[FFML] [Naruto] Dead Garden - Chapter Two: Dreams

[Aaron Nowack]

Dead Garden
A Naruto Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter Two: Dreams

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Disclaimer:  Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, who apparently is not
actually me.  The actual text of this story belongs to Aaron Nowack, who
apparently actually is me.  The subjective experience existing only in
your mind when you read this story belongs to you, who is not me, unless
you are me, in which case... oh, forget it.
***********************************************************************

        Hatake Kakashi was late for the team assignment meeting.  This
shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, as he'd been late to the
meeting each and every time he'd been told by the Hokage to request a
team.  He was well aware that this usually resulted in him getting a
team no one else wanted, but that was fine.  Usually, he wasn't
particularly interested in teaching anyway, and no one got upset when
that kind of team failed.  Everyone won except for the old man.
        This year, though, he was only an hour and a half late.  That
was long enough to escape the standard lectures about the
responsibilities of a jounin teacher, the academy teachers' overview of
this term's graduates, and for the Hokage to announce the balanced team
makeups he and the teachers had decided on.  The other jounin would only
be beginning to fight over the teams.
        Kakashi paused as he landed on the windowsill outside the
meeting room to get a handle on the situation.  It looked like Yamanaka
Haruka was trying to pry a team away from Sarutobi Asuma.  It was
futile; Asuma had enough seniority over the recently promoted blonde
kunoichi that it wasn't funny.  Asuma had his back to the window, and
Kakashi glanced over his shoulder at the student files spread out in
front of him and snorted.  Yamanaka was doubly foolish.  The First
Hokage himself had established the policy that no genin team would be
taught by a clan-mate of any of the students.
        Deciding the Hokage would probably appreciate the interruption,
Kakashi stopped hiding his presence and tapped loudly on the glass of
the window.  An instant later, Asuma spun around in his seat and opened
it.  Kakashi hopped inside.  "You're early, Kakashi," Asuma said easily.
"There's actually more than one team unclaimed."
        Kakashi gave a half-shrug, smiling with his visible eye.  "Eh,"
he said.  "I found a shortcut."
        "Will wonders never cease," another jounin muttered under his
breath.
        The Hokage sighed loudly, and all eyes turned to him.  "You're
not going to be able to do this when I'm gone, Kakashi-kun," he said.
"My teachers would have killed you by now."
        "You'll still be in charge when we're all long dead, Hokage-
sama," Kakashi replied cheerfully.
        The old man snorted.  "I doubt that," he said.  He waved over at
where one of the academy teachers for this class was seated, trios of
folders spread out on the table before him.  Where was the other
teacher?  "You've got seniority," the Hokage continued.  "You can take
the next pick."
        Kakashi gave another shrug.  "Whichever team has Uzumaki on it,"
he said.  "I'll take that one."  The whole room was silent, and Kakashi
suddenly felt like he'd walked into a trap.  Ridiculous.
        "Eh, Kakashi," Funeno Daikoku said with a nervous laugh from the
middle of the table.  "You sure you don't want Uchiha instead?"
        Kakashi's eye wandered over to him.  "The Uchiha?  Under me?" he
asked.  "The whole clan will come back from the dead just to avenge the
insult."  He turned back to the Hokage.  "Uzumaki," he repeated.  "We
both know you aren't going to deny me him, Hokage-sama, so hand his team
over."
        "Why do you want Kushina-sensei's kid so much?" a woman seated
at the far end of the table, waiting for her turn to pick a team, asked.
Kakashi only vaguely recognized her, the only one to make full jounin
from the last round of promotion board hearings.  "I wanted -"
        "None of your business," Kakashi said curtly.  "And you'll take
whichever team is left when we're done."
        "Be nice to Yuuhi-kun, Kakashi," Asuma chided.  Kakashi ignored
him.
        The Hokage puffed on his pipe before speaking.  "Daikoku-kun has
a point, Kakashi-kun," he observed.  "If anyone here can help Uchiha-kun
awaken his inheritance and learn to use it, it'll be you."  He glanced
sideways at the academy teacher.  "Who were his teammates, Iruka-kun?"
he asked.
        The scarred chuunin shuffled the folders in front of him.
"Aburame and Inuzuka, Hokage-sama," he answered.
        "Not interested," Kakashi said.  "Don't play games, Hokage-
sama."
        "All right," the Hokage said, smiling a smile that Kakashi
didn't trust one inch.  The old man acted like a harmless old fool half
the time, but Kakashi well-remembered that he hadn't been called the God
of Shinobi just for his battle prowess.  There really was a trap, and
he'd walked into it, played like a well-tuned instrument.  The Hokage
continued, "Iruka-kun, switch Uchiha and Hyuuga, and give Kakashi-kun
