Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Hey, everypony.

This book might've caught you off guard. "Oh my god! I remember this from Wattpad years ago!" you might be thinking, or you may just be wondering what the hell I'm doing. You see, I really love this book. This was posted and taken down years ago on Wattpad, amongst rude comments and the pressures of being a young teenager. The earlier chapters don't really reflect my writing style anymore, but I know this was a beloved story for both readers and myself. I wrote a shit ton back in middle and high school and I think it should be out here somewhere for others, too.

I don't really think I'm going to be rewriting this (unless, I should 👀👀 clean it up). I think I wrote one or two chapters outside of the starting series for Shippuden but it was very very basic and was only the start of things. I think I got cold feet and confused to try and handle Shippuden. I'm a military brat and moving was a big hurdle, no matter how many times we do it or even if I say I'm apathetic towards it, I'll never tell my mom otherwise because what good would that do for her? Adapt and overcome.

This book was with me through some shit. Feel free to rage in the comments about certain moments, in this book or about the series in general. Naruto will always have a very dear place in my heart.

I liked Sasuke so much because I related to him and wanted to see him be loved, and not just fickle and superficially because of his appearance. Sasuke was an asshole, and it's okay to say that. He had his moments (both good and bad), was taken advantage of so many times throughout the manga, so full of rage, isolated himself and felt like he wasn't allowed to be happy or a kid. A lot of things were pushed down because any moment of weakness was going to be exploited and thrown back in his face. I wanted to see someone match his pace. I wanted to write two introverts fall in love and have good moments and let them be kids in a ninja world where nothing but replaceable tools.

Thanks, guys. I hope you enjoy reading this and watching them grow just as much as I did.

 Love, megaloceros_brat, formerly known as Me_Likey (Colde) on Wattpad (My dark past).

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Hi, there folks!

I hate having to put this here but I'm getting an influx of bots trying to gain commissions from my works. Any monetization of Fanfiction IS ILLEGAL!! 'Fan' is key here, ITS FAN WORKS, NOT ORIGINAL. Every last one of my stories say that explicitly! It's a fan adaptation of already created stories and therefore I have no legal right to the work. If I make money off it, like commissioning work, I CAN GET SUED! I create for fun and to share with like minded individuals. Don't ask. Don't comment about it. Please look up your copyright laws in your country/ state. There is no way in any nine circles of hell I am allowing other people to turn my work into AI slop that damages the environment and steals from actually artists! It is AI generated, not created, they steal from other works! 

This is an AI hate account. Don't take from artists, writters, and other creative minds. Miss me with that shit. 

Thank you kindly,

Megaloceros.

Chapter Text

Excitable children could be seen leaving through the Academy entrance, some towards family and others to bundles of friends. 

In an unmistakable orange jumpsuit, a blond with a flat cerulean gaze sat on the swings, just swaying slightly to nothing and watching the families with a dazed look. Alone.

Another boy was heading down and out of the building unnoticed, with hands clenched ever so slightly in the pockets of his worn overalls, weaselling through all of them and onto the main path. He clicked his tongue with a roll of his wisteria eyes. 

Class had just ended but that didn't mean everyone was relieved. It was still a bit awkward with his father. 

He was to go home, maybe study a bit before his father got back from the market, or store, or — wherever he said he was going this morning. He'd feed Inu, his duck, and pick up his little brother, Haruka, from playing with the Third Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. Afterwards, he might train if no one else was at his favourite training ground.

It was the routine he had fallen into since starting the Academy.

He had reached his house, only after taking a brief detour to walk the long way because he saw some of his female classmates 'hiding' behind a corner and frantically looking about. 

They were more than obvious with the bright hair that some of them had acquired ー pastel pink and pale blonde at the lead. Probably stalking the brooding boy they all seem to follow like a moth to a flame. He never really cared to truly converse with any of his classmates, just observing from the sidelines, seeing as he’d only have to deal with two of them afterwards being sorted into their Genin teams.

He mentally thanked whatever higher power was listening.

--

His house was more towards the outskirts of the bustling town, off to the right of the main gates and along the river. It wasn't big like he knew some of his classmate's estates were, there were quite a few heirs in their class , but it was something he'd grown up in. 

Medium-sized. Two-story. Tinted green. Wary railing and chipping steps. A proud yet faded white cloth designed with a black circle, one thick chord towards the top and two thick intersecting lines like an hourglass without its base, always making him smile. 

Only a bit though.

Not much made him smile these days, although not much ever did anyways. It was usually a small, barely noticeable upturn of the corner of his lips with a slight sparkle of his eyes. He’d frown and scowl all he pleased, maybe the occasional snarl. He'd always been the quiet, seemingly blank-faced child that his parents once hoped he’d mature out of. 

He never did.

Shaking his head as he sighed at the house, unlocking the door with a twist of his wrist. He could hear the ruckus in the kitchen from the doorway; a masculine voice ranting on about something and clipped responses of a duck’s quack. With a silent click, he moved his Ninja pouch off to the side and exchanged his sandals for pink slippers.

He entered the kitchen with a quiet pitter-patter.

A head full of pale blond hair was crouched as random drawers were left open around him as he rummaged around pans and tops. On one of the counters by the stove, some meat was sitting on a cutting board while the bag of rice was pulled out from the pantry which was also left open. Across from them with flat quacks was his duck, who looked as disappointed as a duck could look.

The young boy paused, contemplating taking the duck and leaving or helping the poor man find the dish he was so desperately trying to locate.

When the boy dropped down beside him, his dad jumped high only to be stopped by the drawer above him as he shot right into it with a curse.

“Geez! I didn’t even hear you come in, you scared your dear old dad! ” his father whisper-yelled as he spun around, placing a hand on his thumping chest. “You’d think I’d keep my senses, maybe I should brush up,” he then muttered to himself, avoiding his son’s flat gaze by looking off to the side with wide dark eyes. “Damn, though.”

“... Sorry. ”

Copying his father, he gracefully struck the same drawer as he got up. He shook out his head and grabbed the Pintail from the island, taking a left, stalking up the steps and into his bedroom.

Lavender walls. Twin bed with black sheets. A long, equally dark kotatsu table with a messy arrangement of art mediums and two wisteria zabuton tucked underneath. Flopping on the bed back-first was relieving after the school day, although Inu protested as his feathers ruffed before curling up into his chest.

He exhaled slowly a couple of times before snapping his eyes open as adrenaline shot through his veins. He tumbled a bit as he got up quickly, snatching a blue pen and a small 4x6 sketchbook off his desk. Opening and closing the window with a thud, he leapt down and made his way to the dirt path along the walls. Halfway to the Hokage Mountains, he sat down in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. Probably another training ground, he always thought to himself when coming here.

He started to sketch his surroundings sporadically. 

After a couple of minutes, he looked up as he felt the presence of Chakra in a high tree not too far away from where he was sitting. Not feeling threatened by it, he kept drawing.

He didn’t know the signature but wasn’t entirely foreign with it.

He never met the person face-to-face, he was sure of it , as he would say he was a pretty good sensor. He looked up long enough to see the flash of grey and black blurring past the trees, and farther away from the clearing, most likely back to the village.

He continued drawing.

----

A small curse left his mouth when he realized the sun was beginning to set. He knew his little brother would be mad about being late again to pick him up. 

It always happened by accident somehow.

But, seeing as he didn’t like to be rushed, he casually strolled up to the Third’s mansion and was escorted upstairs to the room they were always in. 

Light brown eyes narrowed into slits as the door opened, Haruka stood akimbo with a hip jutted out, looking as sassy as ever. Konohamaru just beamed up at Haru with that stupid love-struck face he always wore when they were together.

"Mayu, what time is it now?" his brother all but growled at him. Tilting his head, his practically white hair fell into a part of his eyes, shading them from view. “I might as well start living here because you forget me every other day!”

The brown-haired boy stood up excitedly, “I can work that out, Haru!” and gushed, even more, when Haruka turned around and animatedly discussed their options.

Mayu winced.

Oh, was he in for an earful on the way back.

----

Uchiha Sasuke had been watching Mayu ever since the first time they had met, whether it was subconscious or not.

It had all started way back at the beginning of the Academy, and little Sasuke was too excited to get learning, so he could show his big brother how great of a Ninja he could become!  

On the outside, Sasuke was as cool as a cucumber. But on the inside, he was struggling to soothe his racing mind over what things could happen now that he finally initiated his Ninja journey.

He'd bumped into a cold body and was sent tumbling to the ground with a thud.  Annoyance in his gaze, he quickly looked up into eyes that were hiding thrill a moment ago, now glossing over with unshed tears, and he made a small gasp of surprise when his whole world seemed to stop for a second to look at the beauty before him. 

His heart screamed ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump loudly in his chest.

A small, fragile-looking boy, with hooded light purple eyes and a little baby fat still on his cheeks, was pitifully staring down at the Uchiha. 

Sasuke would have guessed he was around 4, but couldn't be too sure, having met people who looked older than he could count at the time.

Soft grey gracing the clumsy boy's head, cut with swept bangs as it hung around his shoulders and a tiny birthmark to the outer corner of his left eye, and with skin so pale the boy looked way too cute. Sasuke couldn't help but admire the sight, he let out an unintentional oof, because all the air in his lungs had unanimously decided to leave.

Bells rung in his ears.

Once Sasuke had caught the pesky gas, he placed a calm mask on his face, trying to level himself before he did the same to the boy. He sat up and turned his attention back to the tearful boy in his lap, his arms wrapped around the smaller figure to keep him steady. 

Only for a second though.

Forcefully pushing Sasuke away, the boy grimaced and scurried away as fast as his little legs would carry him without a single glance back. 

"You left your duck..." Sasuke thought to himself as he grabbed and dusted off the stuffed duck, staring into its beady black eyes. 

During lunch, the little Uchiha had gone home to get a bag and write in slightly messy handwriting about his duck and how he was gifting it back to him, seeing as he was a bit too shy to do so in person. He put the bag where the boy had sat, as it turned out he was in his class and would deny to anyone that he was happy about getting to, hopefully, converse with the small boy again. 

Sasuke had been subconsciously watching out and discreetly protecting the boy, who he later learned was named Kim Mayu.

Whether it be sitting farther away from Mayu, who he had learned liked the quiet and serene and could only put up with so many loud people, so his 'fangirls' wouldn’t make noise to disturb the mellow male.

Some days, Sasuke would come a bit early so he would sit one seat away from the window, with the boys from class sitting around him, as a barricade from the girls, so he could hog Mayu to himself. Though he didn't talk to him, just watched him constantly. Non-creepily.

Although Mayu and Sasuke didn't really talk, they’d say 'good morning' to each other every day along with shy ‘see you soon' as the day ended, and it's been keeping Sasuke at bay. There was a silent agreement between the two boys ever since Sasuke returned the duck that they were in each other’s good books. 

When the time came, it was sad to watch Mayu mope without his stuffed duck when the teachers had politely scolded him for being seven years old and still carrying a stuffy around. Sasuke thought it was cute, though the duck indeed looked in tough condition.  He guessed it was a present from a family member for starting the Academy.

Mayu was a very smart person, competing with Sasuke in combat training as well as intelligence. Which had only added to Sasuke's liking of the boy.

Cute. Smart. Promising Ninja. Compatible attitude, in Sasuke's opinion. A total package waiting to be unwrapped.

Mayu's nickname, Lucky, was originally an insult from Inuzuka Kiba ー a brown-haired boy with red fangs adorning both cheeks and a cute puppy named Akamaru ー because Mayu was quite clumsy at times.

Once at the beginning of the Academy, Mayu had managed to rip one of his own overall straps while playing with it and tripped on it when it broke abruptly. 

He took Nara Shikamaru ー the laziest person in their class but an intelligent boy with sharp eyes ー down with him, as he was the closest. He had then caught his foot on the stairs and almost flew over the railing had Akimichi Choji ー a 'big-boned' boy with red swirls on both his cheeks ー not grabbed the back of the Nara's shirt and Mayu's only undamaged overall strap.

Sasuke had feared for Mayu's life, putting on a faux calm face and cooly asking if he was alright. He remembered cheering and mentally crying when the boy shyly nodded his head and carried on ー away from the railing and refrained from messing with the damaged overalls.

It was now the day before the graduation exams, and Sasuke didn't know how to feel.  

Either he was happy to be let free of the screaming banshees that creepily stalked him, or he was sad he no longer got to see Mayu daily.

Ninja were known for constantly being on-call, and Sasuke never really established a real friendship with Mayu outside his head, so he was concerned about how often he'd get to see him, if ever.  

He didn't particularly want anyone on his team as it would probably only hinder his capabilities. He thought of possibly having Mayu on his team but the idea of it scared him a bit. 

What if Mayu got hurt and Sasuke couldn't do anything about it? What if a teammate got captured and Mayu, being the great person he is, goes to save them then ends up getting caught too, and Sasuke wasn't there in time? What if-

His thoughts were pleasantly interrupted by the boy he was just thinking about, walking on the adjacent street but then catching sight of something, his eyes also followed where Mayu looked. What he saw (more like heard) was the squealing of his female classmates and had to suppress the groan that almost worked its way from Sasuke's head and out through his mouth.  

