Jounin
Chapter 36
Madara screamed as he ducked under the swipe of a halberd and let his scythe fly from his fingers. The weapon hit the ground and spun wildly, clattering and drawing the Senju’s eyes away for the split second he needed. His fingers came together in the tiger seal and flames scorched flesh from bone. The man hit the ground smoking, rancid steam rising from the fresh corpse as Madara caught his breath.
Two years of non-stop war had taken its toll on the clan. They’d all gotten stronger of course and their ashigaru had finally been trained up to match those of the Senju but the war was even now. Worse, with so many more capable soldiers, the tempo of fighting had become incessant. Up and down the border, skirmishes raged, with everyone capable of holding a sword being sent into battle. Town guards now bore battle scars, retired shinobi who had settled in outlying villages saw frequent fighting, the dreams of a peaceful end of days shattered by the new war Senju Butsuma had unleashed.
With a pulse of chakra, Madara’s scythe spun into his hand, the seal on the haft and his glove allowing him to retrieve it without need of a chain. It was one of Sakura’s newer seals and it was damn useful. The war had gotten so intense that every shuriken and kunai was beginning to count. The smiths of both sides couldn’t keep up and weapon quality was dropping across the bored. Chakra steel was more scarce then ever and any weapons made from the stuff had Sakura’s attraction seals slapped onto them to ensure easy retrieval.
Madara’s sharingan swept over an apocalyptic scene, his crimson eyes burning the images of a blazing homes into his mind forever. It had been a civilian village, but it was in Uchiha territory so to the Senju it was an Uchiha village. Now it was consumed by flames, the residents either murdered in their homes or cut down in the streets when they tried to flee. Rage burned in Madara’s veins and he felt out Sakura’s chakra. She was among the thickest of the fighting, her tigers at her side. Flickering to her, Madara caught a Senju off guard and took the man’s head off with his scythe, twirling the weapon as he ducked under a glaive and rammed the blade through the armpit of his attacker.
“Madara!” Sakura barked out his name and Madara knew what she meant. He gathered wind chakra in his lungs and quickly made a pair of hand seals, unleashing a typhoon of chakra rich air which quickly transformed into sapphire flames as Sakura added her jutsu to the mix. Neither child stopped moving as the flames bit and burned at their exposed skin, moving just behind the wall of burning death, protected by a shell of chakra. The Senju scattered, providing easy pickings for the two Uchiha hidden by the inferno and they were quickly cut down.
“Madara! Sakura! I think the village is clear now! Those were the last of them!” Shou called out, now a teenager and quite skilled, much like his descendants. His usual cheer was absent and his sharingan spun slowly in his eyes as he continued to search for survivors. He was a kind soul, but like all Uchiha his was a soul of fire and this new war had him enraged even if he did a good job of hiding it.
“We’ll do a sweep for survivors and seal anything of value.” Madara began then looked at the burning buildings and grimaced. This place wasn’t about to be resettled, not anytime soon and an abandoned village was just asking for trouble. “Then we’ll torch anything left standing and flatten the place.” Madara felt Sakura’s chakra swirl with approval, though her expression was grim.
“You alright?” Sakura asked quietly as they made they left the smoldering ashes of what had once been an idyllic little farming village behind them. Most of the population had died, with only a handful managing to escape. The bodies had been cremated and buried, one grave marker for all of them and no names to remember them by.
“Are you?” Madara replied, earning a slight bump from her shoulder as she silently offered her support. Her chakra was just starting to calm down from the battle high that seemed to grip her whenever blood was spilled and now she was just tired, resigned perhaps.
“I think I’m better equipped for this then you.” Sakura’s voice was soft and she looked away, her chakra twisting with guilt. It was a distinctive sensation and Madara knew it well. Often it had to do with her kekkei genkai, how it made her life easier, the curse of the Uchiha far more bearable and the war in general less impactful on her psyche. Other times though, it was because of experience she’d gained from her fucked up village.
“Don’t feel guilty about that Sakura. You’re not at fault for your gifts.” Madara tried to channel his father as he spoke. It was hard, being the one in charge but with the war spiraling out of control, He’d ended up in command of smaller skirmishing groups, much like the one he was currently leading back home.
