This is the chapter I've been waiting to write for a while and it came together super quickly. Also, it was written in the AC so I had a nice time! For those of you that don't follow my KakaNaru story, I've been dying in the humidity without AC for the past week. So last night I was able to get a lot done because I wasn't dying of heat the whole time.
Real quick, some of the biggest changes are happening now. Obviously with Naruto over his crush on Sakura the whole thing with the transformation and all that won't happen so with the exception of a time skip and brief description of missions we're pretty much going to be jumping into the Wave Mission (not today but likely the week after next). So we're back to our regularly scheduled time skips pretty soon. Sort of. The Wave Mission will probably be a couple chapters and then the Chunin Exams follow closely after (I promise that won't be nearly as dragged out as it was in the Anime).
Be ready guys.
It's gonna be great. Maybe.
Anyway...
Onto the chapter!
~~~~
Chapter Six: Team Seven
~~~~
When Shikamaru saw Naruto for the first time after spending hours looking for him he was tempted to give him a nice, strong hit on the top of his head. But that would be more troublesome than just lecturing him, he definitely would've deserved it though. If he gave the boy a quick squeeze too it was only because he wasn't thinking properly through his immense relief at seeing Naruto okay.
After lecturing him, in sign language, of course, (and definitely not hugging him afterwards) he dragged the blond to meet with Shino and Choji.
If Shikamaru thought that Naruto looked surprised to know that he had been worried about him then he looked downright astonished to learn that Choji and Shino had been worried too. While it was definitely harder for them to actually look for him (not their fault, Shikamaru was just gifted with a lazy clan that didn't care much for parties) they did their best. Naruto was apologetic but too excited to actually express it properly--something all three boys found odd since Naruto had failed and was extremely upset the day before (hence the worry amongst the three of them, obviously).
Choji also hugged Naruto (but he'd always been the more tactile of the two of them so really it wasn't that surprising) and Shino had settled for patting the boy's fluffy blond locks (also unsurprising since he was even more unsociable than Shikamaru). Naruto's stiffness during all three instances of affection was telling as well. They knew he was an orphan, touch starved, but it never really hit Shikamaru that this was what that was like. Shino, Choji and himself made a silent agreement to get Naruto used to affectionate touch (even if showing those kinds of emotions was troublesome).
When they finally got around to asking why he was so excited the answer they got had been the absolute last thing any of them (even a genius of Shikamaru's caliber) had been expecting.
Naruto signed quickly but continued to talk as though he wasn't (Shikamaru hoped Naruto would trust them enough to actually tell them about his disability soon).
"When I was sitting on the swing Mizuki, the guy that was helping out with the exams, came up to me. He was glaring at me every time he saw me before so I thought it was weird that he was suddenly being nice. He told me about this secret graduation test which was just a ruse to get his hands on the scroll of sealing."
Shikamaru's head would've been spinning already if he were anyone else.
"I was told to go along with it--so I did. Then Iruka-sensei found me and yelled at me for taking it but then Mizuki threw a bunch of kunai at me. Iruka-sensei protected me and one hit him in the thigh. Then Mizuki threw a huge shuriken at me and Iruka-sensei protected me again and got hit in the back. Before Iruka-sensei found me I was reading through the scroll and one of the techniques on it was the one I suck at, of course. I practiced it a lot before he found me, actually..." Naruto trailed off briefly as he added to his story before shaking his head and continuing on. "Anyway, while I was hiding Mizuki was going to kill Iruka-sensei with another ginormous shuriken but I kicked him out of the way and it went flying into the trees. Then I used the technique I learned from the scroll and kicked his ass! Then Iruka-sensei graduated me!"
The story was really confusing and Naruto's rabbit trailing (oddly reminiscent of his own at times) made it hard to follow but the three boys got the gist though there were clearly gaps in the story.
Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly as he added an additional note. "There are some things I can't legally tell you and I figure since I already broke one major law it'd be better not to break another..."
That made more sense.
"What technique did you learn from the scroll then?" Choji asked, crunching on a BBQ potato crisp.
Naruto grinned and made an unfamiliar seal by making a cross out of his index and middle fingers. In a puff of smoke there were seven Narutos.
"Clones?" Naruto couldn't do academy clones so these must be special if they were on the forbidden Scroll of Sealing, right?
Naruto stayed silent and suddenly six of the seven clones began hitting each other. They were solid clones, an advanced technique that took a lot of chakra (hence why it's labeled as Kinjutsu) and Naruto made six and looked completely unaffected.