When he looked back at Mayu, only to find him gone, he got a bit irritated by the interruption of a conversation that wouldn’t have ー read: could have, by Sasuke ー happened between Mayu and him. 

Sasuke paid for his food at the street market with a dark air around him and left for his small apartment to eat something, then to sleep early to be prepared for tomorrow, already knowing he would pass.  

He couldn't imagine if he didn't. 

He could not imagine what kind of idiot wouldn't pass something so basic as the test was probably going to be one of three Academy Justu's they learned for the physical exams. The written exams would be easy for anyone who actually retained the information and constantly used it.

Chapter Text

Umino Iruka was a fairly punctual man. He was a Chunin and a teacher at the Shinobi Academy and was moderately plain-looking aside from the noticeable cut across the bridge of his nose and spiky brown hair that was always in a ponytail.

However, the class he was supposed to be teaching was all waiting for him to arrive, although they were missing a certain blond troublemaker. 

The class had been waiting for a little over ten minutes, and some were beginning to feel restless. Most were out of their seats to converse, loudly , with friends sitting throughout the classroom. 

The small boy, Mayu, was sitting quietly beside Hyuuga Hinataー a shy, timid girl with no interest in the Uchiha whatsoever and pale eyes framed by chopped, dark purple-tinted hair, both roughly the same body size. He usually sat by her because she wasn't all over the place with energy, worshipping some boy they knew next to nothing about or being obnoxiously loudーor extremely flippant, having at least one non-flippant female classmate was nice.

"Sensei's coming back!"

Those three words had everyone stumbling over each other to get back to where their seats were, making a big ruckus , and then quieting down to wait anxiously for their sensei to present himself.  

But they, however, weren't ready for the door to be thrown open and a blond boy restrained by rope sat in front of the now-focused students. None of them were too surprised by this anymore though, to be honest, just startled by the loud noise.

"You failed the last graduation test and the one before that!" Iruka started out with his arms crossed over his chest. "This is no time to be goofing off, b aka! " Naruto turned his head stubbornly with a hmph . Iruka continued, gaining an irk mark on his forehead, "We'll have a re-test on the Transformation Jutsu! " he turned and pointed to the class, "Even those who already passed will take it!"

Almost everyone in the class made noises of confusion and objection, but still got up from their seats and lined up, grumbling the whole way down. Iruka was at the very beginning of the line holding a clipboard and pen with clenched hands.

"Haruno Sakura. Here I go..." the pink-headed girl declared first while putting her hands into the appropriate seals, rounded up some Chakra and said, " Transform! " There was a puff of smoke from the Jutsu clearing away and then in place of Sakura was now a copy of Iruka staring back at him.

Iruka smiled a bit, and after an approving nod, Sakura turned around, now de-transformed, with her hands balled and pressed against her cheeks. "I did it!" her inner Sakura fist-bumped the sky with a 'Cha!'. "Did you see that, Sasuke-kun?!" she beamed at the brooding male behind her.

Yet, Sasuke paid her no mind and Iruka called him up. He did the necessary seals, and as always, he passed with no sweat. The Uchiha side glanced at Mayu at the end of the line for a brief moment then headed for his seat with both hands shoved into his pockets. Uzumaki Naruto, the blond troublemaker, was then called up. 

"What a pain..." Shikamaru signed out. He held a peeved expression that everyone knew would go back to relaxed after he dubbed something 'troublesome' or 'a pain' .  Shikamaru never strayed far from his usual laid-back attitude.

"And it's all your fault," Yamanaka Ino vexed with one hand on her hip. Ino had pale blonde hair and blue eyes. Shikamaru's dad and her father worked together in the T&I department as Jounin Shinobi along with Choji's dad, Choza, and her mother owned Yamanaka's Flower Shop. Mayu visited every year to buy Korean Rosebay and Mugunghwa  flowers for his late mother, as they were her favourite and also his.

“Like I care!” Naruto responded, the area surrounding him being covered in smoke.

The next thing the class knew, their sensei flew back with a nosebleed. Naruto had introduced a new Jutsu he created, the 'Sexy Jutsu' . He had purposely transformed into a skinny blonde woman who looked similar to him, with clouds covering her private parts. 

Mayu just huffed and looked around the room trying to avoid the naked lady before Naruto de-transformed back into his original body. 

That Jutsu would be quite deceiving and troublesome.

However, Iruka was not impressed. He had gotten up and put rolls of tissue in his nose to stop the perverted nosebleed. 

"Baka! Stop doing stupid things like that!"

----

The next morning was a day awaited by many.  

The graduation exams .

The whole class was on edge, all nervous or overconfident if they would pass or not. Mayu knew he would pass but was a bit nervous because of how his classmates were so fidgety and wide-eyed, all looking around. It made him try to shrink himself into his chair, so no one would see him, not that they ever really did in the first place . 

Iruka had just announced that the exams were beginning and started calling out names to perform, as Sasuke had predicted, the Clone Jutsu . Names were called out in alphabetical order, so Mayu didn't have much time, seeing as there weren’t a lot of kids in the class to originate with.  

A cloud of despair covered a section in the front, Naruto in the middle of it. 

" The poor fool probably didn't have the Jutsu down ," Mayu thought with a shake of his head.

After about a handful or so, Mayu's surname, Kim, was called out. He got up from his seat and ventured forward to the next classroom. The rest of the student body were uneasily peering at him as he swiftly scurried past them, in a hurry to get eyes off him.  

Iruka and Mizuki ー a man with white hair and calculative green eyes ー were softly talking to each other but snapped out of it when they heard the door open and the small owl walked in followed by a polite bow.

"Good morning, Mayu," Iruka greeted him kindly. "All you have to do is produce three sufficient clones," and on that note, Mayu put his hands in the Ram seal and executed the three clones that were asked.  

Mayu didn't see the need to go above and beyond, it seemed pointless to show off. 

With smiles, Iruka and Mizuki both congratulated the boy after passing him and gave him the black hitai-ate that he asked for. Sure, Mayu was happy, ecstatic even, but no one could see that aside from a slight sparkle in his eyes as he gazed upon the brand new headband embroidered with the symbol of Konoha. 

He was proud to say he was now a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. 

The part of the class that had taken the exam already, was instructed to wait outside the Academy until everyone took the test. Some parents were too eager and came to the Academy before they were let out to congratulate their children on passing.  

Mayu had just slugged past them all, out of the courtyard and went home not really caring if he got in trouble for it, seeing as he was no longer a student here anymore.  

He faintly heard a 'Fail!' in the direction of the school building, but surely no one would fail such a simple exam, right?  

As he walked away, he noticed that the Hokage's monuments were " redecorated"  with some colourful paint and raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

----

Mayu had woken up the next morning to almost being suffocated by his little brother jumping on his bed then deciding to flop down on Mayu's side.  

Wide-eyed, he turned in shock, letting go of the pillow he subconsciously hugged and all but threw his brother off the bed. 

Haru landed with a thud that had both of the brothers wincing. 

"What're you doing, idiot?" Mayu sleepily spoke, ignoring the burning glare of his sibling sitting on the floor after he caught his breath.

"I've been trying to wake you up for the past half-hour, I was about ready to pour water on you! The day's started already and you pretty much missed half the morning," Haruka exclaimed. "You're lucky that I didn't have any school today, or I would have left your sorry butt," and he ended by walking out the door, probably to go and hang out with friends.

Mayu was in no hurry to rush, he'll just have to ask Iruka who his Jounin teacher would be. And he hoped his team wasn't too rowdy, or at least had bearable personalities.

----

Hatake Kakashi was a bit annoyed.

He had walked into the Academy classroom expecting to see four new victims– Genin who would most likely fail his real test. He didn't expect only three out of those four to be here, however, he did see the blackboard eraser that was stationed to drop from the sliding doors but didn't bother to dodge it.  

When he was at his Genin's houses, he got a sense of what they might be like. He had visited Mayu's house first, and although he and the Hokage both sweat-dropped at the sleeping boy, Kakashi didn't miss how the boy subtly flinched when they entered the room, " Cautious ." he thought.  

Kakashi wished he was sleeping. Or literally anything else.

He thought the boy would have woken up already and got to the meeting classroom. 

"How can I put this?... As for my first impression of you guys...? Well, I hate you,"  were the first words to come out of his mouth after being hit with the eraser and standing quiet for a good moment. He looked around for a second, "Where's the other one?" he sighed, right as Mayu appeared behind him, looking bored out of his mind. 

Chapter Text

Kim Mayu was very, very late. 

Later than their new sensei even. It probably wasn't the best first impression, especially since their teacher had just announced that he hated them. Imagine how he'd feel about Mayu. 

But then again, he was late, too.

It had taken Mayu around twenty minutes to get up, shower, dress, and eat something. It had taken almost an extra two hours to find Iruka after basically playing hide-n-seek without either acknowledging it. Iruka had told him he'd find out who his teammates were as punishment for 'not showing up’ and where they'd most likely be, seeing as Iruka knew his new Jounin instructor.

It was a bit nerve-racking, yes, but the hope this new sensei could teach him something powerful, and possibly new techniques to strengthen his already progressing skill, was something he looked forward to.

Mayu sensed this guy was familiar but his mind didn't register from where. 

Their teacher suddenly disappeared with Shunshin no Jutsu after telling them to meet on the Academy roof. Mayu thought it was a bit dumb considering they were the only ones left in class. 

After the others had finished their own pity party, Naruto looked at Mayu with agitation. Sakura looked slightly peeved but did nothing to act on it besides throwing a single glance at the boy. And Sasuke... well , Sasuke just looked annoyed, whether it was from waiting for their sensei, the little owl, or his teammates, Mayu didn't know. 

Mayu spun on his heel and marched down the hall towards the stairs. He only knew his teammates were following by the thud of their footsteps.

----

They all sat atop the roof. Their sensei had his back to the village, leaning on the border railing. 

Mayu positioned himself down first on the lowest step, Sasuke right behind him on the top one. Sakura sat to the left of them all on the middle level, and finally, Naturo decided to plop down by Mayu to the left. 

"Let's see... First off, why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" Kakashi started, staring at his Genin with his arms crossed.

"Introduce ourselves... What are we supposed to say?" Sakura questioned. Mayu thought it was obvious; things you like, things you don't, favourite food, your social security number. It was sometimes hard to wrap his head around how Sakura had one of the highest Academic grades at times like this, but Mayu knew they all had those moments.

Mayu just hoped it wasn't a common thing.

"Your likes, dislikes, your future dreams, hobbies ... Things like that," Kakashi answered with a shrug.

" Hey, hey! Before that, why don't you tell us about yourself first?" 

" Me? " Their sensei began. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. Hmm ... I don't feel like telling you guys my likes or dislikes. My dream for the future? I never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have many." During his little speech, Kakashi shifted his vision to the sky, staring at nothing.

All his new Genin deadpanned.

"All we learned was his name." Sakura irked out. Her eye twitched a little and her eyebrows were pointed down. Naruto eagerly nodded along.

" Yeah! "

"Next is you guys. Let's start with you," Kakashi said as he tilted his head in the direction of Naruto.

Said boy scratched behind his neck, then adjusted his Hitai-ate with a smile. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto," he beamed. "I really like instant ramen, but what I like even more is the ramen from Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei treats me to. What I dislike are the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the water into the ramen. My hobby is eating and comparing ramen," Kakashi just looked at Naruto with a bored look. "And my future dream... is to surpass the Hokage! So the entire village will have to acknowledge my existence!" Naruto grinned.

" I see... you've grown up in an interesting way ," Kakashi thought. "Okay, you next," he projected out loud.

Mayu took it upon himself to go next. "Kim Mayu," he started softly but confidently. "What I like is..." everyone leaned in a bit, curious to find out what the boy would say. "Inu," he continued, eyes glued to the floor. 

Naruto turned towards Sakura and gave her a questioning look asking about Inu as if she knew. She didn't, so she made a face and shrugged her shoulders.

"My duck, my little brother, and red bean paste buns , also. I dislike loud places and people, and overly seasoned foods. Some hobbies... maybe, training or just watching, I guess. As for my dreams for the future..." Mayu seemed to space out, gaining a couple of worried looks, not that anyone could see Sasuke's. Sasuke lightly put his hand on the back of the younger's neck, and it pulled him out from where he was. "My dream for the future is to exceed my mother's legacy and hope to be anywhere near where her level once was." Mayu finished with a small shine in his eyes. He didn't seem to mind the hand resting on the back of his neck, so Sasuke left it there to relish the feeling of Mayu's soft skin, rubbing small circles into his hair.

Kakashi just nodded silently as understanding showed clearly in the one eye that wasn't covered by his headband. " I wonder if his mother is who I'm thinking... " Black hair and those same wisteria eyes flashed in his mind.

Sakura seemed worried but hurriedly covered it up with a bright smile and blush on her cheeks. "I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like... I mean, who I like is..." she fondly side glanced at Sasuke. "And, my hobbies are, I mean..." she continued to eye the distracted boy. "My future dream is..." Sakura suddenly squealed loudly. Mayu almost jumped.

Kakashi sweat-dropped, "And? What about your dislikes?"

" Naruto! " she exclaimed in a deathly calm, but creepy voice.

Crocodile tears rushed down Naruto's face as he sat frozen.

"Girls her age are probably more interested in love than the Shinobi Arts," The Hatake theorised. "And lastly..."