“No, I suppose not. If anyone is guilty it is the Senju.” Sakura didn’t dare blame the gods for the unfairness of all. They’d brought her here, given her a clan, a family she’d never have had and through their actions two sets of summons that would never abandon her, not even in death.
“Hopefully Hashirama will prove willing to talk.” Madara agreed as they cleared the rice fields around the ruined village and took to the trees, quickly making their way back towards home.
***
Sasuke couldn’t help the excitement that bubble up in his chest even as he kept his face calm and cool. The boy carefully brushed his long hair and looked in the mirror, seeing a reflection that could easily be mistaken for his mother when she was a child. The sight caused the boy’s stomach to twist in longing and he pressed his fingers against the cool glass, his breath rattling in his lungs as his emotions burned through him.
Slowly, Sasuke pulled his mind back, the excitement washed away by the memories of what he had lost. He didn’t miss his father, Fugaku had been cold and harsh, piling ever more expectations and demands upon Itachi and Shisui. Mikoto had been kind and loving but she was guilty of enabling Fugaku. She never opposed him, at least where Sasuke could see. The real loss though was Itachi and Shisui. They were gone, ripped from his life and the holes they left would never be filled. Sasuke knew that for sure.
‘Get it together.’ Sasuke told himself and quickly went about doing his hair and makeup for the day. He’d learned to do them himself, even if he still blamed the makeup on Sakura whenever anyone asked. Nobody seemed to question it anymore though, so the need to explain was increasingly rare. Sasuke applied red eye shadow and lip stain then gathered up his long hair into a bun using one of his mother’s sharpened hairpins, the Uchiha emblem emblazoned upon its end for all to see and a red tassel hanging from it.
A padded undershirt with a cooling seal stitched into it followed, courtesy of Sakura and Sasuke pulled on a mail shirt and a white kimono style top paired with dark red hakama. It was an outfit that while appropriate for a shinobi was much more likely to be worn by a kunoichi, not that Sasuke particularly minded that fact.
Hiding two weapon pouches in the side slits of his hakama, Sasuke tied his obi in place, the metal bearing the leaf insignia sewn into the dark red fabric. It wasn’t the kind of outfit that he would wear on an infiltration mission but Sakura had drilled in the concept of dressing for the mission. You didn’t wear one outfit all the time, you tailored your appearance to what was expected of you and if you had a shark toothed, pink haired honorary sister, you kept spare outfits in the storage scrolls she gifted regularly.
Sasuke reached the academy without issue and quickly took his seat by the window. He knew it was a vulnerable position but he enjoyed being able to see the village and besides the academy was constantly guarded by ANBU. Low ranking ANBU sure but they still made the cut.
“Alright, now that everyone is here.” Iruka’s voice pulled Sasuke’s attention to the front of the room where the man was currently carrying the folder full of team assignments. Curiously, Mizuki was nowhere to be seen, though Sakura had muttered something about traitorous sensei last night after being scrambled during dinner time. Naruto was here as well, which was odd since Sasuke knew he’d failed to make a clone, even with Sakura’ help. He simply lacked the necessary chakra control to correctly cast the jutsu.
“Team 1…” Iruka slowly went through the teams, skipping seven which was odd and when Iruka had listed everyone in their class except Sasuke’s name and Naruto’s he paused and cleared his throat. “Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, would you please stay after when the bell rings?” Iruka wasn’t really asking and the two both nodded. Sasuke could feel Naruto’s eyes on him and shifted uncomfortably as the blond glared. Naruto had made it a point to compete constantly, demanding the attention that Sasuke seemed to garner now that his clan was gone.
‘Do they think I would forget how they treated me? Treated all of us?’ Sasuke wondered while looking out the window. In truth, the only person who hadn’t changed their behavior towards him, baring Team 7, was Naruto, which was annoying in its own way.
“Hey I’m taking to you!” Naruto shouted and Sasuke looked up to find the blond standing on his desk. “You think you’re so much better then all of us huh?” Sasuke raised an eyebrow, because the truth was he knew that he simply had better teachers then his peers. Naori, Anko, Sakura and even Izumi had no concept of what a child should and should not be taught. Sasuke only needed to ask and they’d teach him whatever he wanted, sometimes without even reminding him not to use it in casual spars against his peers. Team 7 were a special kind of weird though and Sasuke wouldn’t trade them for the world.
