#7 - The Trio: Part 7

Tsubaki was enjoying her lunch in peace, with an open medical book and a homemade bento that Michika-san had prepared for her when a hoard of ...Narutos' ran past her.

She paused, then sighed, and closed her book before stepping out of the empty classroom she had taken up residence in to make sure her teammates weren't breaking any laws or harassing each other until one of them (Sasuke) ended up in jail for murder.

She found Naruto coming out of the toilets with a hand on his stomach, and found his skin to be clammy and sweaty.

"Are you sick?" she asked him, pressing a hand to his forehead but he shook his head,

"I don't think so, I was fine until now," he croaked. She frowned and gestured for him to follow her into the classroom and offered him her bottle of water,

"Well, if it's your stomach, flush it out," she told him - which didn't sound like legit medical advice to Naruto but when Tsubaki was the one saying it, it sounded convincing enough somehow.

So he nodded, taking the bottle with a weak "Thanks," before sitting down next to Tsubaki and resting his head on top of the desk to ride out the rest of nausea.

Sasuke showed up just as the bell rang - there were no other students in the Academy apart from the graduating class, so there was no hallway traffic for him to avoid. Tsubaki and Naruto were already there, Naruto's eyes closed as he peacefully napped (only occasionally mumbling something and maybe swinging a fist once or twice, which was peaceful enough where Naruto was concerned) and Tsubaki had her medical book open in front of her, though even she looked like she was dozing off slightly.

Sasuke slid into the seat next to Tsubaki without a single word and stared off into space until he started to feel drowsy too.

* * *

Kakashi had been slightly excited about meeting his new team - he'd had teams before, but none of them had passed his test - he had some hopes for this one though. Minato-sensei's son and the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tailed beast and Itachi's little brother, the last surviving member of the revered Uchiha clan.

It would probably be easier on them if they'd had had a different teacher. His test was unique

Unluckily for them, very few people had the qualifications to teach them - in fact, in Konoha, he was the only person who ticked all the boxes.

They were uniquely unfortunate like that.

And then there was the red-haired little girl who seemed to have a firm hold on both of those boys. Iruka had said that the only time Sasuke and Naruto really got along was when Tsubaki was present. That was somewhat fascinating.

Iruka had also pointed out another good candidate for the team, Haruno Sakura, who was the only other person who seemed to have a unique position in that Naruto had a crush on her, and she on Sasuke. There was the chance of some friction but it also meant that there would be some active involvement towards teamwork from the students too.

Kakashi had considered it for a long moment, he always enjoyed a good love-triangle plot line- sometimes you just couldn't beat the cringey classics after all - but somehow, he felt like Naruto and Sasuke had enough friction between them - without adding potential romantic strife to throw them over the edge.

Tsubaki was the best choice in the end, both logically and because of Kakashi's nostalgia with long red hair and a kind smile.

Upon arriving at the Academy - a little more on time than he usually was, considering it was only 3-ish hours past the meetup time - he realised his future students had set up something of a prank for him.

He could hear the muffled sounds of chatting behind the door and considered his options, he could easily avoid the prank, but maybe that would make him come across a little strict? He could catch the eraser and make it quite cool and dramatic, but he didn't want them to think he was a show-off either. Maybe they would laugh and it would be easier to break the ice if he just let himself get hit?

Yeah, that sounds right. They were just kids after all.

He took a breath and placed a hand on the open edge of the door, bracing for impact.

The plop of the eraser landing on his head was followed swiftly by boisterous laughter from the fox-kid.

"He fell for it! He fell for it!" He was saying while the other two looked on, a little bewildered - maybe catching it would have been a better idea. He felt something similar to humiliation burn in his stomach - something he hadn't felt since that time when he was 5 and the girl he thought was waving at him was actually waving at someone behind him.

Now Kakashi just didn't wave back at people.

"Well... how should I say this... my first impression is - I hate you," he decided.

"Er, well, follow me I guess," he sighed when none of them responded and ducked out of the room with a hand in his hair, ruffling it to get the eraser dust out, behind him, he could hear his students bickering,

"That was a stupid move idiot!" the Uchiha-kid, Sasuke was saying,

"I didn't think he would actually fall for it, shut up," the fox-kid, Naruto hissed back,

"I told you not to become a burden to me, how do you fail at doing nothing?" Sasuke snapped back,

"You're such an asshole!" Naruto growled looking like he was gearing up for a fight, Kakashi glanced at the red-head, Tsubaki, who was walking in between them, with a book in hand, completely ignoring both of them - which Kakashi assumed meant there wasn't danger of an actual fight - or if there was, she wasn't going to stop it.

Even so, they made it to the roof relatively easily, so Kakashi took that as a win.

"Alright, take a seat and introduce yourselves," Kakashi said, nodding to the steps of the roof that evened its sloping shape. He rested his against the railings and folded his arms across his chest.

"...how though?" Naruto asked when no one spoke for a moment.