It was now Sasuke's turn, Sakura shyly stared at him as he started speaking. "My name's... Uchiha Sasuke. I have tons of dislikes, but no real likes I’m willing to share," Sakura deflated slightly as Sasuke took a peek below him for a lingering second. "And it would take too long to explain my dream but know it's not a dream but an ambition," his eyes grew cold. "The ambition to restore my clan and without a doubt... to kill a certain man." His aura seemed to darken just from thinking of him, so Mayu subconsciously shuffled back to press his neck into the Uchiha's hand. Sasuke had felt it, an unnoticeable smile graced his features as he slowly relaxed.

The small exchange was only noticed by Kakashi who only raised his eyebrow and was about to say something but decided against it, and hoped to get back on topic. Silence cast over the group in a depressing manner.

" He doesn't... mean me... right? "

" Sure enough, Sasuke's so cool! "

" His hand’s warm ... "

" I knew it... " Kakashi then broke the silence, "Good. The four of you are very unique from one another, very... distinct ! We'll have a mission tomorrow!"

"Yes! Yes, sir! What kinda mission?" Naruto saluted with a grin.

"First, it's something we can do with just five people,"

" What what what?! " Naruto grew more excited only to deflate after Kakashi said it was a survival test. "Survival exercise?" he got confused and squinted his eyes.

"Why are we doing a survival exercise if we're doing a mission? We've had more than our share of exercises in the Academy!" Sakura stated, tilting her head to the side.

"This is no simple exercise."

"Then what kind is it?" Mayu asked.

Kakashi dared to laugh .

It was a reasonable question they honestly had no idea about, so why their sensei was laughing, Mayu found it insulting. And just as he was about to voice his opinion, Sakura beat him to it.

"Hey! What's so funny, sensei?" She seemed more mellow and slightly irritated.

"Well, if I tell you, you'll grow disinterested," Kakashi’s chuckle was hidden behind his gloved hand.

"What?"

"Of the twenty-eight graduates, only nine or ten will be recognized as Genin," Kakashi's tone was serious, any sign of previous laughter gone. "The remaining eight-teen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this exercise is extremely difficult with a failure rate of 64% or higher!" all his students became straight-faced. "See! I told you! You got disinterested!" he accused as he pointed at them with an amused expression no one else shared.

"That's crazy! To have to suffer that much! T- Then, what was the graduation exam for?" Naruto said defensively.

" Oh , that? It was just to select potential candidates to become Genin."

" What?! " Naruto stared in disbelief.

"Well, that's the way it is. But I'll be the one to determine if you pass or not. Bring your complete set of Ninja tools! We'll meet at five in the morning!" Kakashi happily chirped.

Naruto was shaking, "N- No way am I gonna be dropped now! I've got to have my strength recognized for real!"

Sakura was determined, "I'll be separated from Sasuke-kun if I fail this test! This is an exercise of love!"

Mayu was slightly trembling, "I can't give up now, I just made it! Don't worry mom, I'll pass. I will."

Sasuke was silent as his hand shook.

Kakashi got off the railing and turned to face the village, he held up two fingers together in a lazy farewell, "Okay! You're dismissed." he then stopped, seeming to remember something as he looked behind him at his Genin. 

"Oh... And it would be best if you skipped breakfast... or you'll probably throw up." And with that, he Shunshined away with a cloud of smoke.

Chapter Text

It was way too early for this.

Mayu's father had woken him up at three-something in the morning being told he had to get up and look not half-dead by the time his father came back. Both knew it would take him around two hours to get his life together and out the door. 

Mayu groaned a bit into the pillow but still got up. After flinging the blankets off, he travelled around his room to the closet, opened the handle and picked out his regular attire but this time dark, short overalls and a long-sleeved baby-blue shirt that was still too long for him, with a pocket on the right breast.

He grabbed his clothes and went into the hallway to the shower. Mayu made a pit stop at his brother's room to see Haruka sprawled out messily with half the covers pooled on the ground and he looked like he might suffocate with his head face down in his pillow like that. How did he ever sleep like that? Mayu didn't think he would be able to understand. 

He took his shower, despite him almost slipping when he tried to get out but no one needed to know that . Mayu joined his barely awake father in the kitchen before realizing that food doesn't make itself. He made cereal, and all the while his father laughed at him. He pointed down and that’s when Mayu discovered why it was so cold. 

He left his pants in the bathroom. 

He rolled his eyes lazily and trudged back upstairs to put on his overalls.

Once fed and dressed fully, Mayu ran back up the steps to kiss his brother's forehead as a goodbye and wrote a small note to the little devil saying he probably wouldn't be back until dinner. He knew how his brother got when not informed about this type of thing.

--

All four teammates had arrived at the same time.

"Morning," Sakura greeted tiredly while rubbing her eye. She was the only one who was awake enough to say anything. Naruto looked like he just rolled out of bed and threw on clothes in a rush and Sasuke looked like he did every morning, Mayu looked how he felt: tired , but still gave a head nod to be considerate. He knew Kakashi would most likely be late again as Iruka had told him the other day he wasn't a very punctual person.

Mayu sat down right in the middle of the three and hugged his light purple backpack with his knees to his chest, and started sleeping up straight. Naruto appeared jealous at the thought of sleep but stayed standing until the sun was a quarter-way up in the sky. He'd slumped on Mayu’s back and drifted off to sleep land.

Sasuke was irritated at the fact Naruto got to sleep so close to Mayu and that their sensei basically flaked until he decided to show up before nine o'clock. All of his teammates were resting on the ground resting except himself.

"Hiya, folks! Good morning!"

"You're late!" Both Naruto and Sakura accused as they shot their fingers in his direction as Sasuke crouched to wake up Mayu. 

It shouldn't have been too hard to wake someone up, but Mayu was a heavy sleeper with sharp reflexes. Sasuke gently shook Mayu on his shoulder and was almost headbutted by how fast Mayu shot around, startled greatly.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, you see," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. " Ahem! Oh well..." he coughed out and started for one of the three stumps and took out a timer to set it atop. "Okay, it's set for twelve o'clock. Today's assignment is to take these bells away from me by noon," he held up three bells to his Genin. "Those who can't do it, don't get lunch. You'll be tied to that," he explained pointing at the three wood stumps. "And I'll eat my lunch in front of you."

" Lunch...? " Mayu inquired in his head. His mind was still foggy from sleep, he rubbed his eyes and stood up.

All three of his teammates deadpanned as their stomachs growled. "So that was the point... for us not to eat breakfast." Naruto realized.

Sakura suddenly perked up, "But hold on, why are there only three bells?" she held up three fingers.

Kakashi made his renowned close-eye smile. "There are only three, so at the very least, one will have to go to the logs. That person will be disqualified for the mission... and will return to the Academy," he said cheerily. "It might be one person, or you could all fail," he taunted the four innocently. "You can use Shuriken. You won't be able to take these bells away unless you come at me with the intent to kill.”

"But, that's dangerous, sensei!" Sakura exclaimed as she threw her arms wide.

Naruto started laughing, "Y- Yeah that's right. You couldn't even evade a chalkboard eraser!"

"In this world, those who aren't skilled enough tend to complain more. We'll just ignore the loser..." Kakashi fired back. Mayu liked this man . He suddenly got serious, "Begin when I give the 'ready-go' signal.”

" Loser. LosER. LOSER. " was the only thing Naruto heard. He disregarded everything and shot towards Kakashi with a Kunai.

What happened next was too fast to see, Mayu and the others blinked dumbly for a few seconds. Starting back at them was Naruto with his own Kunai pointed at the back of his neck, Kakashi gripping his hand.

"Don't be so hasty. I didn't say start, yet," he stated calmly. He let the blond go after the Genin backed away from them. 

"So fast..."

"No way... I didn't see him at all…”

"So this is a Jounin.”

"But that's okay. You came at me with the intent to kill. How can I put this?... I'm starting to like you guys," Kakashi voiced boldly. "We're going to start. Ready... start. " and with that, all four Genin leapt away. 

"Fundamentally, Shinobi must mask their presence and hide. Okay, everyone's pretty well hidden..." Kakashi then sighed at the sight of his loud, orange-wearing junior.

"Alright! Let's face off fair and square," Naruto announced as he stood in front of his sensei, arms crossed. Mayu, who was in the treetops, sighed and rolled his eyes at the bravery, or stupidity, his teammate must've had.

It was Kakashi's turn to deadpan, " Oh? "

"That goof!" Sasuke whispered to himself. He was peeking through the branches of the tree he was in, not too far off from where the Kim boy was hidden. 

"Say, aren't you a bit... off compared to your teammates?" Kakashi questioned.

Naruto shot back an... insult ? "The only thing off is your hairstyle!"

The owl bounded off because he knew Naruto would make a fool out of himself and didn't want to see the aftermath. 

He slinked farther into the forest to think. 

He could still hear the sounds of their sensei and Naruto's battle. He knew how a Jounin's power level far exceeded any Genin's. Kakashi demonstrated that at the little show Naruto put up for them earlier. 

Maybe... just maybe , if they worked together they could possibly capture the bells, not defeat him, they had a long way to go before they even thought of that. But that was if they would work together.

The thought was enough to give Mayu a headache just imagining.

And so, he sought out the other Genin members of Team 7. He found Naruto first, tied to a tree by his leg, muttering nonsense to himself. Mayu sighed at the need to actually converse with people, but took a breath and tried not to seem too disinterested.

"Oi !" he whispered to the boy. Naruto was frozen as if he had just been caught stealing cookies out of the cookie jar. Slowly, he turned towards the dull voice and then let his muscles relax.

"Wha- Hey! " Naruto shouted as he was cut down from his restraints. He was back on his feet in seconds, "What was that for? You could've at least warned me...” he trailed off as he looked away with a pout. 

"I got you down and that's the point, be grateful. We need to work tog ー " Mayu was ignored and cut off.

"Ah! The test is still going, I have to beat that teme !" Naruto rushed back into the forest. Mayu stared blankly at the place Naruto had just been. 

" ... Great... if all of them are like this... oh boy, " Mayu thought. He closed his eyes and concentrated, looking, feeling , for the other's Chakra presence. 

" Aahhhhhh!!!!! " He winced at the sound, and it looked like Kakashi had found Sakura before he did. He was about to slip back into the woods to find Sasuke or Naruto, again .

Poof.

"Ma!~ There you are.~ I had a harder time finding you, Lucky…”

Chapter Text

Hatake Kakashi had just found his last victim ー read: student.  

Now, Kakashi wouldn't say anything's wrong with this Kim. He was particularly normal. Well , normal compared to the other Kims he's met and that wasn't a large number. He knew that their Clan had been strong but were executed by their original village, Kumogakure , by the previous Raikage because of how hostile they were, especially when it came to protecting their Clan’s Head and each other. 

Kakashi once had a Hidaka teammate ー she was a Hidaka before she married a Kim, though the man’s name always escaped him ー when he still worked under the Yondaime but never knew what happened to them after Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin had died. The man was a bit eccentric and kinda loud but the woman somehow liked him. He knew Mayu had some type of relation to them because their Chakra was frighteningly similar. 

Mayu just peered blankly at Kakashi with his head quirked to the left. The older male scanned the area for a second. He pinched himself, so it wasn't a Genjutsu but something was definitely off. They just studied each other for a few seconds.

Poof.

The boy was gone, vanished from Kakashi's sight in a veil of smoke. Up in a tree, Mayu figured teamwork would be impossible with their current understanding of each other, so he was getting ready to launch a not-so-thought-out plan that was made up in the moment. He used the time his sensei was distracted to sneak down and behind his teacher, stealthily doing a spinning roundhouse kick aimed at Kakashi's head.

Narrowly dodging the attack, Kakashi twisted around to fend off an oncoming attack of skilful kicks and punches from the silver-haired boy. An onlooker might think that the fight was rehearsed by how graceful they both looked like they knew what one another was going to pull.

Mayu was considered a prodigy to the select people that he's let into his life, but Kakashi was deemed and widely known as a prodigy many years ahead of his peers. Mayu was trying beyond his limit to keep up with his sensei, who he guessed wasn't really trying all that hard.

Finally, after a few connected hits from each side, Mayu had done an aerial above Kakashi but he caught one of Mayu's outstretched legs with one hand. He lifted his junior higher in the air and swung him into a large tree to the right of their fight. Mayu barely had any time to react before he was pinned to the now splintered tree by the collar of his shirt.

"Shoot, you caught me," Mayu coughed dryly. The smallest trail of blood dripped from Mayu's parted mouth, down his chin. He knew he was going to hurt tomorrow, especially his back, which was gonna be fun to deal with.

"I've got to say, Lucky , I'm kind of impressed, but at the same time disappointed," Kakashi confessed. He had a tight grip on Mayu's shirt, steadily holding him up even though he just fought 4 Genin back-to-back. "Now, I know you're smart, I've seen it way too many times to think otherwise. Use your head," The faint sound of wind gusting past made Kakashi pause, "... Or ... have you already? "

Kakashi flew back just in time, before what he assumed was a paper bomb, exploded. He couldn't see if Mayu had any more damage because after the smoke cleared, only a crumbling tree stump was in place of Mayu. 

The Hatake inspected his bells ー all three were there.