Team Seven."  There was a sudden intake of breath from the other jounin.
        "Yes, sir."  The chuunin held out the folders, but Kakashi just
stared at the bottom one.  Red tape around the edges marked it as top
secret, and a security seal held it closed.  There was only one student
whose folder that could be.
        "Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Haruno?" Kakashi asked disgustedly.  "I
asked you to stop playing games.  That's not a team, that's a bad joke."
It was a joke in remarkably poor taste.  Kakashi had thought better of
the Hokage.
        "Do you have a problem with my decision, Kakashi-kun?" the
Hokage asked quietly, that deceptive tone of voice that Kakashi knew
meant the old man was disappointed.  He puffed on his pipe as he waited
for answer.
        "There's so many different reasons to object to that combination
I don't even know where to begin," Kakashi replied.  He couldn't air
most of them in this company, anyway.
        The Hokage smiled around his pipe.  "I like the combination.
It's a little nostalgic."  Had the old man finally gone senile?
        Asuma shifted in his seat.  "They aren't their mothers, Hokage-
sama," he said uncomfortably.  "And those three weren't on the same
genin team anyway."
        Kakashi was grateful for the support, but it was clear it
wouldn't do any good.  "All right," he said, grabbing the folders from
the uncomfortable-looking academy teacher.  He'd give them the same test
he always gave.  And when... if they failed, he'd pick up Naruto again
in the next cycle.  Kushina would understand.
        If they passed... well, that might just be a sign that the
Hokage was right.  There was only one way to find out, wasn't there?
        The Hokage nodded.  "Iruka-kun, please give Kurenai-kun Team
Eight."
        That drew a protest from one of the other jounin, but it was cut
off at a stern look from the Hokage.  If he wanted to directly assign a
team, who was going to argue with him?
        "Thank you, Hokage-sama," the woman who'd questioned Kakashi
about his interest in Naruto replied.  That was a team far more
promising than a fresh jounin might have ordinarily claimed.  Clearly
the Hokage was favoring her, probably for being obviously willing to
take on the Haruno girl as a student.
        Kakashi turned to leave, but was stopped by a cough from the
Hokage.  "I'll need to speak with you, after the meeting," the old man
said.
        "Understood," Kakashi replied, and then he left.
        He arrived at the Hokage's office only an hour after the meeting
let out.  "Why this team, really?" Kakashi asked without wasting time on
preliminaries.
        "The obvious reasons, Kakashi-kun," Sarutobi replied tiredly.
"There's no terrible hidden agenda."  He paused.  "Well, not one that
concerns you.  I'm doing a favor for Kushina-chan."
        Kakashi pondered that.  "That explains the Uchiha."
        "Not him," Sarutobi said.  His mouth twisted.  "You know
Kushina-chan and Mikoto-san weren't the best of friends, by the end."
        "Haruno?" Kakashi asked.  "Kushina-sama asked..."  What was she
thinking?
        "Your teacher," Sarutobi said harshly, "wanted her to be seen as
a hero, not a monster.  Kushina-chan stands by that wish.  Will you?"
        There was only one answer Kakashi could give to that.  "I'll
give this team the same chance I always give," he said.  "If they
deserve to be my students, they'll pass it."  His teacher would be
disappointed in him otherwise.
        Sarutobi grunted once.  "There's another matter.  Yesterday
evening, academy teacher Katou Mizuki and genin Tsurugi Misumi attempted
to steal the Fourth's Scroll of Seals.  Haruno Sakura became involved,
and she discovered the truth about what happened to the Nine-Tails."
        "I see," Kakashi said.
        "Mizuki is cooperating with our investigation," Sarutobi
continued.  "He was apparently at least partially being coerced.  We've
been following the thread from Tsurugi."
        "He's dead?" Kakashi asked.
        Sarutobi nodded.  "We picked up his teammate, Akadou Yoroi.
Ibiki is on him, but he doesn't seem to know much.  His memories may
have been erased before we got to him."
        "Third team member?"
        "Dead in Rice Field Country almost a year ago and never
replaced," the Hokage answered.  "Their current squad leader has
vanished.  I'm adding him to the bingo book as a missing ninja."
        "Why are you telling me all this?" Kakashi asked.  "That Haruno
knows the truth is my concern, but the rest..."
        The Hokage sighed.  "It isn't totally clear," he said, "but it
seems Haruno-kun may have also been a target.  There may be further
attempts."  He paused.  "It's just a hunch at this point, but I'm
concerned this might be my mistake coming home to roost."
        "Orochimaru," Kakashi guessed.
        "Keep an eye out, Kakashi-kun," Sarutobi said.  "And keep your
students safe."
        Kakashi smiled behind his mask.  "I always take care of my
comrades," he reminded the old man.  "I should get going.  I need to
read their files and prepare to meet them tomorrow."
        With such a... unique team, maybe this set of introductions
would be less inane than the ones from the teams he'd failed before.