"How many did you make when you beat up Mizuki, Naruto." If his tone was vaguely reminiscent of a parent speaking to their child it was because if his theory was correct then the blond had more chakra than pretty much anyone else in the entire village.
Naruto didn't pick up on it (probably because of his hearing).
"I don't know. Maybe a thousand? More?" He scrunched his face as he tried to remember.
Choji nearly dropped his chip and if he didn't spend so much time around Shino he'd have never picked up on his stiffening. They all stared.
"What?" Naruto was actually genuinely confused too. It was almost cute.
"You made that many clones and could still fight? You were still awake?" Naruto clearly didn't finish reading that section of the scroll if he still didn't get it.
"Yes? I wasn't even tired beyond just staying up all night. It might've been adrenaline though..."
What a drag...
~
Of course, Shikamaru knew that no matter what, he'd end up on a team with Ino and Choji. He'd known since he was a kid. It was pretty obvious when the last fifteen generations were the same way. The Ino-Shika-Cho formation would continue on as per tradition and nothing would stop it, no matter how much he would've preferred to be on a team with Naruto rather than Ino (girls were such a drag, especially Uchiha-Fangirls).
He hadn't expected Naruto to end up on a team with both of the people he absolutely didn't want on his team though. With so many other students in the class the odds were miniscule, especially since he'd gotten his grades up and was no longer the dead last in class (Shikamaru was pretty sure it was Kiba now but it could've been one of the civilian kids, he didn't really care too much regardless). The blond would've been better off with Hinata and Shino in terms of actually being able to work together but he did understand why they were both placed with Kiba. The three would make a great tracking team between Kiba and his ninken, Akamaru, Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's Kikaichu.
He also saw how a team with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke was balanced--even if it was a terrible idea. Sakura was book smart, sure, but she was physically weak and cared more about appearances and impressing Sasuke (putting a fangirl on his team, honestly, what were they thinking?). Sasuke was trained within his clan before the massacre and had access to every scroll in its possession now that he was the sole heir/Clan Head. That's not even mentioning his enormous ego and mental state (did he ever get help after that night? He probably should have). Naruto was a special case, with his disability he was at risk for being a liability but he was a chakra powerhouse and was smarter and more skilled than he was given credit for. Underestimated. It was a good tool for a ninja and one Naruto wielded well--it made the blonde even more unpredictable.
None of this changed the fact that the three of them wouldn't be able to work together. Sakura has hated Naruto since day one and Sasuke doesn't care to work with anyone because they'll hold him back.
When Team 7 was announced, Shikamaru couldn't help his amusement at the blond's reaction, even if he did understand. He patted Naruto's hair in sympathy but also to tease him (and if it was another way to get Naruto used to affectionate gestures it was purely a coincidence).
When all the teams were called they broke for lunch (which was spent with Naruto who was oddly silent the entire time and Choji and Shino) then they were instructed to wait for their jounin teachers. Unsurprisingly, they showed up in order... Until they got to Team 7, which was skipped in favor of Team 8. She was a pale woman with striking red eyes and long wavy black hair and Kiba, Hinata and Shino got up to leave with her (Shikamaru saw Shino brush subtly against Naruto as he left, no doubt his own way of wishing the blond good luck).
Shikamaru's team was called last but all three members of Team 7 were still waiting. He couldn't help but feel bad for them. What kind of jounin was late on the first day for a first impression?
~~~~
Hatake Kakashi was not happy.
Once again he was being forced to take on a team of genin (not quite genin yet but they didn't know that) and this time it was all in the name of teaching the Last Uchiha. He was one of the best shinobi in Konoha, afterall, and with his Sharingan he was the only one left who could properly train the boy to use it. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that apparently the kid refused to work with his classmates and was obsessed with revenge and restoring his clan. He was skilled and smart, came out of the academy as Rookie of the Year, but very arrogant and Kakashi couldn't help but be reminded of himself when he'd been young. He didn't want to deal with yet another version of himself.
Also on his team was the top Kunoichi who was apparently top in studies but not very physically or practically skilled. Muscle could be gained and skills could be learned but the true issue was, based on her file, she was one of the many girls in love with the Uchiha. Whose team she was on. Obviously it was going to go over well.
Most interestingly, the last member of his team was his late sensei's son. Kakashi didn't know if that was the best news he got out of this whole thing or the worst. The boy grew up alone and he shouldn't have. Kakashi should've been there, should've done something, even if it was from a distance. He wasn't supposed to get close, it would've caused too much suspicion and with Naruto being a carbon copy of both of his parents (if Minato-sensei had Kushina-nee's face and whiskers it would be Naruto, it was almost frightening) it made it even more dangerous for the boy before he was properly trained. All he did was watch.