As soon as the shrill sound of the timer he set had gone off, he Shunshined to their original meeting place. He waited for everyone to arrive and take a seat, though he tied Naruto up as promised. Like Kakashi, Mayu had done a technique similar to his but Kakashi couldn't pin where he saw it from. Mayu saw how stiff Sasuke had gotten and chose to sit by a dejected-looking Sakura. 

Once he knew everyone's attention was on him, even though no one but Mayu was looking at him, Kakashi began.

"Oh, stomachs rumbling. You see, about this exercise... Well! Good news, no need for you guys to go back to the Academy... " Kakashi trailed off as he watched his students cheer.

" Huh? " Naruto's eyes lit up with hope as he began thrashing around in his bonds.

"What? I... All I did was lay unconscious. Is that okay?" Sakura shared with red cheeks. Mayu furrowed his brow as he turned his head fully to look at Sakura, bewildered.

"..." Both Sasuke and Mayu were quiet, though Sasuke had a smirk painted on his face and Mayu sensed a but coming. He knew getting his hopes up was ridiculous when no one seemed to have any bells. So, he waited for the right moment.

"Really? Really? Then- Then that means the four of us..." Naruto was too overjoyed to continue the sentence.

"Yes! The four of you... must quit being Shinobi!" Kakashi got angry, no ー furious as everyone stilled, Mayu signed and his fingers twitched, getting a bit impatient.

" What?! I get that we didn't get the bells, but quit being Ninja?!" Naruto's outburst seemed to be what the whole team was thinking.

"That's because you're little squirts who don't have the qualifications to be Shinobi," Kakashi explained calmly. 

Sasuke ' tch' ed and ran straight at the Hatake. Once again did Hatake Kakashi show why he was a Jounin, he moved too fast for anyone to see, dirt rising up to shield the Genin's view. 

The dirt cleared and Kakashi had taken a seat on Sasuke with the boy's arm in a hold.

"Don't squash Sasuke-kun!!" Sakura cried. The left side of Sasuke's face twitched with annoyance.

"Are you kids thinking that being a Ninja is easy? Huh?" Kakashi raised his only visible brow while his face had taken on a dark shadow. Everyone's eyes widened at the brutality their sensei showed. He looked at all of them, except Sasuke because ー you know ー individually. "Why do you think you're doing this exercise in teams?" when no one answered, he looked at Mayu for a lingering second, "I know you know this, Mayu. How come you aren't speaking up?"

" Huh?! What do you mean?"

"To put it simply, it's as if you guys have no understanding of the answer to this test, or aren't saying anything, " Kakashi jabbed the last part of his speech at Mayu, who sighed in exasperation.

"Answer... ?" Naruto said dumbly, squinting his eyes the way he does when perplexed.

"Yes. The answer that determines the passing or failing of this test," the Hatake was getting fed up at this point.

"That's... what I've been thinking, the answer," it seemed his teammates were genuinely puzzled.

" Wow! Are you guys brainless or what?" Kakashi taunted them, " Don't you get the meaning of a four-person squad?! Mayu! You've sat there quiet this whole time, I wasn't going to call you out but you should've said something to them in the beginning if you already knew the answer so it wouldn't end up as it is now." Mayu blinked hard as his sensei exposed him, expecting to let them fail and call him out way after.

"Well, if I knew we could actually work together, maybe I would've tried harder. I tried Naruto, but that was a bust. I was going to attempt to find Sakura and Sasuke but you appeared before I could, we had our scuffle, I took a bell from you , the timer went off and now ー” Mayu was rudely interrupted for the second time that day.

"What do you mean you 'took a bell'? They're right here... " Their teacher went mute after feeling his side where the bells were supposed to be tied upー one was missing . He looked back at Mayu in stunted silence, " How...? " His mind was racking back to when the Kim could have possibly taken the bell from under his nose. "Where is it?" In response, the silver-haired preteen just shrugged his left shoulder.

As the wind blew past the team, a faint jingle was heard. Everyone looked at Mayu as he slowly brought the silver bell out from his overall’s front pouch, the late afternoon sun glaring off it as it dangled in his small hands. 

Mayu was once again the centre of attention, which made him shift uncomfortably after not having been really focused on since his mother had passed. He shifted to just look at Kakashi, ignoring three burning gazes on the sides of his face. "When you pinned me to the tree and were questioning me. I had a... special Jutsu for that," Mayu had left out the Jutsu name because he feared his sensei's reaction, he'd have to tell him eventually if he was going to be their sensei though.

"Missions are carried out in squads! There's no mistaking a Ninja’s need for unsurpassed individual skills ... But teamwork is considered more important than that. Individual actions that disrupt teamwork throw the team into crisis and lead to death... For example..." he pulled out one of his Kunai from his pouch and held it to the still-captive Sasuke's throat. "'Sakura! Kill Naruto and Mayu, or else Sasuke dies...' " Their sensei seemed to be in a sadistic mood today. All his students tensed and made their protest vocal, Mayu's finger twitched again and Kakashi felt Sasuke flinch the tiniest bit when he said Mayu's name. "... Is what will... happen" As he removed his Kunai, Sasuke gulped with his eyes shut tight. 

Mayu let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The Copy Cat Nin twirled the Kunai around his finger like it was a toy, "On top of a hostage taken, you're faced with two impossible choices and end up being killed. Every mission is a life-risking assignment." He grabbed his weapon, put it back in his Ninja pouch and got off of his brooding student. He started to walk away from the team to a stone Mayu knew all too well. He bowed his head in respect before looking up at Kakashi again. 

"Look at this, the many names engraved on this stone," Sasuke dusted himself off and stumbled his way to Mayu's side, plopping down a bit too close to his crushー read: shortest teammate . "These are all Ninja who are called heroes in this village."

"That that that that! I like that !" Naruto exclaimed happily, thrashing in the rope. "I've decided now to get my name engraved there, too!" He sounded like an excited little kid, Mayu hoped one day his name would end up on the stone beside his mother after he lived life until at least he was no longer able to be of assistance. "A hero! A hero! I'm not going to die like some dog!"

"But... they're not just ordinary heroes,"

"No kidding! Then, what kind of heroes are they?... Hey! Hey! "

"They're heroes who were killed in action." An air of silence hung around the group, Mayu and the others dropped their gazes to the grass-covered ground. 

"Killed in action?" Naruto lost his smile for a split second then was back on grinning.

"It means they died performing a mission." Sakura cleared up and Naruto permanently lost that smile.

The Hatake was staring down at the KIA Stone, "This is a memorial. The names of my friends are also engraved here," he looked to be considering something before turning around and announcing, "I'll give one more chance! However, after noon it'll be a harsher battle to take the bells," He held his hands out for the bells. 

"Those who want to take on the challenge can eat lunch. However, don't let Naruto have any. It's a punishment for breaking the rules and attempting to eat lunch on your own," Naruto made a face. "If someone lets him eat, that person will be disqualified on the spot. I make the rules here. Got it?"

--

Mayu, Sakura and Sasuke were all eating the lunches Kakashi gave them when a loud rumbling caught their attention. Startled, they all turned towards their blond-haired teammate.

"I'm okay with not eating lunch! No sweat at all!" his stomach rumbled again. " No sweat, " he said miserably. At the same time, both boys stopped eating, caught each other's gaze, and held out their bentos for Naruto to eat. 

"Here."

"H- Hey, Sasuke, Mayu! Sensei just saidー !" Sakura said hurriedly.

"It's okay, there's no sign of him now. The four of us are going to take the bells together. It'll be trouble for me if he becomes a hindrance, so..." Sasuke explained, gaze locked on the ground in front of him. Mayu just nodded, not his exact thoughts but along the lines of it.

Sakura debated for a moment before holding her bento out to Naruto, who started crying, "Sakura..." she just smiled, "Thanks."

"Don't thank me. Just hurry up and eat it... It's okay, I'm on a diet anyway, I mean I eat less than Mayu and Sasuke, so don't worry!" She reassured him. When he made no sign of moving to eat it, the Haruno got violent, " What ー ? "

"Hurry it up. We don't know when he'll be back.” Sasuke and Sakura were both getting impatient.

Mayu deadpanned, ready to hit both untied teammates. 

He took the bento out of the violent girl's hand and began feeding Naruto, " Gods, smart people can be so stupid sometimes. "  He muttered to himself in Korean.

Naruto happily began eating, Sakura let out an innocent 'oh' and Sasuke's aura became impossibly darker at the sight of Mayu feeding him. 

After Naruto swallowed his first, and only bite , a huge cloud of smoke covered the surrounding area, Hatake Kakashi's face appeared, " You four! You defied my rules so that means you know what's coming... " he got even scarier by creating a Storm Jutsu ーa genjutsu perhaps ー Mayu's never seen, "Do you have... anything to say?"

Everyone was scared, Sasuke partially shaded Mayu from the brunt of the storm, Sakura covered her head and Naruto looked ready to pass out but spoke frantically, "But you see..."

" What! "

"But! But! You said, sensei! These guys... " Naruto squeezed his eyes shut.

"We're a four-man squad, right?" Sasuke backed him up.

"That's right! The four of us are one, so ー !" Sakura said.

"That's right! That's right! That's right!" Naruto was so excited he got repetitive again.

"The four of you are one, eh?" he said threateningly. " You pass! " He did his renowned eye-smile. They let their guard down to openly be confused, making a bunch of 'huh's?' in chorus. " You pass! " he repeated.

" We passed?! Why?! " 

"You guys are the first. Up until now, it was always a bunch of dunces who would meekly listen to what I said. A Ninja must see through deception. In a world filled with Ninjas, those who break codes and rules are branded as trash... but... those who don't cherish friends are far worse than trash ," All his new Genin let his words sink in and Naruto was about crying, again . 

"He's... He's... kinda cool!"

"That's it for this exercise. Everyone passes! Team 7 starts their first mission tomorrow!" Kakashi threw a thumbs-up at his new students.

"Yes, sir!"

"I did it! I did it! I'm a real Ninja now!"

"Let's go home!" His students followed like obedient ducklings.

"I knew that this would happen! Untie theー "Just like last time, Naruto wasn't prepared and fell flat on his face, " Oh, come on! "

Mayu just turned around, twirled his Kunai in his left hand, caught it and set off running home with a happy heart. His little brother and father would hopefully be proud and not disappointed it took him so long to receive his title of Ninja.

Chapter Text

The sun was shining gleefully down on the Land of Fire, more specifically the Village Hidden within the Leaves. What a bright day it was, calm and vibrant. Perfect day for a mission, don't you think?

"Mayu, point B."

"Sasuke here at point C."

"Sakura here at point D!"

"... Naruto here. I'm at point A!"

Mayu rolled his eyes, "You're too slow, Naruto." 

"Okay, Team 7... Hm?! The target has moved!" Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 stealthily moved through the forest. "Follow it!" a dark shadow darted through the trees at an alarming speed.

"Alright! It's over there!" Naruto crept up to the shadow, hiding behind the trees as were his teammates.

"What's your distance from the target?"

"Five meters... I can go anytime," Mayu thought it was funny how serious they had to take this sort of mission. He knew all missions were ' life or death ' but this was kind of ridiculous. A chorus of ' I'm ready' came after Naruto's response.

"Okay... Do it!" The Genin flew straight at the stilled shadow.

Naruto got to the shadow first, "I got him!" Mayu hand-springed off the ground to keep himself from colliding with Naruto dead-on. 

"Does he have a red ribbon on his left ear? Are you sure it's our target, Tora?"

"It's our target, no mistake," Sasuke confirmed to Kakashi, he totally ignored his blond teammate being mauled by the animal, Mayu and Sakura both watching the cat struggle. The cat looked at them with what Mayu assumed was hatred, but it was a cat , so he didn't know.

He didn't have enough time to react before the honey-coloured cat jumped, screeching from Naruto's vice-grip onto him, claws out to hold on tightly. Mayu gathered the cat by putting his hands under its butt and around its torso so the cat was being held as if it were giving a hug, its head in Mayu's left shoulder, and what got Mayu, it started purring . 

Mayu turned around with a parted mouth and wide eyes as if saying, ' You guys see this too, right?' . Sasuke subconsciously let a small smile slip and stared fondly at Mayu without his teammates noticing, but not their sensei who smirked.

"Alright! The mission 'Capture Tora' is complete." 

"Isn't there a mission that's more important?!" Team 7 was disrupted by Naruto bursting their eardrums.

----

The minute the team stepped into the room, the cat was stolen from Mayu's arms into the Fire Daimyō's fat wife's grubby hands.

"Oh! My cute Tora! I was worried to death!" Madam Shijimi cried, the cat did also... but for a different reason.

"Serves him right, that stupid cat!" Naruto laughed at the mean cat, taunting it by making faces at it.

"No wonder it ran away..." Sakura said sympathetically.

"..." Mayu was still looking at his empty hands as if he wasn't registering what had happened.

Kakashi nudged the boy with his elbow, effectively gaining a side-glare from Sasuke. Kakashi pretended not to notice and focused back on the Hokage.

"Now then, the next mission for Kakashi's Team 7 is... An errand in the neighbouring town, to babysit the Chief Counsellor's boy, helping the dig for potatoes ー "

" No! " Naruto declined everything, quite loudly . "No! No, thank you!" at least the boy had manners, sort of . "As for me, I want to do more, like , exciting missions! Give us something else!" The boy exclaimed, putting his arms into an X-shape.