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        "My name's Uzumaki Naruto!  I like being a ninja and my mom and
Old Man Hokage and Konohamaru and Hinata-chan and Teuchi-san and Ayame-
san from Ichiraku Ramen and -"
        "I think I have the picture, Naruto-kun."
        "Okay, Kakashi-sensei!  I don't like secrets I'm not 'ready
for,' and my dream is to become a medical ninja surpassing Tsunade-hime
and heal my mother!"

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        After he dismissed his provisional team, Kakashi went to the
hospital without delay for a meeting he couldn't be late for.  Visiting
hours there were strict, and even he would not violate those rules
frivolously.  No sane man wanted to antagonize any of the medical ninja
who had built the finest hospital in the known world in Tsunade's name,
even if none of them had inherited her fearsome strength.
        Others might beg to differ when they thought he wasn't around to
object, but Kakashi counted himself among the ranks of the sane.
Besides, Uzumaki Kushina was perhaps the only person living who had as
great a claim on Kakashi's time as the dead.  For her, his ghosts could
wait, and he would always be there as soon as she was allowed visitors.
        He took the stern lectures against over-stressing the patient
with as much grace as he could, and then he was allowed into the room
where Kushina was recovering.  It always hurt to see her like this, pale
and weak. He still gave her a cheery smile behind his mask, one obvious
enough that even his new students should have been able to notice it.
        Kushina gave him a short, choking laugh.  "Don't strain those
poor disused muscles on my account, Kakashi-kun."
        With the ease of long practice, Kakashi ignored the horrible
croaking sound of the redheaded woman's ruined voice.  "What can I say,
Kushina-sama?" he said lightly as he seated himself on a chair next to
her bed.  "I can't help it."
        Kushina shook her head.  "I assume you're here to talk with me
about Naruto."
        "That can wait," Kakashi said, his face and his voice turning
serious.  "Are you all right, Kushina-sama?  The medics didn't seem too
worried, but..." He trailed off.  Ever since that horrible day, Kushina
had suffered from the injuries the Nine-Tails had given her.  Even the
legendary Tsunade had only been able to save her life, not restore her
to health.  Naruto had been almost four years old before she'd been able
to leave the hospital, and she'd spent more than any mother should of
the rest of her son's life back here.
        She grimaced.  "I just overexerted myself," she said.  "Tried to
channel a little too much chakra."
        "You shouldn't be doing that at all, Kushina-sama," Kakashi said
without thinking.  He regretted the words as he spoke them.  Kushina
hated being reminded like that of the strength she had lost.  The
demon's poisonous chakra had all but destroyed her chakra coils, Tsunade
had told him and the old man twelve years ago, and Kushina would never
be able to be a ninja again, much less recover to take the title of
Fifth Hokage like Sarutobi had hoped.  Nothing the medics had been able
to do since then had changed that prognosis.
        For once, Kushina just sighed.  "I know," she said, "but it
seemed a good idea at the time.  Now, what about my son?  I'm sure you
forced Sarutobi to give him to you.  You haven't failed him already,
have you?"
        Kakashi accepted the change of subject and laughed.  "They won't
have the chance to fail until tomorrow," he said.  "You haven't told
Naruto about the bell test, have you?"  He scratched the back of his
head.  "It would be embarrassing to have to go begging to Asuma to find
out what kind of tests everyone else uses."
        "Of course not," Kushina replied.  "Minato would never forgive
me."  They were silent for a while.  "So, who are Naruto's teammates?"
Kushina prompted eventually.
        "Uchiha Sasuke for one," Kakashi said after a moment, then
waited for Kushina's reaction.  There had indeed been bad blood between
her and the Uchiha boy's mother.
        "You don't need to wait for an outburst," Kushina said, her
harsh voice quiet.  "That kunai is long-buried and was never aimed at
Sasuke-kun."
        "As you say," Kakashi said, but he hesitated before naming the
third member of the team.  The Hokage had implied that Kushina had
requested the girl be placed on Naruto's team, but Kakashi still
couldn't figure out why.  It was a move that could have many motives.
"The other member is Haruno Sakura."
        Kushina's eyes widened in surprise.  "What?" she croaked out.
        "I was under the impression you requested it," Kakashi said, his
own eye narrowing as he considered.  "Hokage-sama said it was a favor to
you."
        Kushina's lips pressed tightly together for a second before she
answered.  "Damn old man," she whispered under her breath, but loudly
enough for Kakashi to hear.  "Stop interfering."
        "What is it?" Kakashi asked.
        Kushina shook her head, anger still clear on her face.  "That's
between me and Sarutobi," she answered.
        "I can try to have her reassigned," Kakashi offered, already
planning.  That Yuuhi woman had been willing, right?  If he could come
up with something to sweeten the pot, he might still be able to trade
Haruno for Inuzuka, or maybe even Hyuuga.  There was a lot an ally like
