Chapter Text
Sasuke yawns into his hand for the umpteenth time in fifteen minutes. All around him the classroom is buzzing with speculation about the upcoming squad assignments, and Sasuke truly couldn’t care less. They’re all friends anyways, he’ll be fine with being in a squad with anybody in the room. Well, almost anybody.
In the row in front of him, Naruto is sitting on his desk with his feet on his chair while laughing with Choji. Sasuke purses his lips at his brother’s sudden mood swing. Just yesterday, Naruto was sulking and full of nerves over their final Academy exam. But when they finally got their hitai-ates, Naruto grew absolutely radiant.
On their way home, Naruto greeted every passing relative and pointed at his hitai-ate with a stupid grin. And during dinner last night, Naruto was bouncing in his seat while telling their parents and Itachi about how his exam went. Their father and Itachi just politely smiled, but their mom completely matched his energy, asking follow up questions and trying to drag Sasuke into the whole ordeal.
Sasuke rolls his eyes at the thought, but it’s too late when he catches Sakura and Hinata staring at him with concern in their eyes.
Sakura places a hand on his shoulder and asks, “Is everything alright?”
“Never felt better.”
Sakura doesn’t look convinced, but she claps her hands anyways and asks, “Sasuke, who do you want on your team? Naruto?”
“Hmm. Only if absolutely necessary.”
Sasuke doesn’t want his barely-younger-than-him brother on his team. He doesn’t want to get outshined by Naruto’s radiating attitude that draws everybody into its orbit. Naruto has absolutely zero booksmarts, but even Sasuke has to admit that he can hold his own on the more practical sides of being a ninja. While Sasuke read books with Shisui, Naruto sparred with Itachi.
“Really?” Hinata timidly says. “I would have thought that you would be more excited to have him on your team.”
Sasuke scoffs, “Don’t project your wishes onto me, Hinata. You’re not the one that has to live with him.”
“Ooooh,” Sakura coos, “Imagine that: Hinata and Naruto living together.”
“Sakura!” she says with a blush forming on her pale cheeks. “He m-might have heard you. Talk quieter, please.”
“Trust me,” Sasuke says. “The bonehead probably didn’t hear a thing.”
And he’s right, judging from Naruto’s lack of reaction. The blond in front of them didn’t hear, but the blonde behind them makes it very clear that she heard them.
“Oh?” Ino says, leaning towards them on her desk to invade their conversation. “What’s this I hear about Naruto and Hinata living together?”
Sakura whips her head towards Ino to glare at her while Sasuke keeps his face as passive as possible as Naruto turns around, obviously having heard Ino.
“Hinata! You wanna come live with me? I don’t know if my room can fit two futons, but we can try!”
Hinata gapes her mouth open and closed like a fish out of water. “That’s n-not—”
Ino immediately interrupts her, “Well, if the offer still stands, I’ll take you up on it, Naruto!”
Sasuke heaves a heavy sigh and crosses his arms over his chest. While amusing to watch, Sasuke hopes that for Hinata’s sake she doesn’t end up on a team with Naruto and Ino. Sasuke shares a look with Sakura, and the two of them shake their heads simultaneously. Sasuke just can’t understand the obvious infatuation that these two have for his brother.
“Ino,” Shikamaru says, finally lifting his head out of his folded arms and turning in his seat to look at them. “I’m pretty sure Naruto wouldn’t want a loudmouth like you living with him. It would be too much of a bother.”
Ino raises her eyebrows at him and opens her mouth just as the door slams open.
A woman with vibrant red eyes, though not Sharingan, and an unruly mane of black hair gently steps into the classroom. She stands at the front scrutinizing each and every person before finally speaking. “Hello, I’m Yuhi Kurenai, but please call me Kurenai-sensei. I’m the leader of Team 8, which consists of…”
Everybody in the room catches their breath. Sasuke’s mind runs with the idea of possibly having this woman as his teacher. Her voice is pleasant, and she doesn’t seem overtly mean; but, he just has a gut feeling that she won’t call his name.
“…Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuga Hinata.”
Sakura pats Hinata’s arm and wiggles her fingers goodbye while Sasuke gives her a curt nod. The four of them, the new Team 8, walk out of the room just as somebody else walks in. Ino sucks in a shallow breath behind him. Sakura’s eyes widen ever so slightly, her lips parting as well.
The blond man is wearing a flak jacket, and has a blue gem dangling off of his right ear as an earring. He has dark green eyes, and what Sasuke knows Ino would describe as “a pretty face”. Sasuke feels as though he’s seen him before at the Leaf Hospital or something, but he isn’t too sure or really cares.
“Hello,” the blond says. “My name is Senju Natsu, but please do call me Natsu-sensei. I’m the leader of Team 9: Haruno Sai, Makino Kitaro, and Nakamura Eri. Please follow me.”