Although no one voiced their opinion, they all thought the same thing, " He's got a point."

"I thought it was about time for him to get rowdy." Kakashi had faith in his students to continue acting stupid.

" You fool! You're still at the bottom, rookie!" Iruka was furious, going as far as to stand out of his seat and slamming his hands down on the table in front of him and the Hokage. "At the start, everyone moves up the ladder by gaining experience from simple missions!"

"B- But! It's been nothing but blah missions ー !" Naruto was cut off as Kakashi bumped his fist not so lightly on Naruto's head, making him fall to the wood floor.

" Put a lid on it! " 

" Naruto! It's necessary to explain to you what a mission is... Listen to me! Requests pour into the village every day," the Hokage started off, "They range from babysitting to assassinations. A wide spectrum ー " and he continued on, missing that none of Team 7 was paying attention to his speech.

Mayu had heard this speech enough times by now from his late mother's Clan and Academy teachers to know it by heart, he really didn't want to listen to it for the umph-teenth time. He was staring straight at the Hokage's desk daydreaming about getting home to his father, brother and Inu. He'd figure he'd take the duck for a walk, or rather swim , at the pond by his house, he might take his brother if he wanted to come.

Mayu was brought back to Earth when a foot prodded his. He looked up to see Sasuke as the culprit and watched as the other tilted his head towards the Hokage.

"I- I'm sorry," Kakashi stuttered out, it appeared Mayu wasn't the only one not paying attention to their leader.

" Maaan! You're always lecturing me, old man! But I'm not that little prankster that you think I am! Hmph! " He said all of this after turning around and sitting with his legs crossed and hands on his hips. 

" Geez, I'm going to get scolded later... " Kakashi really wished his student would be quiet already.

Both Iruka and the Hokage's face softened into tender expressions, "This kid, who could only express himself through pranks? Okay, fine," Team 7 all let out, ' Huh?'s, "If you insist... I'll have you do a C-ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards to someone." The Hogake finally caved.

" Really?! Who? Who? A feudal lord? Or, a princess?" Naruto started to name off all the important people his excited brain could think of.

"Don't get so hasty! I'll introduce you now. Could you please come in...?'' The last part was directed at a person behind the entrance doors. 

They leaned towards the door in anticipation, though Mayu tried to lean away from a strong smell that rested behind it, covering his nose with his long sleeve. As soon as it opened, the smell intensified, having Mayu stumble backwards into Sasuke, who steadied him with an arm stretched behind him to his waist.

Team 7 was surprised to see an old drunkard man with tanned skin, a straw hat, and a travel bag. "What is this? It's just a bunch of darned squirts!" and rude apparently . 

He drank a long swig of the bad-smelling liquid, Mayu turned his back towards the drunk and stuck his face into Sasuke’s shirt. The Uchiha froze before wrapping an arm around the boy’s neck and back, pulling him closer while lowkey glaring at the man.

"Particularly you, the small one with the idiotic face and the other one, can't even take the smell of a little alcohol. Are you even Ninja?" Team 7 peered blankly at the man, then Naruto burst out laughing.

"Who is he talking about...?" he asked while still laughing, only laughing harder when he saw Mayu shielding his nose. He stopped laughing when Sasuke kicked his legs out from under him, hard. "Hey! Teme, what was that for...?" he trailed off as he felt everyone looking intently at him, he frowned in realization, then all hell broke loose. "I'll kill him!"

Kakashi held Naruto off the ground by the back of his collar as he fought the hold roughly, "What good does killing the client do?" Kakashi inquired innocently.

"I'm Tazuna, veteran bridge builder," the drunkard introduced himself sluggishly. "You'll be risking life and limb in guarding me to the max until I return to my land and complete my bridge!"

----

The whole of Team 7 and Tazuna set off out of the main gate onto a thick path surrounded by forest. Naruto hurried and took the lead, Tazuna and Kakashi not far behind with Sasuke, Mayu and Sakura trailing after them. 

Naruto suddenly spun around, "All right! We're off!" he shouted loudly, making the rest of the team sigh. 

"What're you so excited about?" Sakura asked.

"You see, I've never left the village before," Naruto confessed, hand over his brow, searching the area.

" Hey! Am I really safe with this squirt?" Tazuna turned his head back and pointed at Naruto. He seemed to enjoy making fun of the Genin, more so the blond.

"I'm a Jounin. I'll be watching him. There is no reason to worry." Kakashi said calmly, though his face was stuck in that suspicious orange book. 

Naruto got mad after both comments, crossing his arms with a dark cloud surrounding him. " Anyone but this old dude, man... He's really the worst client! I'll tell him a thing or two."

" Hey! Old man!" He finally burst back, pointing at the bridge builder. "Don't be mocking Ninja so much! I'm awesome, you see. I'm a super-elite Ninja who'll become Hokage one day! My name's Uzumaki Naruto, remember it well!” His declaration made Mayu look down, shifting his rucksack's strap. 

"The Hokage's supposed to be the top dog in the village, isn't he? You don't look like you could." Tazuna shot back.

" Ahh! Shut up!" Naruto raged. "I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to become Hokage! You'll have no choice but to acknowledge me then!" a vein was popping out of Naruto's forehead.

"I'll never acknowledge you, squirt... Even if you become the next Hokage! "

" What?! I'll kill you!" Once again, for the second time that day , Naruto was trying to kill their client, which led to Kakahi, once again , lifting him off the ground so he couldn't.

"I told you to stop, you moron!" Kakashi sweatdropped. Tazuna finally started to follow the path.

--

"Say... Tazuna-san?" Sakura broke the silence.

"What is it?"

"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?" when he affirmed, she continued, "Say, Kakashi-sensei...? Are there Ninja in the Land of Waves?"

Mayu wanted to roll his eyes but he knew not everyone had been to different villages as often as he used to, Naruto was an example of that.

Kakashi responded anyway, "No, there aren't any Ninja in the Land of Waves. But in other nations, despite customs and cultures that are different, Hidden Villages exist, and Ninja are there. To the many nations of this contin ー ”

Mayu stopped listening.

"No kidding, Lord Hokage is that incredible!" Sakura then doubted her statement in her head and so did Naruto.

"Hey! " Kakashi yelled at them. "You guys just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you?" Both Naruto and Sakura furiously shook their heads, Mayu did so subtly ー he trusted the Hokage with too many things not to. "Well, don't worry. There are no Ninja battles on C-ranked missions," he got back on track, Mayu raised an eyebrow at that, anything could happen. 

"Then there's no worry of getting into a scrap with foreign Ninja... !" Sakura sounded relieved. 

"Of course not!"

Sasuke kept an eye on the bridge builder.

--

Mayu swept his foot through the puddle to the side of their path. He looked down when he felt something besides water ー Chakra . He subtly glanced at Kakashi, who caught his eye and ever so slightly nodded, he then put a finger to his mouth. He tried to see if anyone else noticed it but it seemed it was only him and Kakashi because everyone walked right past it without acknowledgement. 

Chains and two people leapt out of the puddle, immediately wrapping the spiked chains around their sensei. "The first one!" They pulled hard and Kakashi was shredded to pieces. 

"K- Kakashi-sensei?!" All his students were paralyzed with surprise.

"The second one!" They flung their chains to get Naruto next but were stopped by Sasuke and Mayu. Mayu's Shuriken interjected, flying fast through the air to trap the chains to a tree, Sasuke reinforced it with his Kunai. 

"It doesn't come off!" one of them shouted to the other, both pulling hard to get it unlodged. Naruto was frozen, Mayu stood protectively in front of him with his special Kunai in his left hand and right hand in a fist by his face, stance ready for a fight. Sasuke had jumped on the arms connected to the chain of the masked men and kicked out, each leg went straight into their faces, pushing them apart. 

At the same time, the two Ninja released their chains, claws out. 

One headed towards Mayu and the still-frozen Naruto while the other ran to Sakura and Tazuna. "Get back, sir!" Sakura was prepared, Kunai in hand ready to protect their client from trouble. Mayu had just kicked one of the men away from him and Naruto after being scraped by their claws when smoke invaded their vision and Kakashi stood with both Ninja, who went limp, in a chokehold. 

"Yo... " was the first thing he said to his students like he wasn't just dead a couple of minutes ago.

" Yay!... Kakashi-sensei's alive! "

" Hmph... Show off."

"What? Then, what was that... ?" Naruto said, puzzled as he looked back to the place where their sensei was supposedly ripped to shreds, only to find logs ー it was a Substitution Jutsu . 

"Mayu. Sorry, I couldn't help you sooner. I got you hurt," After Kakashi said that, Naruto whipped around to Mayu, surprised that one of his teammates got hurt because of him. "I didn't think Naruto would be incapable of moving and not protecting himself," he confessed a bit quieter so the blond wouldn't hear, Mayu just shrugged, holding his hand close to his body in a tight grip to try and stop the bleeding. "Anyhow, let me just say this, good job, Sasuke, Mayu. You too, Sakura." Kakashi praised.

" I... couldn't do anything. This was Mayu and Sasuke's first real battle," Naruto thought, looking at the pair, Sasuke discreetly asked Mayu if he needed any medical supplies. " Didn't they feel any fear, any at all? They saved me like it was nothing, Sasuke doesn't even have any dirt on him while Mayu only has his own blood stuck to his sleeve, but that was my fault because I didn't move… " Naruto was broken out of his troubling thoughts when Sasuke called out to him.

"Hey,"

"Huh?! "

Sasuke smirked, "Are you hurt... scaredy-cat? " he taunted. Mayu was trying to figure out if the claws that cut him had any poison, and seeing as he was starting to feel a little lightheaded, it probably did . 

Before Naruo could start another fight with Sasuke, Kakashi shushed him, "These guys have poison on their claws, we should get Mayu some medical attention," he walked over to Mayu and crouched down, "You need to get the poison out quickly," after he finished he realized Mayu had already dug a Kunai out and was shakily making the cut a bit deeper, trying to flush the poison out.

He nodded and patted the boy's head in approval, "If you need help, just ask, got it?" the owl ' eung' ed and Sasuke's glare pierced his back as he walked away to tie up the rogue Ninja, Sasuke took his place with Mayu. "By the way, Tazuna-san..."

"Wha- What is- is it?" the poor man stuttered.

"I have something to talk to you about."

--

"Chunin from Kiri... These guys are known to continue fighting, no matter the sacrifice." Everyone was listening to Kakashi speak while in front of the Ninja.

"How were you able to detect our movements?" one of them questioned glaring. 

When Kakashi was about to answer, a small voice beat him to it, "Your little puddle." was his simple answer and went back to treating his wound. Sasuke caught himself staring a couple of times, with Kakashi also seeing when he looked at his tallest student looking at their Korean teammate. 

"If Kakashi knew this, why did he leave the fighting to you kids?" Tazuna asked towards Mayu but he didn't answer, listening while digging through his bag for medical gauze. He tugged Sasuke's finger and asked for water, which he happily obliged. He helped Mayu wrap the gauze after he washed his wound off. 

Instead, Kakashi responded with, "If I felt like it, I could kill these guys instantly. But... I had to know, who the target of these enemies was,"

" Hm? What do you mean?" Tazuna asked innocently.

"In other words, what I mean is I had to know if it was you, or one of us Shinobi... who the target was. We haven't heard anything about you being targeted by Ninja. The content of the request was supposed to just be protection from gangs, thieves and the like. This is a mission with a B-rank or higher. The request was supposed to be for backup protection until you finished your bridge. If our enemies were to be Ninja, the mission would've been estimated without question as an expensive 'B-rank' mission," Kakashi was staring intently at the bridge builder. "It appears there's some good reason for this, but being lied to do the request won't do. This is beyond the scope of our mission," Kakashi ended his rant.

"This mission is too soon for us... Let's give up! We need an anesthetic to open Mayu's wound and get out the poison in his blood," it looked as though Sakura wasn't paying attention to Mayu when he swiftly took care of his injury, he gave her a 'shut up' look whilst flexing his hand to make sure the bandage wasn't too tight.

"No, we don't. If we came this far already, it's useless to turn back. I don't give up so easily, I try. I don't need a doctor, I'm the next best thing to that out here. My mother... my mother had taught me some Iryō Ninjutsu, I know enough to stay alive. And I hope you can mind your own business, too," he muttered the last part in Korean because he didn't want to let Kakashi hear him being too rude. This made Sakura look down at the powerful gaze that Mayu glared at her with. Mayu hardly looked people in the eye because his own were very intense and tended to make others uncomfortably red in the face.

"Why am I so different?! Why's it always me... Damn it! I should be getting stronger. Here I am, steadily carrying out missions and doing special-skill training by myself every day. I'll never get into another situation where I'll have to be rescued again. I'll never be afraid or cowardly. I won't lose to Sasuke or Mayu. I'll protect you, old man! With this Kunai knife," He held up an irregular Kunai that Kakashi raised an eyebrow at and Mayu mentally freaked out seeing as it was one of his special Kunai.

He quickly ducked down, grabbed his Kunai from Naruto and replaced it with a regular one from his pouch. Naruto got the tiniest bit red from embarrassment but held the new Kunai stronger.  " This Kunai!"