him could do for a fresh jounin, if he bothered to exert himself on her
behalf.
        "No," Kushina said firmly.  She coughed once.  "They already
know the teams, don't they?  She doesn't deserve that kind of indignity,
Kakashi-kun."
        "Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.
        Kushina struggled for a moment to sit up in bed before falling
back.  "You don't hate that girl, do you?" she asked quietly.  "She
isn't the Nine-Tails.  You should know that."
        "Of course I know that," Kakashi said.  "But that doesn't mean I
want her on Naruto's team."  Or his, really.  "I trust the seal, your
work and Minato-sensei's, but I've never heard of one of her kind that
wasn't a danger to everyone around them."
        Kushina was silent, and Kakashi continued, "I saw the Four-Tails
at Bellflower Pass."  He paused, remembering.  "That thing killed as
many Rock as Leaf once he started throwing lava techniques around.  I
don't want that to happen to Naruto."  He didn't shudder, because he was
a jounin ninja, but he wanted to as he thought of the sheer power of the
Nine-Tails.  The power that poor girl would inevitably draw upon, that
he would have to try and help her learn to control.  The power that had
killed so many, that had crippled the woman lying in front of him.
        The redhead was still silent.  "Kushina-sama?" Kakashi asked
carefully.
        She looked away, not letting Kakashi see her face.  "I see," was
all she said.
        Kakashi wasn't sure what to say, but he was saved as he heard
two people approaching Kushina's room.  Unfamiliar footsteps, not Naruto
or the Hokage.  Kushina heard them too, he could tell, her whole body
suddenly tensing.  Kakashi stood, wondering who could provoke that
reaction.
        There was a light tapping on the door, and a silver-haired boy
in an assistant medic's white uniform stuck his head into the room.
"Uzumaki-sama," he said respectfully, pushing up his glasses with one
gloved hand.  "You have another visitor."
        "Send him in," Kushina said tightly, her voice almost cracking.
Kakashi frowned.  It wasn't like her to react like this to anyone.
"Help me sit up, Kakashi-kun."
        He did, arranging her pillows to support her back, as the door
opened wider, revealing a dark-haired man with startling bright green
eyes, who Kakashi recognized from the files he'd been studying the night
before.  He bowed slightly to the medic.  "Thank you for the assistance
with the front desk, Yakushi-san," he said, "and I'll consider your
offer."
        "Please," the boy said, "call me Kabuto.  With your permission,
I will call on you later in the week, Haruno-san."
        "Then call me Takeru, Kabuto-kun," the man returned, and then he
stepped inside.  The medic shut the door behind him.
        "This is convenient," Kakashi said lightly to cover his
surprise.  Why was this man coming to visit Kushina?  He shouldn't know
the team makeup yet, unless he'd already spoken with his daughter.  "I
was going to need to track you down once I was done with Kushina-sama,
Haruno-san."
        The man grunted.  "Why would Sharingan Kakashi want to...
unless... you're to be Sakura-chan's teacher?"  Kakashi nodded, and the
man frowned, his eyes becoming hard as his gaze turned to Kushina.  The
woman glanced away for a moment, and the man grunted again, like he'd
been hit.  "Impossible," he said.
        "It was not my request, Haruno-san," Kushina said.  "I gave my
word."  What was that about, now?
        Kakashi watched curiously as the man almost shook with anger,
his fists clenching for a moment.  "Damn that insufferable old..." he
muttered under his breath before catching himself and forcing calm into
his stance.  He looked back at Kakashi.  "Who is the third member,
Hatake-sama?" he demanded.
        "Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi replied.
        The man's eyes flared.  "That's not a team," he stated
furiously.  "That's a bad joke."  Kakashi wasn't able to stop himself
from laughing.
        "Nothing, nothing," he said easily when the man glared at him.
        "Kakashi-kun," Kushina said.  "Please leave us a moment.
Haruno-san and I need to discuss something in private."
        "That can wait a moment," Takeru said.  He turned to Kakashi.
"I don't know what you've heard or think about my daughter, Hatake-
sama," he said, no respect in his voice despite the form of address.
"But I'm... I am begging you to treat her as you would any other
kunoichi."  His voice turned genuinely pleading.  "She... you know this,
I'm sure.  She just found out, the day before yesterday, and she's
taking it badly.  Don't... don't hurt her.  Please."  There were tears
in his eyes, and he bowed his head slightly.
        Kakashi didn't say anything, sensing the man wasn't done
talking.  After several seconds, Takeru spoke again, his voice now hard.
"And... if there is an unfortunate training accident, or if you come
back from a mission with some story about how you weren't able to save
her... I won't care if the Hokage believes you.  I won't care that
you're Sharingan Kakashi and I'm a career genin.  I won't care that it
would be treason.  I will kill you.  Do you understand?"
        Kakashi wanted to laugh, but didn't.  "Ninja who don't follow
the rules are trash, Haruno-san," he said coldly.  Then he smiled with
his visible eye.  "But ninja who don't take care of their comrades are
worse than trash.  I'll forgive the insult this once."