The four members of Team 9 exit the room, but nobody replaces them this time. Sasuke looks around him and instantly realizes who his new team is: Besides himself, Naruto, and Sakura, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio are the only ones remaining. Sasuke groans to himself when he makes eye contact with Naruto, who’s grinning widely at him, probably realizing the same thing. Even Sasuke has to give Naruto some kudos for knowing the tradition of having the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi team up together. Credit where credit is due, after all.
A gruff looking man with a sash that says “fire” wrapped around his waist stomps into the room. He has an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips and wastes no time at all when he says, “I’m the leader of Team 10, Sarutobi Asuma. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio please follow me.”
As the three of them get up to leave, Ino winks at Naruto, and Sasuke has to suppress an upward quirk of his lips when he doesn’t notice. Eventually however, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura are the only ones left in the room. Sasuke rests his chin in his hand, closing his eyes momentarily.
A surge of memories that he keeps locked at the very bottom of his heart fill the void caused by the back of his eyelids. Passing moments of sparring with Naruto when they were younger. Vague memories of trying to discreetly scrutinize the blonde’s taijutsu techniques with his earlier-than-usually-developed Sharingan (Sharingan are awakened by intense emotion, and Sasuke certainly does not want to relive how he awakened his own). He also sees the times when he begrudgingly helped Naruto with their Academy homework, making comments about how he deserved to fail, but helping him nonetheless.
Memories of reading under the shade of a tree with Shisui while Naruto and Itachi sparred in the blistering sun also spontaneously appear behind his eyelids, and just as quickly disappear. He would talk with Shisui about anything and everything under that tree until Naruto and Itachi, with their seemingly endless stamina, would decide to call it a day. Of course, neither Naruto, nor Sasuke have ever won a spar against Itachi or Shisui.
And in one last flash from the past, Sasuke sees his father’s passive looks and only half-interested attention gazing back at him. Sasuke is nobody important. His father has never uttered those words, but he knows that they linger on his tongue. All of the half-assed attempts at acknowledging Sasuke is just that: Half-assed. Every ounce of praise that his father sang to Sasuke was half directed to Naruto. When praising Naruto and Itachi, their father is a choir; when praising Sasuke, their father is mute.
Itachi is the undisputed Uchiha heir, and Naruto is the heir apparent to a clan that their father hopes to be rebuilt. But Sasuke? He has no claim. He has no inheritance. He has no purpose.
Naruto gets up to sit at Hinata’s old seat, startling Sasuke out of his thoughts. He makes conversation with Sakura, talking about who their teacher might be, but Sasuke doesn’t really care. He just wants to meet their teacher, whoever they are, and go home.
The three of them wait for a couple of minutes, but nobody shows up. Another 15 minutes, still nobody. After a full hour of waiting, Sasuke can just feel Naruto getting antsy, the clock monotonously ticking in the background.
“Who do you think we’re going to have, huh Sasuke?” Naruto asks him, bringing him into the conversation.
“I don’t know.”
“Well,” Sakura says. “I think that we’re going to have a strong kunoichi.”
“Why?” Naruto asks incredulously.
“Yes, why indeed?” a man says from behind them.
Sakura shrieks, Naruto yelps, and Sasuke squawks. Sasuke quickly covers his mouth with his hand, but judging from their smug faces, Naruto and Sakura heard him. Sasuk mentally kicks himself. How did he not notice the man?
The man’s sitting in Ino’s old seat, his feet propped up against the desk, and his chair balancing on its back two legs. He has spiky silver hair, a mask covering his mouth and nose, and his hitai-ate over his left eye. Sasuke swears that he’s seen the man before, but he just can’t put a name to his face; well, a name to half his face.
“Oh don’t mind me, I’m just catching up on some light reading. Although, I don’t think I’m the strong kunoichi that you’re looking for.”
“I… wha—… who?” Sakura sputters out.
Sasuke takes a moment to compose himself and school his expression.
“You’re late,” Sasuke snaps.
“No I’m not,” the man says, snapping his little book closed. “I’ve been here the entire time. You just haven’t noticed.”
By now, Sakura has fully recovered and asks, “So are you our jonin-sensei?”
“That depends. Are you my students?”
“Just tell us already,” Naruto says, throwing his head back. “My head hurts thinking about it.”
The man sighs before firmly planting his feet into the ground and standing up. “Hello, I’m Hatake Kakashi, the leader of Team 7. You three are Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto—otherwise known as my subordinates.”
Hatake Kakashi. Sasuke runs the name through his memory. He just can’t seem to know why he recognizes the name. The reason is at the tip of his tongue, but he can’t taste anything.
“Kakashi,” Naruto mutters from next to him. When Sasuke looks at him, and they make eye contact, Naruto snaps his fingers and says, “Captain Kakashi! You’re Itachi’s Anbu Squad Captain!”