According to the blond's file he was a born troublemaker, had a rather one-sided rivalry with the Uchiha and was at the bottom of the class (though apparently that was only because he failed the actual exam and was given something akin to a field promotion instead).
Teams like this never worked out.
When the meeting adjourned Kakashi turned to leave the Hokage's office, to tell his teammates about the team he'd been assigned but the Sandaime asked him to hang back.
He never expected what he was told after the other jounin left.
He took him to each of his students homes, normally it was done to meet the kids parents and get a feel for their individual personalities but since two of his were orphans it was more to see their state of living).
Haruno Sakura's house was first, she was a civilian born with two nice parents who were concerned about their child. The experience wasn't much different than the other rounds he'd been on for past teams he'd failed. They bragged about how smart she was and it was everything Kakashi had heard many times before. He'd have to judge her skills himself to get a good idea, parents tended to be too biased.
Sasuke had a nice flat with a nice view of the Uchiha Compound. His belongings were kept neat and clean and Kakashi could already see the stick up the boy's ass. No doubt that if they left even the slightest hint that they'd been there he'd freak out. That wasn't even mentioning how unhealthy it probably was to be living in the compound where your entire clan was killed. He was not looking forward to this team.
If Sasuke's flat was diligently clean and well kept than Naruto's was the opposite. The walls were cracked and the doors were creaky and even though the boy's things were kept neat the apartment itself was in awful condition. If Naruto's belongings had been covered in dust he'd think the place had been abandoned for years. It wasn't suitable for an adult to live in, let alone a child--even if that child was a shinobi now.
In his wastebasket was a half-full carton of milk and just by picking it up Kakashi could tell it had gone off. He looked at the expiration date.
"This is way past expiration..."
From what he'd heard, Naruto wasn't one to waste things let alone waste food. Kakashi wondered if this was simply the boy forgetting or something else.
"Naruto-kun actually tends to stay with Iruka more often than not but he's pretty diligent about keeping up with his own apartment," The Hokage chuckled. "I'd rather have him move in with him so I can keep a better eye on him but Naruto is determined to not be a burden. I haven't done the best job of taking care of him in the past but I want to do what I can now. Iruka feels the same..."
He trailed off.
"What I'm about to tell you is an S-Rank secret, and unlike the other secret regarding Naruto, I don't want this one getting out to anyone. You need to know as his teacher and that is the only reason you are being told ahead of time instead of hearing it from him, is that understood?" Apparently this was much more serious than he'd expected.
"Yes sir."
"Naruto is deaf," Kakashi's brain stopped working but Hiruzen continued before he could ask anything. "According to him, his hearing has always been that way so it's possible it's just a birth defect, though we only found out about it recently. Over the last few months he's become well versed in Shinobi Sign Language and the entire class has been taught the basics on recommendation from their teacher, Iruka."
This was too much.
Naruto was deaf? He couldn't hear? How did no one know this sooner?
"Normally he gets by through lip reading but, given that you never remove your mask, I expect you to always use sign language. If you need an excuse, say that you're just keeping their lessons fresh in their minds."
"Yes sir," It was less firm, less sure this time but he responded as he always did in serious situations.
"He'll tell his teammates on his own time but for the time being the only ones who know are myself and his teachers along with two genin. Make sure you talk to him about it. He knows his jounin sensei will know but he gets nervous when people know his vulnerabilities."
Kakashi was pretty sure everyone was nervous when they had their vulnerabilities exposed but with the life Naruto had led... He was almost positive it was more than just nervousness, even without properly meeting him.
He felt even worse now, even if there hadn't been much he could do at the time.
He kept reminding himself that even if he could have helped, he was still too young to give him the care he would've needed when he was born--not to mention the fact that he was still grieving. He'd never really stopped, but maybe he could make it up to Naruto too.
After the house-viewing, the silver haired jounin went to the memorial stone to think it through. The Hokage was right about his mask though so it was good that he found out ahead of time, it probably would've been bad if he was left unaware (especially for Naruto). He told Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee about becoming their son's teacher, about his disability, about finally being able to meet him after almost twelve years.
He talked about his concerns involving his ability to teach and about how he was worried about Sasuke and how his team would turn out.
He ended up being three hours late to meet his team.
Oh well.
They'd have to get used to it at some point, it was best to start early.