"The mission continues!"

Chapter Text

Mayu was still a bit dizzy from the aftereffects of the poison. The boat, mist and rocking of the waves didn't help either. He could barely see Naruto's bright blond hair if not for the colour. He sat in between Sasuke and Kakashi, up against the boat.

"This is quite some fog. I can't see anything," Sakura said while trying to look around.

"The bridge should be visible soon," the man with the paddle said, he had kept relatively quiet throughout the trip so far. Mayu always flinched softly when someone spoke, he really couldn't see anything. "Once we reach the side of the bridge, we'll be in the Land of the Waves."

" Wow!! It's huge! "  Mayu winced at the sound.

" H- Hey! Please keep it down!" The rower scolded Naruto after his outburst. "I took this boat out under cover of the fog. And cut the engine and am rowing by hand," Mayu rolled his eyes at that, Team 7 was just as loud as a circus once you got them started. "If they find us, we'll be in deep trouble."

"Tazuna-san," Kakashi looked over at the bridge builder, "I want to ask you something before we arrive at the pier. The identity of your assailants, and the reason why they're after you. If you don't tell us... our mission may end once we land." everyone at this point was staring at Tazuna waiting for his answer, Mayu fought to keep his head from rolling to the side.

"It appears I have no choice but to tell you. Frankly, I'd like you to listen. Just as you said, this may be beyond the scope of your mission. Actually, I'm being targeted by a terrifying man," Tazuna answered seriously. 

"A terrifying man? Who?"

"You guys have probably heard of him. A shipping magnate by the name of Gato," Tazuna confessed.

"What? Gato... of the Gato Company?" Their sensei appeared to know who he was talking about, the other four didn't even have an idea besides the guy was trouble. "One of the world's richest men?"

"Who? What?"

"Yes. On the surface, he's the CEO of a shipping company... But underneath, he is into drug trafficking and deals in contrabands using gangs and Ninja. Moreover, he runs a despicable business, ruthlessly taking over nations and enterprises," Tazuna continued. "It was about one year ago when that man laid his eyes on the Land of Waves. He used his wealth and violence to enter this country, and before anyone knew it, he'd taken complete control of the island's maritime transporting and shipping. Having control over the ocean, in a place like the Land of Waves, he controls the finances, the government, the people... everything ," Mayu let his head roll onto Kakashi's shoulder, shutting his eyes lightly. Kakashi just saw his face and lightly shrugged as if to say 'Whatever' .

"The one thing that Gato fears... is the completion of the bridge that has been under construction for some time now,"

"I see," Sakura said softly. "Since you're building the bridge, you've become a hindrance."

Sasuke turned to look at Sakura, "Then, those Ninja from before were Gato's men?"

"But I don't understand. Your opponent is a dangerous one, who'll even use Ninja. Why did you hide that fact when you made your request?" Kakashi still didn't understand.

"Poverty," Mayu mumbled. "If the Land of Waves  is in a poor state, what makes you think that just because he's the bridge builder , that the old man  would be any different? " His explanation was broken by the switching from Japanese and Korean. It came out muffled as he buried his head in Kakashi's shoulder. He didn't wait for a response before knocking out, completely missing Kakashi and Sasuke's soft cooing.

----

The silver-haired owl was woken up by a bright light glaring at him and a hand shaking his shoulder. Immediately, he shot his hand out to grab the wrist and wrenched it off him, making it still. He opened his eyes wide when he heard several gasps. He then slowly released the caged hand, blinking long and hard a couple times. The hand turned out to be Kakashi, who had been trying to wake Mayu up, not expecting that reaction, well , no one did.

"Hey, sleepy . Mind getting up? We still have to continue the mission," Kakashi said coolly.

" Huh? " His sensei had given the boy a hand to help him out of the boat. Mayu took the hand with a nod of thanks, almost missing the dock and was back on land, not caring to let go. He looked disoriented so the Hatake just went with it.

"This is as far as I go. See you 'round.” The rower then started his motor and rode off.

"Okay, get me home safely."

"Right," Kakashi quickly thought, " When they attack next, it won't be Chunin, but an elite-level Jounin. Crikey! "

Three Genin were in the front, making a triangle with Naruto in the lead. Sasuke had taken place next to Naruto, who suddenly sped up and then threw a Kunai, " There! "

Everyone was startled, Mayu tightening his grip on his senior's hand. " Heh ... just a mouse," Naruto said proudly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Quit trying to show off! There was nothing there in the first place!" Sakura aggressively stated. Mayu just stared at the spot opposite to where Naruto threw the Kunai, he too felt the presence of something.

"Please, Naruto. Don't use Kunai so recklessly. They're really dangerous," Kakashi scolded for what seemed like the millionth time.

Everything was quiet for a second before, "Hey, brat! Don't be doing anything confusing!" Tazuna was shaking in fright and anger at the same time.

" Huh?! I sense a presence over there! No , there!" Naruto said while pointing to the bush, Mayu nodding his head, "See! Even Mayu, Mayu, of all people , acknowledges that!" Naruto threw another Kunai where Mayu was staring. 

"Stop it, already!" Sakura was done. Mayu ignored her and walked to the bush, crouching down and pushing back the brush. The Kunai the blond had thrown had almost beheaded the white rabbit that was frozen in fear. It immediately jumped to Mayu, he then felt something coming at them, fast.

Mayu suddenly stepped forward and tripped but was caught, he and his saviour both falling towards the ground after losing balance, " Yah! Duck! " his voice boomed just before everyone jumped to the ground when a very large sword flew through the air, cutting the smallest bit of Naruto's hair from his head. A large grey man was suddenly standing on the grip of the sword, facing away from Team 7. 

Kakashi and the man had a stare down for a second, "If I'm not mistaken, he's..." everyone got off the ground. Mayu had a couple fresh scrapes added to his knees and hands, he then checked Sasuke, his saviour, who only had a scratch or two on his arm.

Naruto put his hands on his thighs, bending forwards and sweating, "Here we go, here we go, here we go!" he then glanced at Sasuke and Mayu, " I'm going to do it this time! I won't lose to those two! "

"Well, well..." Kakashi said as he walked towards the bandaged man with a cool expression and his hands in his pockets. "If it isn't the rogue Ninja of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi!"

"Rogue Ninja? Whatever. What's important now is... ready..." Naruto was muttering to himself as he got into a runner’s starting pose, " Go! " and tried sprinting past Kakashi to their enemy. Though he didn't get quite far, their Jounin sensei stopped him. 

"You're in the way," he calmly stated to his bold student, "Get back, you guys."

And of course, Naruto had something to say to that, " Why?! "

"He's on a totally different level than the guys from the other day," Kakashi closed his eyes, "Him being our opponent means..." all his Genin's made noises of realization. "... that things might be tricky as I am now," his hand strayed to his Ninja headband, to the side that fell over his left eye.

"I assure you're Kakashi, the Sharingan user..." as soon as those words left the rogue Nin's mouth Sasuke scoffed in disbelief, glaring holes into the back of his teacher's head. "Sorry, but I'll have you hand over the old man," Zabuza kept his glare solely on the silver-haired man. 

" Huh? Huh? What's a Sharingan? "

"What? What is he talking about? Is this guy strong? Sharingan... "

"Get into Manji battle formation, you guys," Kakashi didn't take his focus off Zabuza when commanding his students. "Protect Tazuna. Don't involve yourselves in the fight."

"Huh?"

"That's teamwork in this situation," The Hatake slowly but surely lifted his hitai-ate up, uncovering his vision. 

A brilliant red, in Mayu's opinion, glared in the sun. Kakashi's left eye had a healed scar vertically running through it, a three-combed Sharingan in place of his other black eye. Mayu didn't think his teacher had any Uchiha blood, he didn't know how to go about the situation apart from ignoring it at the moment and asking questions later.

"Fight me." The statement was firm.

Naruto was confused and a bit frightened, " W- What 's this eye? "

"Well, now, I never expected to see the rumoured Sharingan this soon... This is an honour," the man finally turned around to face them and Mayu got a clear look at hard worked-defined muscle. He wasn't drooling but he closed both eyes to focus on his surroundings, pulling out his special Kunai and following his sensei's instructions from earlier, taking his place behind the old man.

Sasuke shifted closer to Mayu, seeking comfort in his presence before explaining his Clan's legacy, "... Sharingan. A power that the light of the eye generates, and the pupil emanates. The user of the so-called Visual Jutsu is said to possess the vision to see through all Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu, and is able to deflect them. The Sharingan is a type of eye that is unique to the user of the Visual Art . However, that's not the only power of the Sharingan," Sasuke ended up glaring harshly at the ground.

"Well said. That's not all," Zabuza continued for him. "What's more frightening is that such an eye can assess an opponent's technique and copy it," Mayu was starting to sweat at this point, he'd never heard an in-depth explanation of the Uchiha's Sharingan, only read short blubs of it in his random Ninja books. If that eye could copy techniques, Mayu could be in trouble with some of his precious Jutsu, not that there were a lot because they weren't ready to be executed to the world just yet. 

"When I was an ANBU Black Ops of Kiri, searching for information about you was in the Bingo book I would carry around with me. There was also something else in the book... about the man who’s copied over one thousand skills, Kakashi the Copy Ninja." The fog had seeped in through the forest, hindering the vision of everyone with their eyes open.

" What? Kakashi-sensei is really that incredible Ninja? "

" W- Wow! "

" I don't think anyone but him knows the truth behind that eye, he's clearly not an Uchiha, I can confidently say that, "

" What does this mean? The Sharingan... is a special trait that appears in only a select few, even among the Uchiha clan. Could it be, that this guy... "

"Let's end the talk here," Zabuza crouched on his sword. "I must kill that old man immediately," the Genin positioned themselves in the rest of the Manji formation, Kunai out and ready. "But, it seems I have to defeat you first." he declared, grabbed his sword out of the tree so quickly and disappeared even faster.

The water rippled ever so slightly, "Over there!"

"And he's even on the water?"

Zabuza was standing on the water, one arm reached straight above him whereas the other was held up to his mouth, both making an incomplete Ram seal. Water droplets flew around him on the lake, like a cyclone of visible drops.

"He's building up quite a bit of Chakra, Kakashi!" Mayu warned.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu ," Zabuza was engulfed in the water cyclone, leaving nothing but a falling leaf to dance on the surface.

"He's vanished?! Sensei!"

Kakashi walked to the front of the group, "He'll probably come to erase me first... Zabuza Momochi. He's an ex-ANBU Black Ops member from the Hidden Mist and is commonly known as ' The Silent Killing ' technique expert. As the name suggests, it's a killing skill that's implemented in an instant of silence," Kakashi said as he faced the water. "By the time you realise it, it's possible you may find yourself in the afterlife. I haven't totally mastered the use of my Sharingan. So don't lower your guard, you guys," an eerie silence hung over the group. "If we fail, we only lose our lives." their sensei was too casual for his own good. Mayu deadpanned.

"The mist is steadily getting thicker!" Naruto said.

Tazuna had to make another snarky remark, "The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean. So mist rises easily." He glared as the mist grew heavier.

" Eight spots, " the voice came from nowhere yet everywhere at the same time. " The larynx, the spine, the lung, the liver... the jugular and the subclavian veins, the kidneys and the heart... " Mayu shuddered the slightest bit, knowing all vital spots were extremely deadly zones. " Now then, which vulnerable spot would be good? " 

Kakashi put his hands into the Ram seal, Mayu felt his sensei build an extensive amount of Chakra, so much so that it became the distinguishable blue that most Chakra was, sphering around the man. He released it, clearing the majority of the mist from their vision. Blue outlined his figure as Sasuke's breathing got heavy, wild-eyed.

" What an intense thirst for blood! If I take one breath or move my eye, I'll be marked and killed ー that's what I'm feeling, " Sasuke was frozen. " If I'm stuck like this for an hour, I'll go mad. Facing a Jounin's intent to kill... this sensation is like having my life being held in limbo, " he started shaking, tightening his grip on his Kunai. " No way! I'd rather die to escape this feeling! " the Kunai trembled as it got closer and closer to his thigh. Mayu shakily grabbed the back of Sasuke's neck, affected by the bloodlust, also.

" Sasuke ," the soft voice of Mayu entered Sasuke's full brain. Mayu just continued to look forward, lightly tugging on the dark hair with his fingers, then let go when Sasuke's shaking ceased.

"Sasuke. Don't worry. I'll protect you with my life. I will not allow my comrades to be killed." Kakashi smiled his renowned eye smile.

The moment was ruined by their current threat, Zabuza, "I wonder about that..." he appeared through the mist, directly in between Mayu and the bridge builder. Mayu spun around and got in front of the client so quickly, he looked like a blur. "It's over."

Kakashi stared at Zabuza for a split second before running over to him trying to overpower his silver-haired student. Mayu was holding his own against the rogue Nin, left hand turning white with the amount of force he was resisting with. Zabuza let out an amused chuckle, frightening Mayu even more though no one could see with the small frown that rested on his face. 

Zabuza's eyes flashed, "Nice Kunai," he said so lowly no one else heard, Mayu's eyes widened. The owl’s ear twitched, shoving his Kunai against the huge sword and kicking the swordsman in the chest, "Oh, feisty yet blank. Reminds me of a certain pompous Clan, " he watched Mayu as if expecting him to do something before Kakashi so graciously stabbed the man where Mayu previously kicked.