“Well, there’s a little something called subtlety, Naruto,” Kakashi drawls. “But you are correct. I was Itachi’s captain, but to you three, I’m Kakashi-sensei.”
Naruto scratches the back of his head in what seems to be embarrassment. Sasuke rolls his eyes, and already knows that his precious eyes might get stuck in the back of his head by the time he becomes a chunin if Naruto is on his team.
Sakura has her index finger on her chin before she points at Kakashi and says, “Wait, if we’re Team 7, then you are late! You were supposed to come before Kurenai-sensei.”
Kakashi flaps his hand up and down like some bird flapping its wings. “That’s a technicality. Come on, let’s take this outside. I’m sure you three are already over the Academy.”
---
Naruto follows Kakashi outside with wonder in his eye. He can’t believe that he has a former Anbu Captain as his teacher! Naruto feels a teeth-bearing grin splitting his face, but he just can’t help himself. Itachi used to always, and still does, tell stories about his Anbu missions, and Kakashi was usually the star of the show. Hatake Kakashi, the famous non-Uchiha who possesses the Sharingan and the creator of the Chidori is supposedly an absolute force to be reckoned with.
Kakashi leads them to a terrace overlooking the village and waves at the steps while he leans against the railing, crossing his arms. “So, let’s get to know each other. Likes? Dislikes? Hobbies? Interests?”
“Well, we already know each other,” Sakura says, waving in their general direction. “So why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Kakashi-sensei?”
Kakashi directs his droopy eye towards the sky. “Hmm. Let’s see. Likes and dislikes? Well I don’t particularly want to tell you. Hobbies? I like doing many different things. Interests? I don’t know, haven’t thought about it.”
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all look at each other with disbelief. This isn’t exactly what Naruto had in mind when meeting his new ninja instructor. He expected somebody that would be more excited to teach them. Somebody peppy or jovial. Somebody with a little more… pizazz.
“Umm—”
“How did you get the Sharingan?” Sasuke asks, cutting Naruto off.
Now that Naruto thinks about it, Itachi never did tell him exactly how his Captain obtained the precious and guarded dojutsu. Once upon a time, Naruto thought about what it would be like to have a Sharingan, but never thought about it more than a “what-if” scenario. Kakashi is actually living it.
Kakashi brings his eye back down from the sky to gaze at them with a misty look. He blinks at them—well, Naruto thinks he’s blinking. He could be winking for all he knows. The four of them sit in silence for an almost uncomfortable amount of time. Naruto bounces his leg, Sakura picks at her dress, and Sasuke remains sitting still with his chin in his hand.
“Anyways, anymore questions?”
“You didn’t—” Sasuke says.
“Well if that’s it, let’s meet up tomorrow morning at the Third Training Ground. And don’t eat breakfast; I wouldn’t want you throwing up during training.”
“What time—” but before Sakura can finish her question, Kakashi body flickers away.
The new genin of Team 7 sit in silence for a moment, just pondering over what just happened. Naruto opens his mouth, but closes it immediately after, unsure of what to say. Sasuke stares at the ground like it personally offended him, but it is Sasuke after all. What hasn’t personally offended him?
Sakura sighs, putting her face into her hands. After a few moments, she unties her hitai-ate and combs her fingers through her long hair. “That… wasn’t what I expected.”
“Umm,” Naruto says, trying to make his voice sound cheerful. “He's a good ninja, at least from what Itach' says.”
“What good is it if he doesn’t want to teach us?” Sasuke sneers, still glaring at the ground that Kakashi was standing on, ruining the happy mood that Naruto was trying to create.
“We can only hope that he isn’t always like this I guess,” Sakura says, putting her hitai-ate back on and leaning her cheek on her knee. “I mean, not wanting to talk about himself doesn’t necessarily mean that he doesn’t want to teach us.”
Sasuke just grunts in response, but says nothing more. An insufferable silence encompasses the three of them, making Naruto scratch at his arms.
Naruto abruptly jumps up from his seat, startling Sakura out of her moping, but having no effect on Sasuke. “Come on guys, let’s grab some Ichiraku’s for lunch. I’m starving!”
“Sure!” Sakura replies.
“Only if you’re paying,” Sasuke replies at the same time.
Naruto looks into his frog-styled wallet and shakes his head with a grin before bumping Sasuke with his shoulder. “You of all people should know that I never have money.”
Sasuke tsks and walks off ahead of them. Sakura gnaws on her lip, flicking her eyes between the two of them.
Naruto waves her off at the same time that Sasuke turns around and says, “I’m only paying for me and Sakura. You’ll just have to beg Mr. Teuchi to place your order on a tab.”