"Say things like er, your name, what you like, what you hate, hobbies, dreams, that kind of thing I guess," Kakashi shrugged,

"We already know each other, so you go first," Tsubaki told him, mistrust was easily visible in her eyes, even beyond the indifferent facade.

"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi, I have no intention of telling you my likes or dislikes... even if you ask me about my dreams hmm.... as for my hobbies, well I do various things," Kakashi probably would have gone a little easier on them if he wasn't still holding a grudge over the eraser thing.

"Ass," Tsubaki mumbled under his breath, and Naruto nodded in agreement. Kakashi pretended not to hear them since he kind of was being an ass.

"Next it's your turn, first you," he nodded to the blonde who grinned eagerly,

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! The thing I like is cup ramen! But I like the ramen from Ichiraku's that Iruka-sensei bought me even more! The thing I hate is the three minutes you have to wait after pouring in the hot water! My hobby is eating and comparing cup ramen! And my dream for the future is to become stronger than any other Hokage and make the villagers acknowledge me!" Naruto declared.

Kakashi considered him for a moment, despite constantly speaking with exclamation marks and a somewhat cup ramen centric existence, Minato-sensei's son seemed to have grown up with a rather interesting attitude.

"I've told you to at least start buying vegetable side dishes." Tsubaki hissed at him, once he was done and Naruto shrugged but didn't answer, she shook her head, and then realised Kakashi was looking at her, which she took as her queue to begin,

"My name is Amaya Tsubaki, I enjoy reading and learning new things, my current interest is medical ninjutsu. I don't like not understanding something when I read it. My hobbies include collecting rare books and training. I don't have a specific dream for the future, but I do want to eventually earn enough to move out and live on my own," she said.

Kakashi nodded, it was more to work with than he had expected really. Weren't 12-year-old-girls supposed to be more interested in boys and romance? Or was his experience of the Academy biased?

"Alright, last one," he said, looking at the Uchiha, who was staring straight ahead at nothing,

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate, but fewer things I like...I also have an ambition that I have no intentions to leave as just a dream. The revival of my clan ... and to kill a certain man," he declared,

Kakashi knew this could go bad in 20 different direction, but the surprising thing was, although Naruto looked concerned and a little surprised, Tsubaki looked unfazed, in fact, she looked kind of happy.

"He said he likes us," she whispered to Naruto, eyes twinkling... that's what she focused on?

"I did not!" Sasuke snapped,

"Also, the revival of his clan, he says - planning on a lot of kids Sasuke?" Naruto prodded gleefully,

"That's not what I meant!" Sasuke rounded on him with a glare,

"Yeah, Naruto, leave him alone, we're the only few things he likes in this world!" Tsubaki scolded, though it sounded anything but serious and Sasuke looked ready to blow his top.

"Alright, that's enough," Kakashi clapped his hands together sharply and all three glanced to him like they had forgotten he was there. Perhaps they were closer than Kakashi had initially thought if they could simply joke about the Uchiha revenge plot.

"Alright, all three of you have unique personalities, I like that. We're going to go on a mission tomorrow," he told them which easily caught their attention,

"What kind of mission is it, sir?" Naruto asked with an obnoxious little salute.

"First we're going to do something that only the four of us can do," he stated,

"What what what-what is it!?" Naruto asked eagerly, and for once, Kakashi was grateful for his boisterous nature, it made things easier to explain, the other two didn't even shift facial muscles as they waited for him to continue.

"Survival training," Kakashi announced and even Naruto deflated,

"I'm assuming it'll be different from every other training session we've done for some reason?" Tsubaki asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Of course, this is no ordinary training," Kakashi told her,

"Then, then what kind of training is it?" Naruto asked Kakashi forced some giggling fake laughter out of him, though it was kind of partly real because seeing them struggle over it would be amusing.

But the giggle was for dramatic effect really. If he could get some personal entertainment out of this, then well, all the better really.

"Well, if I say this, I'm sure you three are going to be upset," Kakashi said honestly,

"Out of the 31 graduates, only 9 will be made genin. In other words, this training is an extremely difficult test that has an average drop-out rate of 71%." He told them,

Which had Naruto looking ready to pass out, Sasuke ready to kill someone and honest and Tsubaki was massaging one of her temples with her forefinger and thumb. Wasn't she too young for stress headaches?

"See! I told you that you'd be upset! Look at your faces!" Kakashi exclaimed gleefully,

"That's stupid! I went through so much trouble! Then what was the final exam for?!" He demanded,

"That? It just picks out students who have the potential to become genin - most people pass it rather easily," Kakashi shrugged with a smile,

"Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or not tomorrow at the training grounds. Bring your ninja equipment and meet at 5 am sharp." Kakashi announced and watched with glee as their tired expressions shifted to determined, ah, how cute.

"Oh yeah, don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up if you do. Dismissed," he added and disappeared in a puff of smoke.