“Teme! I’m speaking to you!” Naruto shouted as Sasuke let himself drift into thought. Onyx eyes met sky blue and Sasuke watched Naruto pause.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Sasuke drawled, doing his best impression of Anko when she wanted to piss someone off. He kept up his calm, detached expression and met Naruto’s eyes, all the while looking utterly genuine as if he truly hadn’t heard Naruto screaming from a few inches away.
“Why you-” Naruto began and then jerked forward, their lips crashing together painfully. It wasn’t a kiss, in fact it was more of a headbutt but the shrieks that followed were proof none of the girls in the class cared. Sasuke pressed a hand to his lips which hurt slightly while Naruto blushed angrily and leveled a hand at him. “That was an accident teme! As if I’d be interested in a slug like you.” Naruto shouted before dodging away from the horde of fan girls.
“Enough! I leave the classroom for a minute and a fight breaks out? You’re shinobi now! Get it together!” Iruka barked and the girls scattered, all sufficiently chastised. Naruto huffed, glaring at them as he planted himself back down in his seat, arms crossed and utterly unrepentant. Sure he hadn’t started the fight with the fan girls but he’d tried to start a fight with Sasuke. “Now all of you, to lunch! Naruto, Sasuke stay.”
Sasuke watched the other children file out of the room as they headed off to the cafeteria. Looking at Iruka, Sasuke tilted his head in silent question, the same way Sakura often did. It was apparently a tick she’d picked up in ANBU and Iruka clearly found it unsettling in an academy student, so Sasuke did it often.
“Right you two have been assigned to the new Team 7, your instructor is Hatake Kakashi.” Iruka said and Naruto let out a squawk.
“That’s Kagetora’s senpai! Awesome, apparently he’s a total badass! He even trained her for the jounin exams a while back.” Naruto exclaimed and Iruka massaged his temples. The entire village knew about Naruto and the tiger haired girl. Many had taken to calling them the Fox brat and the Tiger brat respectively, which was skirting dangerously close to a certain law though nobody was ever punished for it. Iruka had never really met the girl beyond her occasionally dropping Naruto off to class, which supported her reputation as Naruto’s partner in crime, allegedly. Nobody had ever caught them in the act.
“Anyways, your jounin-sensei is Hatake Kakashi and your third member will be Haruno Sakura. I’m aware you already know her Sasuke-kun. Now then, have a good lunch you two.” Iruka gave them a smile then flickered away, clearly intent on taking the rest of the day off. The children were no longer his responsibility and if anything happened, it would be on their official records.
“You know our other teammate?” Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke curiously. The boy was clearly fishing for answers and annoyed that Sasuke knew something he didn’t. Sasuke considered answering but before he could make up his mind, the door slid open and he came face to face with a very familiar pink haired girl.
“Her,” Sasuke pointed at the girl and Naruto’s head snapped to the door. Standing in the doorway was a beautiful girl their age with short cut feathery pink hair. Her uneven bangs came halfway down her eyes, giving only the occasional glimpse of vivid emerald while longer strands framed her face, each side threaded through a set of jade beads. The girl was wearing a long sleeved black dress decorated with pink lace that came down to just above her knees. Her skin was incredibly pale and unblemished, while her cheeks were slightly rosy, giving the girl an air of fragility and innocence. Naruto couldn't help the blush that stole over him as he stared at the girl in awe.
“H-her?” Naruto stammered, looking back at Sasuke with wide eyes. “But she’s like super pretty! She’s a shinobi?!”
“A jounin actually.” Sasuke replied and Naruto blinked, slowly processing his words. Sasuke almost laughed when Naruto’s eyes bulged and he looked back at Sakura with obvious shock.
“But she’s our age! Even Kagetora is like fifteen and she’s one of the youngest in the village!” Naruto shouted as Sakura stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She flashed a shark toothed grin at the two boys as she walked over and came to a stop just a few feet away.
“So, you two are my newest teammates.” Sakura’s eyes were filled with mischief and Sasuke suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew that look, Sakura was planning chaos and there was nothing he could do to stop her. “Well that’s fine, we’ve got a lot to talk about and our sensei won’t be around for a while. He’s busy saving a fish from drowning, truly one of our village’s finest.”