Sakura runs after Sasuke, and Naruto slightly trails behind the two of them, not wanting Sasuke to see the smile on his face. Because just like every other time they’ve gotten ramen, Naruto knows that Sasuke will end up paying for his meal.
---
“I realize the screaming pain…” Itachi quietly sings to himself as he props up his leg against the Uchiha Head Family compound wall he’s leaning on and readjusts his ponytail. He first heard the song during a musical based on a tragedy that Shisui forced him to go to, and it just resonates with him for some reason.
Eventually, he sees a familiar pair of silhouettes in the distance, slowly growing closer and closer. In the glowing sun, Sasuke looks like some navy blue bird while Naruto’s tuff of blond hair looks like the light of a firefly. Itachi starts walking towards them to meet them halfway, passing his fingers over the sign that designates the house as the Uchiha Head Family’s.
Sasuke has a supposedly passive look on his face, but Itachi can instantly see the annoyance etched on the finer details. Naruto looks as if he’s been thinking too much—which, even Itachi has to admit, his capacity isn’t exactly too high. For now, obviously. Itachi believes in his youngest brother’s ability to learn how to think more critically.
“How long did he make you wait?” Itachi asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Over an hour,” Naruto complains.
“You knew,” Sasuke accuses at the same time.
“Of course I knew, dear little brothers. Let’s go inside, Utano dropped off some cookies and I have a kettle of hot water ready."
The three of them walk into the house and bustle around the kitchen like practiced clockwork. Itachi grabs the kettle from the stove to set on the table. Sasuke brings over a mug and two teacups from the cabinet. Naruto scrummages through the pantry for green and black tea leaves and brings over a carton of milk from the fridge as well.
Itachi hums while he pours some hot water in Naruto’s mug before throwing a bag of green tea leaves into the kettle. He watches as Naruto mixes an unhealthy amount of sugar and milk into his mug, creating some distorted version of milk tea. Itachi licks his lips, trying to suppress the urge to ask for a taste.
"Itach', what’s Kakashi-sensei like?" Naruto asks.
Itachi purses his lips while he thinks about a response and pours himself and Sasuke their cups of tea.
“He truly values teamwork above all else, so I think that he’ll be a good fit for the two of you and whoever else was placed on your team.”
Sasuke grunts, glaring at Naruto’s sickeningly sweet milk tea while Naruto huffs after trying to drink his tea too soon. Itachi internally sighs, wondering if it really was such a good idea to put the two on the same team. Their father was initially against the idea, but Itachi tried every rhetorical technique he knew in order to convince him otherwise. He can only hope that he made the right decision.
“Who is your third member anyways?” Itachi asks.
“Haruno Sakura,” Sasuke replies, refusing to make eye contact.
Itachi tries with all of his might to suppress the twinkle that he knows is growing in his eyes. Sasuke would never admit it, but Itachi knows that Sakura is one of his closest friends from his early Academy years. Itachi isn’t much of a betting man, but Uchiha Sakura doesn’t seem like an impossible future. Of course, those who look too far into the future tend to miss the things directly in front of them.
“You must be really happy then.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh nothing, dear brother.” Itachi then takes a bite out of a cookie, truly savoring its decadence. “Come on, we should start dinner before Mother gets home.”
---
After eating dinner and getting lectured by his mom about eating his vegetables, Naruto sits outside by the koi pond and stares at the mindless fish swimming about. They swim in a cyclical pattern, swishing their tails and fins with seemingly no care in the world.
It isn’t until he’s standing right next to him does Naruto notice his dad watching the koi fish as well. He hasn’t changed out of his work attire; he still has his brilliant white Hokage haori draped around his body over his flak jacket, just as how it’s been basically Naruto’s entire life.
“Minato and Kushina would be proud of you,” his dad starts saying. “Minato was excited to become Hokage, but I’d wager that he was more excited to become a father.”
His dad directs his penetrating gaze directly towards him. Since he grew up with them, Naruto has kind of gotten used to the intense eyes of the Uchiha, but that doesn’t stop the small shiver pulse throughout his body.
“Yeah.”
“Naruto, you are my son just as much as Itachi and Sasuke are. But, we can only imagine what would have been if you were raised by Minato and Kushina…”
“Well, being raised by you and mom was way better than being left on the streets or some orphanage,” Naruto insists, and he truly means it.
Even though they aren’t related by blood, Naruto has never felt like an outcast in his family. His blond hair never stops his mom from buying him new jackets when he accidentally tore his old ones. His weird whisker birthmarks never stops Itachi from treating him exactly like he treats Sasuke. His different surname never stops Sasuke from simply referring to him as his brother to other people.
“I suppose you’re right,” his dad relents.
“Dad,” Naruto meekly says. “I’m really glad that you’re my dad.”
His dad places a heavy hand on top of his head. “Me too, son. Me too.”