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        "I am Uchiha Sasuke.  I dislike most things, and there's nothing
in particular I like."
        "Hey, hey, don't say that, you bastard!  You gotta like me,
huh?"
        "Shut up, Naruto.  I won't reduce it to a mere dream... but I do
have a goal, to restore the Uchiha Clan and to kill a certain person."
        "Ooh, spooky."
        "Shut up, Naruto."

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        When Kakashi was done talking to Kushina and Takeru, he left
them to their own conversation; a glare from the redheaded woman
convinced him not to eavesdrop.  He wandered by the Hokage Tower and
confirmed with one of the administrators that the Third Training Ground
was available tomorrow, which he probably should have done before
telling his students to meet him there.  Oh well.
        Then he found a nice spot on a rooftop with a view and read for
a while.  It should have been a pleasant way to pass the remainder of
the afternoon, but Kakashi wasn't able to concentrate on the book.  He
muttered an apology to Jiraiya as he slipped it away and stared at the
sky for a few moments.
        He had, actually for the first time in all the times the Hokage
had forced him to take a team, done what he was supposed to do after
meeting with his students and discussed them with their guardians.  A
part of him felt like the only way to make up for that was not show up
tomorrow, but he pushed that thought aside and focused on the real
reason for his discomfort.  One of his students had no guardian for him
to speak with, beyond perhaps the Hokage himself.
        "Uchiha Sasuke, huh?" Kakashi said out loud, his eye idly
following an ANBU patrol moving from rooftop to rooftop.  He knew why
the Hokage wanted the boy on his team; the reason he had given was both
obvious and hard to disagree with.  The facts that the boy had been
orphaned at a young age, was considered a prodigy, and was far too
serious for his own good were simply coincidence, Kakashi was sure the
Hokage would say.  If the Uchiha boy just happened to remind his new
teacher of a certain Hatake Kakashi as he'd been when he'd been shoved
onto a team, that was beside the point.
        He supposed that would make Naruto... well, despite the gender
and his more boisterous personality, it would be Rin, wouldn't it?
She'd always cared deeply, despite how easily she let people into her
heart.  That was why she'd jumped at the opportunity to learn medical
ninjutsu.
        Was Haruno somehow supposed to be Obito, then?  Kakashi snorted
at that.  It was almost as ludicrous as imagining himself as his
teacher.  Namikaze Minato was not a person he had any dream of matching
as a ninja or as a teacher.  Kakashi could only hope that he wouldn't be
too disappointed in him.  He sighed.
        Kakashi stood, and went where he always went when this mood came
on him, and spent the next several hours visiting with his ghosts.  He
left the Memorial Stone in a better mood, and as the sun finishing
slipping out of sight, he decided it would be appropriate this once for
him to visit with someone else's ghosts.
        That was how he found himself in the graveyard of the Uchiha
Clan, before the memorial marker of Uchiha Fugaku and his wife.  Feeling
somewhat awkward, he muttered a quiet prayer for the Uchiha clan head.
The man had been unlikeable at the best of times, but Kakashi still owed
Fugaku.  As the head of the Uchiha, he would have been well within his
rights to demand that Obito's eye be destroyed.  Yet after hearing
Minato's report, all the man had done was grunt, then assign an Uchiha
medic to inspect the transplant and instruct Kakashi in the basics of
using the Sharingan.  That Fugaku and the Uchiha Clan had never let him
or Minato forget how generous they had been that day did not change the
fact that they had been generous.
        "I'll be taking care of your son for a little while, Fugaku-
san," Kakashi told the gravestone.  "Maybe only for a day," he admitted,
"but maybe a while longer too."  He bowed his head.  "I cannot promise
that I will teach him as you would have, or even how you would have
wanted."  Kakashi hesitated.  "But I will promise to do my best to turn
him into a shinobi and a man both the Uchiha and the Hidden Leaf can be
proud of."  That would have to be good enough.
        He glanced at Uchiha Mikoto's name, engraved next to her
husband's.  "It may please you," he told her, "to know that Kushina-
sama's son and Amaya-san's daughter are to be Sasuke-kun's teammates."
Or perhaps not.  The dead did not share whether they still held grudges.
"If it doesn't," he added lightly, "you may address your complaints to
Hokage-sama."
        Then he heard footsteps approaching, and he relocated himself to
a nearby tree to watch Uchiha Sasuke kneel before his parents' grave.
"Father, Mother," the boy said in greeting, and then he was silent for a
long time.
        Part of Kakashi wanted to stay and watch, to learn more of this
boy he might need to teach, but he saw the tears glittering unshed in
Sasuke's dark eyes.  He had intruded on the boy's ghosts enough already;
Kakashi had his own, and he didn't imagine the boy would like sharing
any more than he did.
        "I'll see you tomorrow," he told Sasuke, too softly to be heard,
and then he was gone, leaving the boy alone with his family.

***********************************************************************

        "My name is Haruno Sakura.  I like my father and Mi- and
reading, I guess.  I don't like people who won't leave me alone."
        "And your dream?"
        "It's... I don't have one, sir."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