Water flowed out of the stab wound like a waterfall, not blood. Another Zabuza flashed behind Kakashi, Naruto loudly calling it out to their sensei. 

Kakashi spun around just as the Water Clone in front of him dispersed back into the water. Zabuza swung his huge sword with a, " Die! " aimed at the Copy Nin. Zabuza literally disconnected their sensei's torso from his lower half. Red covered the air for the slightest second, then rained water. 

Their sensei had somehow copied the rogue, recreating a Kakashi Water Clone without anyone noticing. " Water Clone Jutsu? " Zabuza's mind was buzzing. " It can't be! " he thought back to when he disappeared on the water, " In the mist... Did he actually copy me? " 

A blade was placed to his neck from behind. "Don't move!" Kakashi said. "It's over."

The restrained man only chuckled darkly.

Chapter Text

"Did you say it's over? " Zabuza continued to chuckle despite having a knife pressed against his throat. "You don't understand, do you?" Kakashi looked as if his patience was running thin. "You won't be able to beat me just by making like a monkey... No chance," he laughed again, "But, I must say you're good. My Water Clone was being copied during your little speech. By letting the Clone talk as if it were you, you succeeded in distracting me. And you used the Hidden Mist Jutsu to hide yourself to see what I was doing. Impressive, but..." Another Zabuza jumped behind Kakashi, " I'm not a fool. " 

The Clone in front of him fell into the water once again, "That one was a fake, too?!" Zabuza was quick to not waste time, swinging his sword at Kakashi, who ducked just in time. The force of the swing left the sword lodged in the dirt, Zabuza only switched hands to push himself into a kick that sent Kakashi flying. While he was still airborne, Zabuza dislodged his sword and ran full speed at Kakashi. He stopped just before the water, muttering something about spikes, then dove into the lake.

The Genin were freaking out, their sensei was so easily kicked down. Kakashi's head emerged from the water then floated for a couple of seconds, "Kakashi! There's Chakra in the water, get out already!" Mayu shouted to his sensei, " What is he doing? Playing in it? " Kakashi only had time to widen his eyes before Zabuza was making hand seals, up to no good.

Kakashi was then sealed in a Water Prison Jutsu . Zabuza had to keep one hand in the Jutsu to leave it working. "You're caught! It's a special prison that makes it impossible to escape! It makes things harder having you able to act. Now... Kakashi. I'll have to settle things with you later. First, I'll finish off these guys," Zabuza said. " Water Clone Jutsu... " a figure formed out of the water and took the shape of Zabuza.

"You're acting tough, wearing a headband like a Ninja... But a real Ninja is one who has hovered between life and death numerous times. In other words, only those who are worthy of being listed in my Bingo Book deserved to be called Ninja. Guys like you can't be Ninja," Zabuza proclaimed. He made the mist so heavy, Mayu could put his hand right up to his face and not see it.

Naruto was suddenly kicked back, Ninja headband going astray. The rogue Nin only stepped on the band while the boy landed harshly on his back. "You're just a kid!"

"Naruto!"

"You four! Take Tazuna and run! You have no choice against this guy!" Kakashi said it loud enough so his Genin could hear. Naruto was shaking. "As long as he has me trapped in this Water Prison , he won't be able to move from here. And he shouldn't be able to use his Water Clone Jutsu if he's far enough from his real body! In any case, just run for now!"

"Run... away?" Mayu called out bewildered. "Who's to say he won't come for us after? He could easily kill you then hunt us down and do the same. I'm not going to run from the inevitable, I'll try my hand at this. You're not getting rid of this troublesome bunch just yet."

" Running away was out of the question the second you got caught, " Sasuke added through thought. He scoffed then barreled towards the Water Clone . He threw a few Shuriken at the Clone but were deflected by one swipe of its sword. "There...!" Sasuke jumped at the Clone with a Kunai in hand. 

"Too easy," the Clone said, grabbing Sasuke by the neck, choking him before hazardly throwing him off to the side. Mayu simply looked at the Clone who stared back, eyes flashing darker shades.

Poof.

Mayu was suddenly to the side of the Clone, swiping his leg under the Clone's feet, effectively tripping it only to have it right back standing after a hand-spring. "Finally deciding to play, huh?" the Clone taunted.

The Clone and Mayu circled each other, glaring. Mayu poofed out of existence once more with a purple flash, appearing above the Clone, landing on its shoulder just to kick off, sending the Clone staggering forward. The Water Clone spun around, eyes deadly. "Yeah. Playtime, " Mayu responded lowly.

The Clone threw the sword at the kid, who disappeared at the last second, only nicking the smallest amount of blood. Mayu was then leaning over with one foot on the handle of the sword, calmly twirling his Kunai with his left hand, disregarding his nicked rib. He looked dangerously calm, only a bead of sweat trailing down his porcelain skin. The Clone was getting frustrated. 

The Clone just barely caught the smirk he had before his own sword was pierced through his back. He dumbly looked at the sword that was coming out of his body along with water, the Clone blinked slowly, becoming water once more. Mayu was about to go for the real one when he tripped over something shiny with a 'humph' . 

His team was stumped, they could only stare blankly at their teammate and student, never seeing someone move so fast. Kakashi was now more than ever reminded of his Hidaka teammate during the war. 

Zabuza simply laughed with astonishment, "That wasn't surprising in the slightest, I'd guess young Kim, or should I say Hidaka ?"

Kakashi's head whipped around so fast to stare at his now deeply frowning student who was intently staring at the ground, "Please know that I'm no longer anything to that Clan, nor are they anything but dead to me," his voice had underlying tones of anger. Mayu picked up Naruto's now bent hitai-ate in his head, bending it back straight then wiped the dirt off and calmly gave it to a less trembly Naruto, who could only silently gap.

"Mayu ー !" Kakashi was cut off by the male giving a look of 'I'll-have-to-explain-later-anyways '.

Naruto tied his headband roughly back on his head then looked straight at Zabuza, "Mayu, Sasuke! Lend me your ears!"

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I have a plan."

"You're actually talking of teamwork, hm?" Mayu said.

" W- What is this feeling? Was Naruto so...? " Sakura was stunned into silence.

"Now, let's get wild...!" Naruto said while whipping his mouth with his sleeve.

Sakura stayed put in front of the bridge builder in case anything went wrong. "Such loud snorting, but do you have a winning plan?"

Kakashi was worrying, "What are you guys doing? I told you to run! Your mission is Tazuna, or did you forget that?!"

"I already said I'd try , didn't I?" Mayu snapped back, eyes becoming darker purple.

"Old man..." Naruto said disheartened. Tazuna only put his head down, straw hat covering his face. 

"Well... This is a seed I planted... I can't say I want my life to be spared. Sorry, you guys. Fight as much as you like!"

Both Mayu and Sasuke smirked, "You hear that?" Sasuke said to them.

Naruto only grinned, "Are you ready?" Zabuza's shoulders shook as he laughed.

"You guys really haven't learned anything, have you? You two are still playing Ninja? The Hidaka brat is the only one I see. When I was your age, this hand was already stained red in blood!" he held his remaining hand up with a crazed look in his eyes. Mayu could only turn his head.

"Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist." 

The said man turned to Kakashi, " Oh ... It seems as though you've heard of me?"

Kakashi squinted his eyes, "A long time ago, in the Mist Village, often called the town of the Blood Mist, Ninja candidates faced their biggest hurdle,"

"So you know of that graduation exam... The students killed each other, " the silence was tense. "Classmates who shared rice from the same pot formed pairs and tried to kill each other. It didn't end until one of them died. Partners who talked about their dreams and aspirations..."

"Ten years ago, Kiri’s graduation exam was forced to undergo a drastic reform. That was because an evil demon appeared on the scene the previous year. With no scruples or hesitation... a young boy who didn't even have to qualification to be a Ninja, annihilated over a hundred examinees,"

Zabuza had a frightening look in his eyes, " Sure was fun! " he laughed at the Genin's scared faces. 

Naruto put his hands into a seal horizontally from his mouth, " Shadow Clone Jutsu! " His clones started to pop up everywhere. 

"Ah... Shadow Clone Jutsu and there are quite a few of them,"

"Here I go!" Naruto shouted. His Clones all flew at Zabuza, surrounding him from head to toe, but somehow, he was still able to keep his hold on Kakashi in his Water Prison . 

Zabuza let out an angry sound, disbanding the Shadow Clones and scattering them along the land. As Naruto was sliding across the ground, Clones around him poofed into smoke. He retched into his travel bag, "There's only one way left to defeat this guy!" he threw a large Shuriken at Mayu, "Mayu!"

As he caught the weapon, his eyes widened, "I see," he shook out the Shuriken, catching Sasuke's attention, who had unnoticeably handed Mayu another one. " Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows ,"

"A Shuriken won't work on me," Zabuza reasoned. Mayu jumped into the air, performing flips to help the momentum of the weapon and threw it, letting it glide through the air with ease. "It's not that easy!" he said as he caught the Shuriken with his open hand. Another Shuriken came out of the shadow of its brother, " A Shuriken in the Shuriken's shadow...! This is... the Shadow Shuriken Jutsu! " he simply jumped over it while still holding both the Water Prison and the other Shuriken. " But... still too naïve ... "

Sasuke smirked, the Shuriken Zabuza jumped over disappeared in a puff, Naruto spun out of the smoke caused by the Jutsu, Kunai in hand. "Here it is!" the Kunai was released, hurling at the surprised rogue.

He recovered quickly, removing his hand from the Water Prison , not before getting a small scratch. "You little brat!" Zabuza used the decoy Shuriken from before to fly at the descending blond.

Zabuza was getting ready to launch the weapon when Kakashi stopped it before his hands had a chance to let go. Naruto hit the water after catching sight of a dripping-wet Kakashi single-handedly stopping the Shuriken, seeing his clenched fist dripping blood through his glove guards.

Kakashi's glare was deadly, piercing Zabuza's unfocused eyes. "Naruto, your strategy was outstanding. You've grown up... all three of you." Naruto snickered, unashamed.

"I got distracted and broke my Water Prison ."

"That's not it!" Kakashi was dead focused on Zabuza now. "You didn't break the Jutsu... They forced you to break it!" Zabuza had a vein in his forehead threatening to burst. "I'll tell you now, the same Jutsu won't work on me twice. So what will you do?" Kakashi's blood continuously dropped into the lake, the only noise in the clearing aside from heavy breathing.

Pit pat.

Pit pat.

The three Genin were flanking Tazuna, Mayu on the outside of Sasuke, Tazuna between him and Sakura, "Mayu, Sakura! Stay alert," Sasuke said as he stepped up, covering Tazuna while Mayu and Sakura stayed glued to his side. 

Zabuza's eye twitched, closing the Shuriken to its folded form and applying pressure to the back of Kakashi's hand. Kakashi brought his fist closer to his chest before swinging out, the Shuriken going soaring.

Both Jounin Nin jumped away from each other. 

Zabuza started to create hand seals, Kakashi instantly copying him. Both ended with the Bird seal, two giant Water Dragons the product of the extensive seals. 

The dragons collided, the pressure so heavy that the force created a tsunami through the water and onto the land.

Mayu chucked his special Kunai to a tree, grabbed Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna's shirts and transported them to the weapon lodged in the tree. His teammates and client left green and froze from the travel. 

Naruto floated back to the top of the lake while his sensei and enemy danced with their swords and Kunai in the middle of it. " Strange. What's going on? The Sharingan is the ability to memorize and copy the enemy's Jutsu... but... the Jutsu was set in motion at the same time! By any chance is this guy... " A figure dressed in Kirigakure's traditional pinstripe outfit stood in a tree across the clearing, watching the fight.

Both men doing copious amounts of movement, Kakashi, staying true to his name, copied everything Zabuza did at the same time, resulting in Zabuza freaking out. 

"What's going on, Sasuke?" Sakura said to the Uchiha.

" This guy... My movements...! He's perfectly ー ”

" ー reading them." Kakashi finished off Zabuza's thoughts while continuing to copy him. 

" What? He's reading my mind?! Blast him! He's ー "

" ー g iving me that barren, evil eye... right?" Kakashi said aloud once again.

"Hah! You're just copying... You're a pale imitation."

" You won't be able to beat me! " Both Kakashi and Zabuza said at the same time. " You! "

"I'll shut that copycat monkey mouth permanently!" Zabuza was stunned. He started with seals again, Kakashi stayed still this time. "What's that?" his eyes were bloodshot, staring at the shadow that appeared behind Kakashi on the water. " Me? Ridiculous! Is that his Genjutsu? " he thought as the shadow morphed into himself.

" Water Style! Giant Vortex Jutsu! " the tombs in Kakashi's Sharingan swirled. The water below his feet whirlpooled then a strip of water circled vertically, increasing by the second until a large amount gushed through its target ー Zabuza . The vortex shot to land with Zabuza trapped in it, up digging dirt and destroying trees in its path. 

The backlash of the water leaving the lake, washed Naruto to shore, drenching the no longer dry Genin and bridge builder. The Hunter Nin disappeared with a sphere of wind.