~~~~
They waited for hours.
Even Iruka-sensei left and Naruto was still stuck in the classroom with his new teammates. Sakura was hanging off of Sasuke but neither was really talking and Naruto couldn't help but feel awkward. It was a good thing, of course, since he couldn't hear that well anyway but the blond felt like they should be making some effort to get to know each other better.
No one made a move.
Bored and tired of waiting (and maybe feeling slightly spiteful), Naruto grabbed an eraser and set up a half-assed trap using the classroom door. At worst the late jounin would get chalk dust in their hair but the blond felt they were getting off easy for putting him through this. On top of having to be on a team with them he had to deal with a chronically late teacher who knew. He hated it.
"-at-r-u-ing-uto" He heard muffled speaking from behind him, probably asking what he was doing and he responded truthfully.
"Pranking our teacher for being late."
He turned around after the eraser was in place and Sakura was staring at him red faced.
"How could you be so immature, Naruto?!" She screeched, loud enough that Naruto didn't even need to read her lips to know what she was saying. He thought it was ironic.
He shrugged in response and her anger increased. He didn't really see a point in trying with Sakura, it seemed that no matter what he did she got angry at him. He had a crush on her and she repeatedly told him to leave her alone. He left her alone and that bothers her. She never wanted to be friends, he tried, and it seemed like she just hated him. She probably got it from her parents. He met them once, they didn't like him either.
Sasuke hardly seemed to care about their interaction at all and simply scoffed, taking the opportunity to insult him.
"A jounin wouldn't get caught with such a weak trap.
Aside from the clear annoyance caused by their new teacher's lateness Naruto didn't think he'd ever seen any kind of positive emotion on the boy's face. He seemed to have the unhealthy mindset that he didn't need anyone because he lost so much. Naruto thought he should be more grateful for the time he did have, for the experiences he had that the blond never would.
Kurama wasn't happy either, wasn't fond of the Uchiha clan at all and even though Sasuke had yet to unlock his clan doujutsu (Naruto had no idea how he knew that and didn't care to find out). He definitely thought the pale boy was bad news, though. Naruto was in agreement. They'd been friends once, or something close to it, when they were young. It was one of the only times he could remember seeing Sasuke smiling at all, let alone at him.
He wondered what he did that made the boy hate him. It had been one of the driving forces that led to the one-sided rivalry Naruto had with him. Besides wanting the attention and recognition that Sasuke received, he wanted to know what changed. Naruto even tried being a friend to him after the massacre but he was quick to reject any and all offers for any kind of help. Even from people who weren't doing it to serve the almighty Uchiha Massacre Survivor.
Sasuke's ego increased a lot after that.
He always heard from Shikamaru that Sasuke would mumble during group work about others holding him back and if that didn't fit his character properly Naruto wasn't sure how else to describe it.
Sakura wasn't much better. She actually gave up a friendship over a boy. A boy who didn't even like anyone--he didn't even mean in a romantic way either, Sasuke just seemed to hate everyone. Maybe it was because he only truly got friends recently but Naruto could never even imagine tossing them aside over a crush. He still didn't know what he saw in her to begin with.
She was kind of pretty, her eyes were a nice green and she took care of herself (to a degree, at least, Naruto didn't believe in their version of dieting, though) not to mention her academic skills. She was also incredibly rude and took a lot for granted. Ino wasn't much better, though she was definitely better at actual skills (throwing kunai and shuriken, taijutsu and ninjutsu) she still seemed to care more about impressing Sasuke than being a shinobi. Naruto suspected she was only in the program to begin with because she's the heir of her clan. He hoped taking actual missions and being a real shinobi would fix that mindset in both of them, particularly for Shikamaru and Choji's sakes since they knew from the beginning who would be on their team but also for his own. It was less likely than Sasuke becoming a functioning member of society, unfortunately.
Naruto had no idea how he was ever supposed to work with these people. He wished he could've swapped with Kiba--how was it at all fair that he got to be on the only squad in the whole class who wasn't stuck with a Sasuke-Fangirl?
His thoughts were cut off by the door sliding open and his eraser trap being set off (he'd never have known if he hadn't been facing the door). It was a man, fairly tall, with gravity-defying silver hair and a dark eye. The other was covered with his hitai-ate and Naruto wondered what happened to it. Was it gone? That would be awesome--completely unfortunate and sad, but also super cool. It also made him feel slightly better about his own disability, so that was a plus. The rest of the man's face was covered by a mask and instantly upon seeing it the blond felt dread pool in his stomach. How was he supposed to know what the guy was saying if his face was covered?