        Haruno Sakura was the first of Kakashi's students to arrive at
the Third Training Ground in the morning.  For a second time, Kakashi
marveled at how... non-threatening she seemed.  The long, unbound pink
hair alone made it hard for him to see her as a the container of such a
fearsome power as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.  In his brief interaction
with her, she'd been a quiet, sad-seeming girl, showing no sign of the
infinite rage and malice that slumbered inside of her.
        The academy teachers' report spoke highly of her intelligence
and - surprisingly - of her obedience to and respect for authority.
They weren't the traits Kakashi associated with her kind, he had to
admit.  To take the ostracism she had suffered under so quietly spoke of
her character, but it speak to her strength or to her weakness?  And
what changes would the revelation of the truth about her cause?  Despite
the academy teachers' words, she was going to be a troublesome student
if she passed.  Kakashi was sure of it.
        He stayed concealed near the top of a tree as Uchiha Sasuke
arrived precisely on time, and he didn't stir as Uzumaki Naruto joined
his teammates a little less than five minutes later.  Now the test would
begin, even if the three children didn't realize it.  One genin team had
failed here, dispersing only a half hour after the test started.  It
wasn't for leaving that he'd failed them, of course.  It was because
they had left individually and gone their separate ways without making
any plans to meet again.
        No significant words passed between his students, but they at
least did settle down to wait as a team.  Kakashi noted, though, that
the girl kept Sasuke between her and Naruto at all times.  He also noted
the longing glances she sent the dark-haired boy when he wasn't looking,
and the twisted, confused and angry expression that marred Naruto's face
when he looked at Sakura.  There was history there, clearly, even if it
was only their parents' seemingly hostile relationship poisoning them
against each other.
        Sasuke just stood stoically between them, ignoring the subdued
antics of his teammates.  Unsurprising, Kakashi thought, but it remained
to be seen what lay underneath the cold facade.  Sometimes, it was the
most unfriendly-seeming genin who came the closest to passing his test.
People were complicated like that.
        Kakashi half-read his book as he watched the three kids realize
that their teacher wasn't showing up.  It took about an hour for Naruto
to wander over to the base of a tree and start napping.  Kakashi almost
gave an amused grunt at that, not sure whether he was trusting his
teammates to wake him or just not considering that a teacher might not
be thrilled to find him asleep.
        A while later, Sakura opened her mouth, as though she was about
to say something to Sasuke, but when the boy turned to look at her she
shook her head, and looked away.  "Nothing," she mumbled, her cheeks
flushing, when Sasuke gave her an interrogative grunt.  She turned away
from her obvious crush.  Then she froze, shock still.
        Kakashi followed her gaze to the Memorial Stone, positioned on
the edge of the training ground.  "Call... please call me if Sensei
comes, Sasuke-kun," she said, drawing another, curious grunt from the
Uchiha.  Then she started walking toward the memorial.  Kakashi
followed, silently moving to a tree overlooking her as Sakura stood in
front of the inscribed names.
        She shook with some contained emotion, and spoke, so quietly
even Kakashi had to strain to understand her.  "I'm sorry," she said,
bowing her head.
        Kakashi's eye widened, an unfamiliar feeling of guilt growing in
him.  He used this training ground for every team, but the girl didn't
know that, and among the dead commemorated here were those who died
defending the village from the Nine-Tails.  Did she think this location
was a message or a warning to her?
        Sakura's hand reached out, hovering over the section where those
dead were listed, before rubbing one name.  Kakashi well-recalled that
list, and it wasn't hard for him to guess what name she sought out.  He
wondered if Haruno Amaya had known before she died the fate that awaited
her daughter.
        "I'm sorry," the pink-haired girl said again.  "I... I'm not..."
She trailed off, and Kakashi could see tears escaping her eyes.
        He also saw the boy approaching long before her.  "Sakura-chan,"
Naruto said as he drew near, his teammate starting in surprise.  The
blond glanced at Sakura's hand, still resting on the list of names.
"Your mother?" he asked, his voice tight and something unreadable to
Kakashi in his expression.
        Sakura dropped her hand, and didn't say anything.  She took a
step away from the boy, but Naruto closed the distance.
        "My mother," Naruto said, "won't tell me anything more."  Sakura
was still silent.  "I know you aren't supposed to talk to me," Naruto
continued, "but I have to know what... my mom isn't like that!  She
wouldn't do something like that!"  What was the boy talking about?  And
Sakura was forbidden from speaking to him?  There were clearly words
that needed to be had with Haruno Takeru.  "Please," Naruto pleased.
"Tell me what you know.  I'll promise never to bother you again, if
that's what it takes."
        "Father... says I'm allowed to talk to you now," Sakura said.
"Since we're teammates.  I... I just..."
        "You don't want to talk to me?" Naruto asked.  "I... guess I
understand."
        The two were silent for a moment, then Sakura spoke again.
"There isn't anything else I know," she said.  "All Father told me is
that your mother killed mine."  Kakashi almost fell out of the tree.
What nonsense was that man filling his daughter's head with?  Kushina
had to be told!
        "Mom wouldn't tell me anything else either," Naruto said.  "Just
that... just that you weren't lying and had... every right to be angry."
        Kakashi pursed his lips.  What the hell kind of game was Kushina
playing?  The Nine-Tails had killed Haruno Amaya.  He could see why
Takeru wouldn't want to tell Sakura what had killed her mother, but why
would he pick such a story?  And why would Kushina play along with it?
What was going on between those two?
        "What are you mumbling about with dead last, Naruto?" Uchiha
Sasuke asked as he walked up to join his teammates.  The girl visibly