“What?!” Naruto’s shout covered Sasuke’s violent twitch. Sakura was clearly in a mood today and if he didn’t know better he’d say she was angry. Not a them, but in a more general sense, though it certainly didn’t bode well for their sanity.
“Well don’t just stand there, I’ve already left for Training Ground Three!” Sakura huffed, her arms crossed before she faded from view. Sasuke knew that technique, it had been Shisui’s though Sakura had inherited it from him and perfected it. She wasn’t as fast as Shisui, by her own admission, but she was younger then he had been and was slowly closing the gap.
“We need to hurry, she’s in a mood.” Sasuke said and opened the academy window. He glanced over his shoulder the moment his feet hit the opposite rooftop and was pleased to find Naruto hot on his heels.
“So, who is she?” Naruto asked, still blushing slightly. The two boys moved quickly across the village, Sasuke leading the way.
“She’s my sister, by adoption of sorts. After, after my family wasn’t around anymore her team took me in.” Sasuke replied and Naruto’s expression cooled instantly. The blond glanced away, eyes roaming the surrounding buildings as they flew through the air. Wind filled the silence, and for a moment Naruto was truly at a loss for words.
“I’m glad you had someone. I know what it’s like, to have nobody. I’ve got a friend now, but before her…” Naruto’s words hung between them as they touched down outside the training ground. Sasuke gave Naruto an understanding look and nodded. He knew his sister supposedly helped the blond, but apparently Naruto didn’t recognize her which meant she’d likely helped him from behind her bone white mask.
‘Should I tell him?’ Sasuke weighed his options as they walked onto the training ground and found Sakura sitting atop the center of a trio of trees that had been cut down, their trunks left standing as training posts. Behind her, a shallow river wound its way through the training ground and trees surrounded them on all sides. ‘She’s probably Kagetora, it even has tora in the name.’
“I see you’ve finally arrived. I took the liberty of preparing food.” Sakura grinned and motioned at a small pile of ration bars in front of her. Sasuke frowned slightly, feeling a small creeping sense of dread because Sakura was definitely in a mood. Gathering his courage, he did the only reasonable thing he possibly could do.
“Sakura-nee, what’s wrong?” Sasuke asked and silence hung over them for several long seconds. Sakura’s face went through a flurry of expressions before it settled on exhaustion. The girl leaned forward, resting her cheek in her palm as her elbow dug into the meat of her thigh.
“I was taken off active duty ANBU to be on this team. I’m not even the jounin-sensei. I an active duty jounin and ANBU captain, now have to take D rank missions. For months. Do you have any idea what that usually means? That’s a serious punishment, usually for a fairly major infraction, like revealing my identity as an ANBU. Or spilling details on a mission that I took, like say one of my code names is Nagao Kagetora.” Sakura’s eyes slid over to Naruto who blinked and then let out a surprised shout as Sakura’s hair shifted to white with black stripes running through it, while her eyes became electric blue. Sasuke however was doing his best not to show exactly how nervous he now was because she was utterly furious. Oh she was keeping it off her face and suppressing her chakra signature but this close he could feel it bubbling in her core.
“You’re Kagetora?! Why didn’t you say anything?!” Naruto shouted, caught between excitement and hurt. Sakura gave him a confused look, cocking her head to the side in a way the blond instantly recognized.
“But I just did? I mean if I’m going to be punished, I might as well choose the cause of my punishment. Besides ANBU rules state that I’m allowed to share my identity with my teammates and nobody specified that meant my ANBU teammates.” Sakura’s grin was all teeth as she kicked her feet playfully as they hung over the edge of the wooden trunk she was sitting on. Sasuke shivered slightly, hoping the Hokage would survive whatever chaos she was planning on unleashing. He’d seen her get into moods like this with Anko, when the two fed off eachother’s insanity during a spar and it usually took Naori or Izumi to calm them down. Neither woman was in the village right now.
“Sakura-nee, um, if you want I’ll do your share on the missions? You could study or uh, make new seals?” Sasuke offered, hoping that would be enough to placate her. Apparently it was because Sakura instantly brightened and she jumped off the tree stump, landing next to him without a sound.
“Okay! Deal! I knew you were my favorite younger sibling!” Sakura patted Sasuke on the shoulder and even though he knew he’d been played, he felt like he’d still come out ahead. An annoyed Sakura was terrifying and she’d only gotten more intense over the years as the stress of ANBU sharpened her edges and exacerbated her oddities. “Tell you what, next time I go shopping, I’ll buy you a battle dress. Something extra cute, I’m thinking black and red.”
Sasuke expected Naruto to laugh or at least sneak in an insult but the blond didn’t say a word. He just looked back and forth between the two thoughtfully before flashing a massive grin.
“So Tora-chan, want to prank our jounin-sensei? He stole your job right? Let’s get revenge.” Naruto’s grin was disturbingly similar to Sakura’s when she was in a mood and Sasuke realized he was on a team with Konoha’s most infamous pranksters. Sakura was the tiger brat, he really should have known, she had tiger summons for crying out loud but her ANBU disguise had thrown everyone off apparently.
“You have to call me Sakura-chan now Naruto, but yes. I’d like that.” Sakura grinned with all her teeth as the two started to plot. Sasuke would like to claim he’d been the adult in the room. The mature one of the group who had warned them against plotting the downfall of their soon to be teacher. He’d be lying however as he immediately started listening in, encouraging them occasionally. After all the bastard had the gall to be late and Sasuke was never late. He was always early, just like Anko.
***
Hatake Kakashi hadn’t known exactly what to expect as he tracked his assigned team from the academy to the third training ground. Well no, that wasn’t exactly true, he knew Haruno Sakura rather well, he’d been on Naruto’s guard a few times and had been Uchiha Itachi’s captain so he had a rough idea what his teammates were like. At first glance, it was a recreation of the old Team 7 under Minato, two jounin and two genin, except that was were the similarities ended.
Sakura was nothing like young Kakashi. Sure they were both prodigies but the girl was friendly and emotional. Her stint in ANBU did little to unbalance or darken her world view, though Kakashi had caught the occasional glimpse of darkness behind her bright eyes it didn’t often come to the surface. Naruto was perhaps similar to Obito, both dreaming of becoming Hokage but that was were the similarities began and ended. Then there was Sasuke, the only thing Kakashi knew of him was what Itachi had shared, that he was kind, sweet and loving child. Kakashi wasn’t so sure that loving child had survived the massacre, though he knew the dynamic between Sakura and Sasuke would be well established as they lived together.
“You’re late!” Three children shouted as Kakashi dodged a barrage of paintballs, some of which had clearly been thrown by Sakura as he had trouble evading them. Looking over the trio, Kakashi found that they were all sitting atop the large training posts, though both Naruto and Sasuke were on their feet now while Sakura was smiling dangerously, kicking her feet back and forth like a child.
“Maa, I had to save a fish from-” Kakashi began but was immediately cut off.
“Drowning, yes we know. Good job, I hope you didn’t end up grilling the poor thing.” Sakura interrupted and Kakashi let out a tired sigh. He knew he wouldn’t be able to mess with this team the way he had the four previous teams he’d failed. Firstly, he couldn’t fail this team, secondly Sakura had clearly done her research if she knew which excuse he’d use today.
“Sakura-chan, why are you such a cruel kouhai? I can’t even give my test now.” Kakashi managed to strike a perfect balance between a drawl and a whine. Sakura had the gall to smirk at him in response, her razor sharp teeth just barely peeking past her lips. Kakashi could sympathize with her annoyance, he wasn’t exactly happy to be pulled from ANBU either. His team would still be taking missions without him and while the rosette might enjoy teaching a bunch of brats, Kakashi certainly did not want to. Especially not these brats.
Sure they didn’t remind him of Team 7, but seeing them still hurt. Sasuke looked so much like his mother Mikoto that he was painful to look at. Mikoto and Kushina had been frequent faces during his younger years, always looking after him and trying to mother him. He’d failed to protect Kushina first, but the way he failed Mikoto, allowing her own son to turn on her, there simply was no words to describe the level of guilt he felt when looking at Sasuke. It was agony.
Naruto was no better, the boy was orphaned within an hour of birth. Kakashi had been too weak to save him. He’d failed to stop the Uchiha who had killed Kushina while unleashing the nine-tails upon the village. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, he’d failed to join Minato-sensei during the showdown against the kyubi and his teacher had paid the ultimate price. Naruto, who should have been Kakashi’s honorary little brother was then shoved into an orphanage by the orders of the Sandaime and Kakashi had obeyed, not having any contact with the boy at all until this very moment.
‘And people fear Sakura will be the next Itachi.’ Kakashi thought, looking at the girl who was currently doing her best to look like a child. ‘And that fear is alienating her.’ Kakashi knew the girl usually kept a tight leash on her emotions but there were times she let them slip and her anger and hatred towards those who spoke about her shown through. Normally though, she made efforts to appear utterly harmless, at least when she wasn’t hiding behind a mask.
She was doing a good job of it to, gone was her flak jacket and in its place was a long sleeved black dress that ended just above her knees. A pink underskirt that matched her hair fell just a little bit lower while pink riffles and stitching added color to the dress. Stockings, likely threaded through with steel wire and kevlar were visible from under the skirt, starting out black towards the top and slowly shifting into a dark pink before disappearing into knee high armored boots. The only visible concession to being a ninja was the hitai-ate proudly tied atop her head like a headband, keeping her wild and somewhat spiky pink hair in check.
“So why don’t we introduce ourselves? Get to know each other?” Kakashi offered before the conversation could entirely lapse. He’d lost control of the situation already, mostly due to Sakura’s presence but the pain the two boys inflicted on him wasn’t helping.
“Why don’t you go first? Show us how it’s done? We already know each other and you know Sakura dattebayo.” Naruto pointed out and Kakashi somehow found he could in fact deflate further. He really did not want this team but he was stuck with them.
“Maa, I’m Hatake Kakashi and I like reading.” Kakashi could feel Sakura’s glare on him but ignored it. He knew that his idea of literature annoyed her, or rather the fact he read it in public. “I dislike those who abandon their teammates.” The glare vanished instantly and Kakashi had to fight not to meet the girl’s eyes. In a way, she was the safe one on his team. She was no Uchiha Itachi despite the fear of the villagers and Sakura was certainly not Rin. “I haven’t really thought of any dreams and my hobbies are too adult for this audience.”
“They weren’t too adult when I was on your squad.” Sakura cut in, causing both Naruto and Sasuke to choke. The two genin looked at her, then to Kakashi with narrowed eyes while Sakura smirked, radiating smug satisfaction.
“Now, now Sakura-chan, not in front of the children.” Kakashi countered airily, earning an eye roll from the girl who nudged Sasuke. The boy blinked, still frowning but he introduced himself regardless.
“Uchiha Sasuke, I like my remaining family and training with them. I dislike traitors and manipulators.” Sasuke spat the last word like a curse and Kakashi could understand. The boy had arrived in the middle of the massacre and had witnessed Itachi’s madness first hand. “My hobby is…” Sasuke trailed off, glancing at Sakura whose face show a brief flicker of understanding but the boy said no more. “My dream is to avenge my clan and then restore them.”
“Alright and you, blonde?” Kakashi shifted his attention to Naruto who flashed a wide foxy grin. It was somewhat similar to the one Sakura wore on occasion, when she was acting her age for once.
“I’m Uzumaki Naruto and I like my friend Nagao Kagetora.” Naruto put extra emphasis on the second half of the personal name, not that Kakashi needed it. He knew of Sakura’s mischief making with the boy and apparently so did Naruto as she flashed him a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. “And ramen. I dislike bigots and people who are nasty for stupid reasons.” Naruto’s words made quite a bit of sense, at least to Kakashi, though it was likely Sakura’s influence on him that made him mature enough to vocalize his thoughts. She had helped him study when she was on guard duty after all.
“My hobby is pranking jerks and those who have it coming.” Naruto’s grin was a bit sharper then it’d been a moment before but it quickly widened into one of genuine ambition. “And my dream is to become Hokage.” Naruto didn’t vocalize why he wanted to be Hokage but his determination rolled off him in waves, almost as thick and palpable as killing intent, except bright and welcoming. He was so much like his parents that Kakashi nearly fled on the spot.
“I see, well now that we all know eachother I suppose that’s that.” Kakashi looked over at Sakura and silently signaled her to handle it from here as he’d be reporting to the hokage. Sakura flashed back ‘orders understood and accepted’, freeing him from their presence and he quickly flickered away to report the news to the Hokage. It wasn’t good news in Kakashi’s opinion but Hiruzen would want to hear that the village had a new Team 7.