He wasn't sure if the man was talking but it looked like his jaw was moving then his hands moved in fluent sign language.
"Meet me on the roof."
Then he was gone. Naruto wanted to learn that.
"I'll teach you at some point, brat." Kurama rumbled sleepily and he almost fell, he was so surprised. Kurama had been sleeping since he heard the team Naruto had been placed in and normally his naps lasted days.
"Really?" He didn't get a response but he assumed the answer was yes. Kurama rarely teased him with things like that.
Regardless he hoped "some point" was sooner rather than later.
It took longer than any of them expected to reach the roof and when they did, their chronically late teacher was sitting on the edge of a wall waiting for them. Somehow Naruto ended up sitting between his two new teammates on the mini staircase. They looked up at the masked man expectantly.
"Let's see... First off, let me have you guys introduce yourselves." The man signed and Naruto assumed he was speaking too but it was hard to tell.
"Introduce ourselves? What should we say?" He probably wouldn't have heard Sakura say anything if he hadn't noticed her had raised as if they were still in classes (though technically he didn't really hear her so much as he did read her).
He wondered how she became top kunoichi if she didn't know how to introduce herself properly.
"Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies... Things like that! And! You must do it while using Shinobi Sign Language. I was told all of you learned it in class and I'd like to also judge your proficiency."
Naruto hid his sigh of relief. Their teacher was finding an excuse to use sign, that was good. He also realized they still didn't even know this guy's name.
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first? It's only polite, you know," Naruto spoke and forced his hands not to sign with his voice. If he gave too much away then one of them would know and his whole life would be over because then everyone would know. He'd use it when it was his turn.
"Me?" Who else? "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like saying my likes and dislikes. I never really thought about my dream for the future. As for my hobbies... I have many."
Apparently Kakashi-sensei was very open about his life.
And his name was really familiar for some reason but he couldn't quite remember where he'd heard it (though "heard" might be pushing it).
"All--earned-as- is name..." Sakura muttered something that wasn't completely clear but Naruto got the idea they were all thinking the same thing.
Apparently they were capable of agreeing on something, after all. Who knew?
"You first," Kakashi signed, meeting Sakura's green eyes.
Sakura smiled, her cheeks slightly pink.
"I'm Haruno Sakura! What I like, I mean who I like is..." Her signing was choppy and all over the place. She paused to look at Sasuke and giggled before continuing, her eyes not leaving the taller of the two boys. "And my hobby is... I mean... My dream for the future is..." She finished with a loud squeal that even Naruto heard even though he definitely wished he didn't.
The blond wasn't surprised by the answers and Sasuke looked more grim than usual.
Kakashi-sensei didn't look impressed.
"And? What about your dislikes?"
Sakura barely hesitated for a second before growling her answer without signing.
"Naruto!"
He didn't care much for her either anymore but it wasn't like she ever liked him to begin with. He wondered why because it couldn't be because of Kurama--no one from their generation even knew. It was kind of unfair, to be honest.
"Okay... Next," His dark eye jumped to Naruto.
He grinned as he answered, unperturbed by Sakura's comment. He spoke his answer out loud with the fluid movements of his hands.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like my plants, Iruka-sensei, Hokage-jiji, my four friends and ramen. I don't like bullies or close minded people. My hobbies are taking care of my plants and sparring with my friend and my dream for the future is... to get everyone to acknowledge me!" He wasn't sure he really wanted to run the village just yet. Maybe when he was older but now he knew he didn't need to become the Hokage to get acknowledgement. He had plenty of time to figure things out, afterall (it was a fact that both Shikamaru and Iruka-sensei had brought up when he'd spoken to them about it and he didn't think he could ever be more grateful).
"And Last?"
"My name's Uchiha Sasuke," His signing wasn't much better than Sakura's but it was easier to understand at the very least. "I have lots of dislikes but no likes in particular. I don't feel like summing it up as just a dream, but I do have an ambition. The ambition to restore my clan and without fail... to kill a certain man."
Naruto felt the temperature around them drop and the three other members of Team 7 stared at the Uchiha.
"Good! You're all very distinctive and interesting! We'll have a mission tomorrow."
Already? That couldn't be right...
"What kind of mission?" He hoped his voice conveyed just how skeptical he truly was.
"A survival exercise."
That didn't sound ominous at all.
"Survival exercise?"
"Why are we doing an exercise even though this is supposed to be a mission? We've had more than our fair share of exercises in the Academy!" Sakura's cheeks were still pink and her words were conflicting.