shrank into herself at his words, her eyes finding her feet and not
leaving them.
        "Hey, bastard," Naruto replied.  "You shouldn't talk to Sakura-
chan like that.  We're teammates now, aren't we?"
        Sakura glanced up, shock clear in her green eyes as she stared
at the blond boy.  "Naruto-san?" she asked confusedly.  Sasuke just
snorted.
        Kakashi decided that it was time to put in an appearance.  "You
aren't where I told you to wait," he said, placing a hand on the
Uchiha's shoulder.  The boy almost jumped out of his shoes, and Kakashi
smirked behind his mask.
        Sakura let out a quiet 'eep' before saying, "I'm sorry, it was
my -"
        Naruto interrupted her, pointing at Kakashi in obvious anger.
"You're late!" he roared, and Kakashi laughed.  Rin would never have
been so impolite, although he was sure she'd wanted to scream at Obito
more than a few times.
        He lead the three genin back onto the training ground, and gave
his usual speech explaining the bell test.  None of them seemed to grasp
that the one-third failure rate implied by the test was different than
the two-thirds rate he'd told them of yesterday, but no genin ever had.
Then he waited a moment to see if anyone was going to try a sneak attack
before the test officially started.  That had happened twice.
        No one moved to strike, and Kakashi waved his hand in a vague
gesture.  "Start," he ordered, and Sakura and Sasuke jumped away to find
cover.
        He stared blankly at Naruto, then disrupted the replication with
a lightning-fast poke of his finger.  "You can't forget that
replications don't cast shadows, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said chidingly.
His eye darted about, quickly locating his students: Sasuke in a tree,
Sakura in the underbrush, and Naruto... ah, in the lake, using a hollow
reed to breathe.  Not bad.
        Kakashi waited a few moments, but none of the three genin
stirred.  "There is a time limit, you remember," he told them, hoping to
draw one out, but no one took the bait.  He sighed loudly, pulling out a
thin, gray volume, and squatted down to read, deliberately putting his
back to Naruto's hiding place.
        A cloud passed over the sun, and Naruto finally moved, five
replications bursting out of the water and surrounding Kakashi.  The
grass not moving as they passed gave them away, but Kakashi gave him
points for patiently waiting until the lack of shadows wouldn't be an
issue.  He stood, but he didn't put away his book.  "Well?" he asked the
replications.
        One took a step forward, and Kakashi let himself be driven back
toward the real Naruto.  In about three seconds... there!  The blond boy
jumped out of the lake, grabbing Kakashi from behind.  The now-useless
replications disappeared in clouds of gray smoke.  "Got you, Kakashi-
sensei!" the boy exclaimed.
        The jounin faked surprise, staying still in his student's grasp.
"Your arms are busy," he told Naruto.  "How are you going to achieve
your objective?"  He shook the bells at his hip for emphasis, then
flipped to the next page in his book.
        "You don't have time to read that!" Naruto shouted, then his
foot came up, trying to kick the bells loose of Kakashi.  Instead, the
jounin slipped out of the hold, grabbing Naruto's foot and tossing him
back into the lake.
        "Prove it," Kakashi told the sputtering boy as he pulled himself
out of the water, then the jounin walked away.  He caught the shuriken
the boy tossed with two fingers, letting the weapons spin a few moments
before slipping them into his pouch.  What would the boy try next?
        "Catch this," Naruto growled from behind Kakashi, hurling a
kunai.  Kakashi took his student's advice and smiled behind his mask at
the explosive tag dangling from the hilt.  It was real, but on a long
fuse and not high-power.  Naruto wasn't taking the instruction to try
and kill him very seriously yet.
        So Kakashi used the Replacement Technique, switching places with
the boy and leaving the kunai back in his student's hands.  He relocated
to a treetop over Naruto's head as the boy quickly withdrew his chakra
from the tag to defuse it - admirable reflexes, saving Kakashi the
trouble of intervening to keep him from getting hurt.  He approved, and
rewarded the boy by putting his book away, even if Naruto couldn't see
it.
        He needed to end this, so he could work on the other two - he
checked and saw that both were still hidden, watching the fight and no
doubt waiting for Kakashi to show an opening.  Kakashi deliberately
shook one of the bells, letting it ring loudly.
        In an instant, Naruto was jumping up into the tree, ascending so
quickly Kakashi almost thought that he'd instinctively mastered using
chakra to walk up the trunk.  When he reached Kakashi, this time the
jounin didn't play - much - quickly leaving the boy strung up by his
foot, hanging from a low tree branch.
        Kakashi jumped to the ground.  "Strategy lesson," he said as he
looked up at Naruto.  "Frontal assaults against superior foes are a good
way to lose."  The boy grumbled something at that, but Kakashi's
attention was on the hidden Sasuke as he deliberately left an opening
for the other boy to exploit.
        In came in a swarm of kunai, easily evaded with the Replacement
Technique, but Kakashi grinned as he saw that the Uchiha had taken the
real bait.  Another kunai had severed the rope holding Naruto, dropping
the blond roughly on the ground, and the two boys had quickly moved back
into the trees.  Kakashi could almost make out a muttered strategy
session going on between the two, and he smiled.  Three times, two of
his genin had teamed up, but that was the easy part, since there were
two bells.
        It was adding the third team member which was critical.  With
that thought in mind, Kakashi turned his attention to Sakura.  "You want
to come out, Sakura-kun?" he asked loudly, ringing the bells at his
side.  Instead the girl faded further back into the woods.  Kakashi
thought for a moment, then pulled out his book and followed.  Let the
boys have some privacy to prepare a battleground.
        A few minutes later, Kakashi found the pink-haired girl perched
on a low tree branch, all her attention focused on her teacher as he
walked past below.  Sakura slowly drew a kunai.  Kakashi helpfully
paused, turning a page in his book.  It still took the girl too long to
attack, and the throw was ill-aimed.  It would have only scratched
