softly.
"Y/n, you've been assigned as a teacher to Team 7. You'll be working with Kakashi who is also their teacher."
My eyes widened at the revelation, "A-a teacher?"
"Yes," Tsunade threw over some folders. "To Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchicha."
"Sasuke?" I whispered softly, flipping through the pages.
"I-I don't think I can do that," I said, barely audible, as I passed the folders back to her.
I saw Kakashi eyeing me carefully, and I couldn't tell how much he knew.
"Y/n, we truly believe this is what's best for you," Tsunade explained.
"Why don't I help Shikamaru's team, instead?" I offered, desperate to be assigned anywhere but with team 7.
"Shikamaru is doing quite well with Asuma Sarutobi as his sensei. He is with the Akimichi and Yamanaka students as well."
I anxiously glanced between Jiraiya and Tsunade, trying to silently convey to them how terrible this all was.
I can't be with Itachi's younger brother. Not after leaving him here alone and then failing to bring home Itachi.
"Y/n, I think team 7 will be excited to have you around," Tsunade reassured.
"Isn't that right Kakashi!?" Jiraiya called, trying to ease the tension.
"I don't know that they'll care either way," Kakashi said blankly.
I rolled my eyes. "Always a charmer, Kakashi," I mumbled.
"Oh, so you do remember me?" he asked, his voice a little less monotone than before.
"Look, you two are already getting along!" Jiraiya laughed.
"Is there really no getting out of this?"
"Only if you want me to relabel you as a rogue ninja," Tsunade teased with a wink.
"Too soon," I huffed and turned to leave. "Where's the team, Frosty?"
Kakashi stared me down, not changing his expression in the slightest.
Jiraiya laughed loudly, "This is going to be great. They're at the training fields, Y/n. Kakashi and I will meet you there."
Tsunade tossed me a new Leaf Shinobi metal plate, and I quickly tied it around my arm in the true Nara fashion.
"Thanks, Y/n!" Tsunade called in a playful voice as I walked away waving.
Hearing her words, I quickly changed my wave to a middle finger, and she let out a loud laugh as the door shut.
A fucking teacher... Me... Great.
I took my time getting to the fields, but I got there. I sighed heavily as I approached the only team there without a sensei.
"Y/n!!" the cheeto puff yelled out at the top of his lungs, and everyone on the fields quickly turned to me.
"You're loud, little cheeto," I mumbled.
"Cheeto!?! Don't call me that!!"
"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke," I let my eyes drift to the young boy who had grown into the spitting image of his brother. "I'm Y/n Nara. Your new sensei."
"Hmph. I thought you left," the Uchiha boy called out in annoyance.
"Well, I came back."
"You shouldn't have," he muttered.
"So," a deep voice called from behind me. "You're Shikamaru's sister."
I turned around and saw a tall, very handsome man approaching us with a cigarette.
"And you are?" I asked.
"Asuma. I'm Shikamaru's sensei."
"I guess I should thank you for helping him become a chunin."
"Well, you're welcome," he smirked. "Shikamaru hasn't shut up about you all morning."
"Whatever," I heard Shikamaru call as he approached with his teammates.
"Y/n!!" Choji called.
"Aww Choji!" I pulled him into a hug. He's been Shikamaru's best friend for as long as I can remember.
"And who are you?" I asked the blonde girl as I let Choji go.
"I'm Ino Yamanaka!"
"Ino," I smiled at her. "You're quite beautiful for such a young girl."
Her eyes widened, "Really!? Thank you!! You're by far the most beautiful kunoichi I've ever seen!!" She squealed loudly.
I laughed and smiled at the three of them, "You guys look good with those hoops."
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be our sensei?!" Naruto yelled. "Talk to us!"
"Yea!" the girl with pink hair yelled. "What about me!? Oh, uh, I mean us!"
"Ok, ok," I called turning back to them. "Let's get started, go wait over there."
I went to say goodbye to Shikamaru, but he was already walking away with his new teammates and only Asuma was left in front of me.
I sighed loudly as I watched my little brother walk away.
"About what Ino said," Asuma said softly.
"Yea?..."
"She's right you know," Asuma smirked and took a long drag of his cigarette, staring a me with intense and flirty eyes.
I looked at him and smile softly, lightly biting my lip.
Suddenly Kakashi dropped down next to us out of no where, "Who's right about what?"
I looked at him startled, "Oh uh, nothing."
"I'll see you later, Asuma," I said quickly while turning my face to hide my blushing cheeks.
"Yea, I hope so," he called after me while I was walking away. His voice alone making me a little flustered.
Geez, Y/n. Focus. You do not need that right now.
"What was that about?" Kakashi asked while appearing beside me.
"Just meeting the little brother's sensei," I tried to sound casual.
"Yea? Is that it? Seemed like it was a little more than that."
I shrugged, "Guess we'll find out."
He looked at me from the corner of his eyes, unsatisfied and curious about my answer.
"Kakashi-sensei!! Is Y/n really joining our team?!" Naruto yelled.
"Yes. I know we've all known each other for awhile now, but introduce yourself to Y/n. Quickly."
"Right!"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I love ramen and I'm going to be hokage someday! Believe it!"
"I'm Sakura Haruno, and, well, I like..." she trailed off in giggled.
"Sasuke Uchiha, but you already knew that. You should know it's my mission to kill my brother, Itachi. And I won't let you stand in my way."
My eyes widened at his comment... Kill Itachi?
His words left me speechless, so all I did was stare at him for a moment.
I don't blame him... Sasuke has been put through hell because of Itachi.
I bowed my head slightly, "It is an honor to be a sensei to you all. I hope to be of help to each of you."
Sasuke scoffed, "Someone weak like you, how could you possibly help anyone? You can't even help yourself."
I looked at him with sadness. I was Itachi's best friend, so I couldn't exactly expect him to welcome me with open arms.
"You're right. I can't help myself, and I wasn't even able to help my best friend... But I hope that you're all able to learn from my mistakes."
"And I hope to make retributions for the pain that I have caused and the disappointment I have brought. I will consider myself successful if I empower you three to become much better shinobi than myself."
"Sasuke," I turned to face him directly. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Itachi, not all those years ago nor when I went searching for him. Most of all, I'm sorry for leaving you. I hope you forgive me."
I grew up around Sasuke. He was like a second little brother to me... And I had let him down. The same way I let down Shikamaru.
The only difference being that when I left, Sasuke had no one. I had failed him perhaps more than anyone, and I didn't deserve his forgiveness, but I hoped to earn it.
"Tch, whatever," he scoffed. "Let's just train already."
As the three genin walked away, Kakashi put his hand on my shoulder, "Don't be too hard on yourself. He'll come around."
I sighed, still watching Sasuke, "When did his anger consume him like this?" I turned to look at Kakashi, "Do you know? His aura, it's so dark now..."
Kakashi looked at me intensely, "We should probably talk more about this later."
I nodded silently and Kakashi began to walk towards his team... well, our team.
"You comin?" he asked. "I bet they'll want to see what you can do."