She was definitely right about a mission not being an exercise but of course they'd continue doing exercises. How else were they supposed to train and learn?
"This is no simple exercise."
Of course it wasn't, there was no way it would ever be that simple. They didn't know each other, as a team, well enough yet.
"Then what kind of exercise is it?"
Kakashi-sensei's shoulders shook and Naruto assumed he was laughing.
"I know if I tell you, you'll just be disenchanted..."
The three fresh genin stared.
"Of the twenty seven graduates, only nine will be recognized as official genin. The remaining eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this exercise is an extremely difficult test with a failure rate of 66% or higher!"
The twelve year olds stared in shock-horror and the silver haired jounin eye-smiled at them.
"See, see? You got disenchanted!" He paused for a second before once again getting serious. "I'll be deciding if you pass or fail. Bring your complete set of Ninja tools! We meet at five in the morning... Oh and you should probably skip breakfast. You'll throw up."
The staring continued and Kakashi-sensei's playful demeanor returned. "Okay! You're all dismissed! Except you, Naruto-kun. Please stay back for a moment."
Oh no.
Sasuke smirked at him before leaving and Sakura rushed after him without sparing the blond a glance.
What a great team this would be. There was absolutely no way they were going to fail.
"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" He probably shouldn't be calling him sensei yet but until they officially failed, the man was their teacher.
"I was informed of your... condition. Pass or fail, your secret is safe with me. I'll do my best to encourage your teammates to use Sign Language more."
It felt like the man was trying to have a proper conversation but didn't know how to get his point across clearly. Naruto could relate and didn't fault him for the awkward air he gave off.
"Okay, thanks."
He was about to turn around to leave when the jounin began signing again.
"You're different than I expected."
What was that supposed to mean?
"What did you expect?"
Was it because he was deaf?
"I thought you were louder, more... brash."
Naruto understood where this was going.
"It was... hard... before Iruka-sensei figured out what was wrong and got me the proper help. I've never had any problems with the material when I actually was able to learn but not being able to hear made testing difficult. He helped me a lot," It was more than he'd intended on sharing but Iruka-sensei deserved all of the credit in the world for getting him to where he was. "It was easier to be the idiot everyone thought I was when I was always getting yelled at and laughed at because I wasn't paying attention."
"Do your friends know? You mentioned four friends in your introduction..."
"No," Naruto shook his head and tapped his index and middle fingers on his thumb twice. "One does, but I haven't told the others yet. I don't know how."
"Well how'd you tell the first one?"
The blond rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"He was kind of just there while Iruka-sensei told my tutor. We weren't friends yet when he found out but he didn't mind. He's pretty loud too so he rarely needs to use sign."
Kakashi-sensei's shoulders were shaking a little again and Naruto assumed he was chuckling.
"Well, the sooner you tell them, the better."
He knew that, he just didn't want them to think differently of him.
"Have a good day! Remember, we're meeting at five tomorrow morning!" The masked man was gone in the blink of an eye.
Kakashi-sensei was weird.
Iruka-sensei would probably know more about him and if he asked he might tell him.
He had a lot to tell the man anyway... after talking to Shikamaru, Shino and Choji though. He wanted to know how their own team meetings went.
~~~~
Next week we see the Bell Test! And more Iruka/Naruto parental/sibling bonding and more fluffy friend bonding.
I don't know what I'm gonna do with Sasuke yet, I haven't quite decided how far I want this story to go but I have several ideas.
As I said in my beginning note, the week after next week is going to be a time skip (I think it's about a month or so in canon?) where we'll be jumping into the Wave Mission and from there into the Chunin Exams arc (Where we meet Gaara and Neji! I love them so much you guys)
Speaking of Gaara, he's currently in second place in the pairing poll, behind Shikamaru who is dominating the top spot. Neji and Sasuke are behind Gaara with a tie for third place and poor Shino is tied with Kiba for last. Speaking of that poll, for the Other option, you have to actually suggest a pairing otherwise I have no idea what you're putting your vote toward.
Here's the Score so far:
Shikamaru: 46 votes (73%)
Gaara: 6 votes
Neji: 3 votes
Sasuke: 3 votes
Shino: 2 votes
Kiba: 2 votes
Other: 1 vote (but no suggestion so I don't know what to do with it)
(These result are purely from the poll on my profile on Fanfiction.net)
Please don't forget to vote! Especially if you don't want ShikaNaru to win!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
See you next week!
~Korean Oreo