Kakashi's arm.
        Instead, Kakashi disappeared without even a puff of smoke,
drawing a startled gasp from Sakura.  He landed on the branch next to
her, his eye still focused on his book.  "Looking for someone, Sakura-
kun?" he asked calmly.
        His student scrambled away, pressing her back to the tree trunk.
"A... a replication?  But the shadow and the -"
        "Genjutsu," Kakashi decided to explain.  "But it could have also
been a water clone, or a dozen other things."  He flipped another page.
        Sakura's eyes followed the motion, and then her hands twitched.
"Is... is that... an..."
        "An advance reading copy of the next Gutsy Shinobi book?"
Kakashi finished for her.  Well, she had listed reading as one of her
likes.  "Yep.  You're a fan?"  The girl nodded, staring hungrily at the
slim, gray volume.  "Maybe I'll let you borrow it when I'm done, if you
answer a question."
        "Sir?"
        "You said you didn't have a dream, but what you meant was that
you didn't have one anymore, right, Sakura-kun?" Kakashi asked.  "So
what was your dream, hmm?"  He let his eye lazily wander over her.  "The
dream you decided to abandon when you found out the truth."
        Sakura was silent for a long while, and Kakashi wondered if the
direct approach had been the wrong one to take.  "My dream?" she asked
quietly.  "Why do you care?"
        "I don't really," Kakashi lied.  "But there's this form I have
to fill out when I evaluate a team, you see."
        "I... my dream," Sakura said, not looking at Kakashi, "was... to
become a strong kunoichi of the Leaf, a hero, so my father and my mother
would be proud of me, and no one would hate me anymore."  She looked up,
her eyes wet.  "But that's never going to happen, is it?"
        "Not if you fail here," Kakashi said, letting the bells at his
side jingle.  "Are you going to try to pass?" he asked.
        Sakura visibly steeled herself, then jumped at him, a clumsy
attempt that Kakashi didn't have to try to avoid.  She sailed past him,
landing on the ground in an awkward roll.  Kakashi sighed, putting away
his book and jumping down to stand in front of her.  "Low marks, Sakura-
kun."
        "Does it matter?" she asked as she stood.  She looked away from
him again.  "You're a jounin.  There's nothing I could do to get a bell
unless you let me.  And you aren't going to, are you?"
        "Nope," Kakashi agreed easily.  At least she was thinking about
things.  Maybe with a push she'd figure out the test.  Combat skills
could be learned easily enough.  The ability to see underneath the
underneath was harder to teach.
        "Are you going to let Sasuke-kun and Naruto-san get them?"
        "No one is going to pass this test unless they earn it," Kakashi
answered her.
        Sakura looked at her feet.  "I understand," she said, "what this
test is really about."
        Kakashi let his eye widen.  "Oh, really?" he asked slowly.  "Why
don't you explain it for the class, Sakura-kun?"
        "It... it isn't hard, Hatake-sama," the girl answered.  "This
is... supposed to be a three-man team, but the test is set up so only
two can pass."
        "So it is," Kakashi agreed, as though that had never occurred to
him.  "I wonder why that is?" he asked thoughtfully.  She was so close,
tantalizing so.
        "Please... please don't mock me," Sakura said, and Kakashi
noticed her struggling to hold back tears.  "I... I might be dead last,
but I'm not stupid."
        "I know you aren't," Kakashi agreed.  "So what have you figured
out?"
        Sakura was silent for a moment.  "I'll... I'll spare us both
from wasting any more time," she said.  Then in one smooth motion she
untied her forehead protector from around her head and held it out to
Kakashi.  In all the times he had taken a team, a part of him noted,
this had never happened.  "Here," she said.  "I... I probably never
deserved this anyway."
        Kakashi didn't move, but he silently cursed himself.  He'd
misjudged the girl, and now she thought... damn it.  It was a reasonable
enough assumption, wasn't it?  And a little closer to his private
thoughts than he was comfortable with, knowing what his teacher had
wanted for the poor girl.
        When he didn't move to take the forehead protector, Sakura let
it drop to the ground and bowed stiffly.  "I... I understand why you
don't want to teach something like me.  Thank you for not embarrassing
me in front of... Sasuke-kun and Naruto-san.  This was a... fair way."
She bowed again.  "Goodbye, Hatake-sama."  She turned and started away.
        Kakashi bent down and picked up her forehead protector.  The old
man had said she knew the truth, but it didn't look like she understood
it, not on an emotional level at least.  Takeru had said she wasn't
taking it well, but... 'something like me?'  Damn it all to a thousand
hells, the girl thought that she was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox!
        He could almost feel his teacher's disapproving gaze resting on
him.  He'd really screwed this up, hadn't he?  The forehead protector in
Kakashi's hand felt like it weighed a ton.  "I'll fix this, Sensei," he
promised.  "Somehow."
        Then he moved.  The first step would be another genjutsu, to
direct Sakura's path back toward the boys.  They were probably the last
people she wanted to see, but they were also the best chance he had of
salvaging this.  If there was enough of Rin - and his parents - in
Naruto.  If Sasuke wasn't too much like a younger Kakashi, if his
uncaring facade was just that...
        If, Kakashi realized with a sinking feeling, this team was the
first in all the years he'd been taking teams to deserve to pass this
test.

***********************************************************************

Author's Random Ramblings

1) I didn't really intend for this chapter to be Kakashi-focused, but it
turned out to be the most useful point of view to avoid redoing scenes
we've all read too many times.  I still wound up doing the eleven-
billionth Bell Test sequence, but that one's tougher to cut out.

2) A bonus point to everyone who catches this chapter's nod in the
direction of Soul Voice.  Points may be redeemed for absolutely nothing.

3) As always, my thanks go to everyone at The Fanfiction Forum who
commented on the partial drafts of this chapter.

Draft Started: July 12, 2011
Draft Finished: July 23, 2011
Draft Released: July 24, 2011
Final Released: