Chapter 1
Chapter One:
They had never quite gotten along in the Academy.
But the moment they get assigned to Kakashi ━ the moment Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura become dai-nana-han ━ it's like an internal flip is switched in all of them. There's a certain understanding as the three genin eye each other, wary and standoffish, each sitting in their respective corners of the class as they wait for their new Sensei.
Sakura shifts in her seat, frowning, "I'm going to kill him," she says, referring to Kakashi.
Sasuke nods, agreeing.
Naruto murmurs, "as long as I get to have the first punch."
It's the only thing they've ever agreed upon, this distaste for their new Sensei whom they haven't even met yet ━ and it's the start to a beautiful friendship.
A friendship that blooms into something vicious the moment Kakashi Hatake steps inside the classroom. He's not even given a second before Sakura slams her hands down onto the desk in front of her, "you," she seethes, irritated beyond belief, "are late."
"Well," Kakashi starts, mulling over an excuse, only to be interrupted by Sasuke clicking his tongue in annoyance.
"She wasn't done talking," Naruto says, joining in. He cracks his knuckles, one after the other and Kakashi raises a single brow, mildly surprised at the combined killing intent he can feel weaving through the air ━ it's still weak, too soft around the edges, but it's there and Kakashi can't help but smile underneath his mask.
"Maa," the grey haired man raises his hands in mock surrender. "I was told the three of you didn't get along, looks like the information given to me was false."
Sakura huffs, scowling. "We get along just perfectly fine, Kakashi- Sensei."
"I can see that," Kakashi nods, moving his gaze around the room, obviously gesturing to the distance between each of them with a simple look.
He's met with tense silence. Sasuke's fingers twitch atop the desk and Naruto turns to look out the window, shoulders drawing up against his whiskered cheeks. Even Sakura drops her gaze lower, the irritation from before deflating.
"Come here," Kakashi orders, moving towards one of the front desks. He taps his knuckles onto the wood twice and slowly, but surely, his three students move to sit in front of him. Sakura takes up the middle, Sasuke the left and Naruto the right. They're all sitting on the edges of their seats. Sasuke looks like he's one wrong word from bolting out of the room and Naruto's eyeing the windows for escape.
Kakashi folds his arms across his chest, "don't bother on trying to run away,'' he says, "I'm much faster than you. And if you do try, I'll terminate your genin status and you'll be immediately assigned back to the Academy. "
"You can't do that!" Naruto yells, turning to glare at Kakashi.
The older man tilts his head ever so slightly, "can't I?"
Sasuke scoffs and Sakura's frown returns, deeper than before. She fiddles with the hem of her red dress, trying to curb her anger so that she doesn't lash out.
Kakashi unfolds his arms and slouches to appear less intimidating. "There's no need to explain anything to me, just know that if you need someone to listen… well."
"Yeah," Naruto sniffs, "like we'll get all buddy-buddy with you."
"Maa, it'll take some time," Kakashi says, "but you'll eventually come around. I am, after all, one of Konoha's strongest━"
Instantly, the three genin are up on their feet, leaning across the desk, shoulder to shoulder and cheek to cheek, right in front of Kakashi's face. "How strong?" They ask simultaneously, eyes hungry for strength.
"Look at that," Kakashi teases, "one little mention of power and suddenly the three of you are attached at the hip."
Sakura's face twists with anger. She grabs at Kakashi's vest swiftly and drags him lower to her level. "How strong?" She demands, her patience having obviously been worn out.
Kakashi gives a smile, his one eye closing. "You'll find out as soon…" he trails off, easily slipping out of Sakura's grasp, "you sign your names…" Kakashi pulls out a simple, dark green summoning scroll, "right here."
The three genins all pull back, sitting in their original positions. "That's a summoning scroll," Sakura says, unimpressed.
"What's in there?" Naruto asks, curiously tilting his head. "Some cool weapon?"
"No," Sasuke laces his fingers underneath his chin, "that's a summoning scroll used for animals."
"Correct!" Kakashi nods, rolling out the scroll across the desk. "This scroll is indeed used for summoning animals ━ specifically, ninken." He points to one of the smaller seals on the side, the one indicating 'dog.'
"Oh," Naruto scrunches up his nose, "like Kiba's Akamaru?"
"No," Kakashi chuckles, knowing he now has the three genin wrapped tightly around his pinky finger. "Those dogs are bound to the Inuzuka clan. They're not summons. Ninken, on the other hand, don't belong to any clan. They're loyal to whoever summons them."
"However," Kakashi says, voice turning serious, "there are certain side effects to summoning ninken, just like there are with any other animal summonings."
"Yeah?" Naruto asks, leaning forward, "and what's that?"
"For instance," Kakashi answers, holding back a smile, "You'll be burdened with heightened senses and in rarer cases you'll even be able to grow fangs. Not to mention the bond you'll grow with your ninken."
"That's fine," Naruto shrugs, "I already have fangs and my nose is pretty good too. So, there won't be much of a change."
"About that," Sakura starts, flickering her gaze to Naruto, "is that like a clan thing? Your fangs and your whiskers?"
"Don't be stupid," if Sasuke could snort, he would, "he doesn't have a clan."
There's a conflict of emotions on Naruto's face. Anger at first, then frustration followed closely by shame. For someone who's always so loud, so bright it's terrifying at times, Sakura never expected to see him make such a face.
"Actually," Kakashi's voice turns oddly soft, "Naruto's clan was massacred during the second shinobi world war."
Sasuke's never been so quick to speak. "I didn't know.''
"That's okay," Naruto hurries to say, "I didn't know either."
"Adorable," Kakashi coos, "you're already bonding over shared trauma."
"It's not the same," Naruto mutters, "I didn't know my clan. Sasuke did."
Sasuke nods, albeit stiffly. This is not a conversation he wants to have, ever. Sakura seems to sense his unwillingness and asks, "we're all the Uzumaki's like Naruto? Blonde? With whiskers and fangs?"
Kakashi slowly moves his hand in front of Naruto, "it was a clan full of redheads and they were all masters at fuuinjutsu. The whiskers and fangs, well," he chuckles, watching as Naruto cautiously sniffs at his fingers, almost like a stray cat, "is simply because Naruto's special."
Naruto gives him a hesitant smile, an obvious form of permission, and Kakashi gently pets his hair like he'd pet one of his dogs. There's a content hum from Naruto. "Thank you for telling me," the blonde murmurs.
"I've never seen you this calm before," Sakura says, surprised, "you're always wiggling. Here,'' she holds out her hand, "sniff me too."
"Erm," Naruto moves from underneath Kakashi's hand, "no."
Kakashi intervenes before Sakura can continue pestering the blonde. She's awfully curious for someone her age. He gently grabs a hold of the girl's hand and settles it onto the desk. "He'll get around to you on his own," he says. "For now," he rolls his scroll back up and settles it into his pouch once more, "you three have until tomorrow morning to make up your minds about signing a contract with the ninken. I'll be waiting for you at training ground four, come no later than o-five-hundred hours."
He smiles at the three genin and then disappears in a swirl of leaves.