The Water Vortex bulleted Zabuza to a large tree, Kakashi pinning him in place by multiple Kunai. "It's over..." Kakashi now swatted upon the tree. 

All the water from the previous Jutsu retreated back into the lake, taking trees and dirt with it. 

"Why? Are you able to see into the future?" Zabuza commented offhandedly as he tried to focus his eyes.

"Yeah... and you're going to die!" Kakashi held up one of his remaining Kunai.

Two Senbon needles flew through the trees, stuck themselves parallel in Zabuza's neck. He dropped face-first into the ground, Kakashi caught sight of the Hunter Nin staring at him. "You were right. He died."

The Genin had regrouped around the tree Zabuza was posted to. They all stared; well, Kakashi, Mayu and Sasuke glared. Kakashi jumped down from where he was perched, checking for a pulse on Zabuza.

Nothing ...

"He's definitely dead," their sensei affirmed.

The Hunter Nin bowed, "I thank you. I have been waiting for the chance to kill Zabuza." Their voice was calm and held no emotion as they spoke their short sentences. 

"By the looks of that mask, you're a Hunter Ninja from Kirigakure," Kakashi said lowly.

"Impressive. You're very knowledgeable," the Hunter Nin complimented. 

"Hunter Ninja?" Naruto panicked, jumping in front of his teammates. 

"You don't know what a Hunter Ninja is?" Sakura asked innocently. "We learned it at the Academy, didn't we? Hunter Ninja pursue..." she continued to explain to Naruto, Mayu tuned her out, spacing out while peering at the Hunter Nin.

"That's right. I'm a member of Kiri’s Hunting & Tracking Unit whose mission is to hunt rogue Ninja," the Ninja said passively.

"From their height and voice, they’re not all that different from Naruto... A Hunter Nin? They’re not just ordinary kid," Kakashi's eyes dulled then lost interest.

Naruto ran up to the tree the Nin was standing on, "What are you?!" he spoke, grinding his teeth. His shoulder started to heaven as he panted, "Hey, you! " he tried. 

Kakashi stood from his crouch, "Don't worry, Naruto. He's not an enemy," Mayu raised a brow. 

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Naruto shouted as he spun on his heel to face his sensei. "I ー ! I mean...! That Zabuza...! That Zabuza was killed! That guy who was so strong..." Kakashi headed towards Naruto, hands in his pockets. "He was killed so easily ... by a kid who’s no different than me! We're...!" Naruto stumbled over his words. " We're pathetic! " Mayu tilted his head at that. 

"I'm not. They trained me too hard not to be anything but perfect, " Mayu offhandedly said under his breath, not knowing a couple caught it. While Naruto continued ranting, Mayu was back to staring through the Hunter Nin. ''Uhm?''

"In this world, there are kids younger than you, but are stronger than me," Kakashi confessed, nudging his head as he subtly watched Mayu, who found more interest in his special Kunai. Kakashi now had a good look at the Kunai and almost gasped out loud.

Sasuke saw the nod and also stared at the Kunai being held by the fair-skinned boy, wondering the significance of the tool.

Once again did the Hunter Nin vanish with the wind, materializing crouched beside the rogue Nin. They hauled the rogue's arm over their shoulder. "Your battle is over now. I must get rid of this corpse... because it contains many secrets. Now then, please excuse me." The Nin bowed once more, putting their hands into a seal and was gone in a whirl of leaves and wind.

Their sensei lazily corrected his headband to drop to its usual spot, "They’re not here anymore." Naruto then repeatedly punched the ground, heat coursing through his veins.

"What was all this for? What are we anyway? Damn it! Damn it! DAMN it! " The questions were all rhetorical.

Kakashi grasped Naruto's arm mid-punch.

"Things like that happen when you're a Ninja. If you're frustrated, apply it next time! " He let Naruto's arms fall limp. "Our mission hasn't ended yet. We must take Tazuna-san home."

Tazuna tilted his hat up, "So sorry, everyone! You can rest at my house!"

"Okay! Let's perk up and go!" Kakashi walked a couple of steps before swaying and collapsing. Mayu barely got there in time, his sensei's face halfway to the dirt. He grabbed one of Kakashi's arms and shifted it to his shoulder.

"Uh, he's kind of, um, heavy."

Chapter Text

Mayu and Sasuke stumbled into Tazuna's house, accidentally bumping Kakashi's head into the door frameー which would leave a bruise or twoー with their teammates and client in toe. The woman who opened the door, Tsunami, rushed about the house, cleaning a room and setting up Tatami mats for the unconscious man. She was a fairly tall woman with long dark-blue coloured hair, a pink short-sleeve shirt with red accents on the ends and a long blue skirt.

They dragged his body up the stairs and into the set room, Mayu practically dropped their sensei on the ground and left to go get water for them. Sasuke heaved their sensei's body on the mat, which was hard considering how Kakashi outweighed them combined. Mayu came back with a bucket of water and medical supplies from Tazuna's daughter.

Mayu sat there for a moment to collect his thoughts then went to the bathroom, remembering his cut rib the more he moved and needed to assess the damage first. He held a pinch of his shirt with his mouth after undoing his overall buttons, unsticking the dried blood that the scabbed-over wound had formed.

Mayu entered the room once more after thinking of getting it cleaned later, getting straight to work on disinfecting and placing gauze on Kakashi's wounds. Sasuke had been sitting on the other side of Kakashi's body, silently watching the owl diligently help their sensei, admiring him for his tactfulness.

----

It was later into the day with nighttime quickly approaching.

Mayu was the last to shower out of the bunch, he gathered some clothes from his bag, borrowed a towel and hopped into the shower, not caring that the temperature was cold. He had scrubbed soap in his hair and was letting the clean water rush over him, water clogging the sound of bang bang bang from the door.

"Mayu! Could you hurry it up? I've gotta go! Bad !" Naruto shouted outside the door, crossing his legs and constantly moving about to distract himself. He tried the doorknob after hearing no response and threw it open like a madman, realizing it wasn't locked and in a rush to not pee himself.

Mayu signed, closing his eyes for a second before ducking his head out from the curtain and staring blankly at Naruto as the boy sang a song .

Sasuke walked past not a second later and got ready to chew Naruto out after seeing him in there. The Uchiha turned a dark shade of red at the sight of a wet Mayu covered only by the curtain, walking right out then came back in not making eye contact and dragged Naruto out the door, who whined about not washing his hands yet.

He walked out of the bathroom after putting a plaster on his rib and into the main room the Genin were staying in together. The room was moderate in size, copying the look of Kakashi's, only with four Tatami instead of one. They each had their bags at the foot of the mats, which were lined up next to each other. 

They were all passed out by the time he got there. Mayu being the last person up, blew out the light and laid down on his mat between Sakura and Sasuke, pulling the covers over his head and was out like a light.

----

" Hon? You gotta wake up ." A gentle voice said. The soft touch only a mother could have,  grasped an incoherent Mayu's side, rocking him slightly.

" Mom... let me sleep a little longer," Mayu groggily mumbled, moving further under the covers and closer to the warm body above him, snuggling his head into her side. 

" Oh! " The woman was surprised. She didn't correct him in case he was easy to embarrass.  Tsunami looked puzzled as she rubbed his back, reminding her of her son, Inari. " Everyone's already awake ." When he still didn't move, she left to go get one of his teammates to drag him into Kakashi's room because they were talking about things that she thought might be important later, a while after Kakashi woke up.

The boys entered the room, Naruto ran over to the lump in the sheets and flopped on it. He could feel Mayu's lungs expanding. 

Not a second later, Naruto was thrown off the boy, who harshly flung the covers off his head and squinted, "Kim Haruka," he said calmly, confusing the boys. " I would've thought you'd learn your lesson already about jumping on people, you fool," he squinted his eyes, cheeks puffed out and had a bad case of bedhead, not recognizing it wasn't his little brother.

Naruto made a face and then tugged the remaining covers off the boy. Mayu shivered and curled into a ball, "Speak Japanese, Mayu. No one understood that!... Why can't he wake up like he did on the boat?! " Naruto whined. He grabbed Mayu's thin ankles, and because he was lighter than expected when he pulled, Naruto flew back. Sasuke was glaring holes at the blond for manhandling the semi-conscious boy, gently lifting under his arms to stand.

Naruto rubbed his head as Mayu grudgingly got up, putting his hand up his shirt to scratch his chest only to twitch his ear uncomfortably at his wound. He sluggishly blinked his eyes and followed his teammates to the next room over.

Everyone turned at the sound of the door being thrown open by Naruto, a slightly less grumpy Sasuke and an absent-looking Mayu trudging behind. They filed into the room and sat around their sensei's feet. Mayu collapsed in front of Sasuke and leaned back to rest on him, making the ebony-haired boy silently freak out.

Kakashi was sitting up with a hand on his head, absentmindedly watching Sasuke’s meltdown. " What is this? Even though Zabuza's dead... this indescribable uneasiness... it must mean something important... I have a feeling I've overlooked something."

Naruto leaned forward after stealing a quick glance at his teammates, "What's going on?! Sensei?"

"What? Oh... so to continue my earlier story... Ninja Trackers... take care of the bodies of the people they've killed, immediately and on the spot."

"So what about that?" Sakura said.

"What did that kid with the mask do to Zabuza?"

Mayu grunted quietly, "Didn't he throw Senbon?" he put his hands on Sasuke's knees, pushing up into a sitting position and leaned back again, not bothering to move.

"How should we know? The masked one took him away!" Sakura explained, aggravated.

"That's right... If he needed proof of killing Zabuza, he could have simply taken the head..." Kakashi covered the lower part of his face with his hand and a thoughtful look in his eye. "The question is... the weapon the Hunter Nin used to kill Zabuza."

Sasuke thought for a second, "That's impossible..."

"Right... it's impossible?!"

Tazuna moved his hand about, "What are you guys clamouring on about?"

"It's probable that Zabuza's still alive." 

" What? " Everyone was stunned at the accusation, wide-eyed.

"What the heck do you mean?!" Naruto said, leaning even closer, hands on the ground to keep him up.

Sakura sided with Naruto, "But Kakashi-sensei, you made sure he was dead!"

"It's true, I did make sure... But, he was probably just in a state of near-death."

Mayu interrupted this time, "Senbon actually have a very low ability to actually kill unless you hit a vital spot. They’re for medical purposes but very skilled Ninja have adapted to use them with precision, like Hunter Nin. They know practically everything about the body, the quickest way to kill, what's dangerous to it and a lot more. Putting someone in a near-death state should be simpleton's task for them." Mayu bobbed his headー this was beginner's knowledge of Medical Ninjutsu.

Kakashi nodded his head at Mayu, impressed, "First, he went through the trouble of taking Zabuza's corpse, which was probably heavier than he is. Second, he used Senbon, which Mayu pointed out, has a low ability to kill. From these two factors, that youth wasn't aiming to kill Zabuza but save him."

"Aren't you reading into this way too much?" Tazuna complained, scratching his head and looking away.

"No," Kakashi deadpanned. "If something seems fishy, make preparations before it's too late," he glared. "That's also an iron-clad rule of Shinobi!" he saw Naruto shaking. " Hmph... To hear Zabuza may be alive and be pleased... " he shook his head.

"Sensei, what do we do to make preparations before it's too late? Mayu said you won't be able to move for a while..." Sakura shot a flat gaze at her sensei, trusting Mayu's advice when it came to medical things.

"I'll be assigning you training!" he said. Mayu sensed a presence by the door but ignored it until they revealed themselves.

"W- Wait a moment! Even with training, we're not gonna be that strong! Our opponent is a Ninja, whom even you, with your Sharingan, had a tough fight with!" she reasoned. " Are you trying to kill us?!" her inner Sakura said.

"Sakura... Who is it that saved me during my difficult battle? You've all quickly grown... especially Naruto!" Naruto only grunted. "You've grown the most!" Kakashi praised the blond with his famous close-eyed smile.

" He clearly does seem somewhat stronger than before, but... " Sakura thought as she side glanced Naruto.

"So you've noticed, Kakashi-sensei?! Now it's getting interesting, believe it!" Naruto beamed, throwing his fist in the air.

"It's not interesting at all..." a small voice said from the doorway, finally presenting themselves. Everyone turned and saw a small boy in overalls quite like Mayu's and a too-big bucket hat atop his dark hair.

Naruto leapt up, pointing a finger at the boy, "Who the heck are you?" Mayu glared at him, knowing the boy would only retaliate with something else.

"Oh, Inari!  Where've you been?" the old man said, opening his arms to Inari.

Inari stepped up on the high mat and ran to hug his grandpa, "Welcome back... Grandpa..."

Tsunami walked over and put her hands on her hips, "Inari, what sort of greeting is this?!  These are the Ninja who escorted your grandpa!"

Tazuna patted Inari's head, "It's okay, it's okay. Right, Inari?" Inari looked at Team 7 with dull eyes from under his hat, blinking when he saw Mayu and blushed a light pink.

He stood to face his mom, blush dying down, "Mom, these guys will die... There's no way they can oppose Gato and win."

Naruto shot up with a clenched fist, "Say what, you little brat?!" he pointed again, "Now listen up! I'm a superhero who's gonna become an awesome Ninja named Hokage in the future! I don't know if this Gato or Blato or whatever... I'm not worried about those guys, at all!"

"Huh, a hero. That's ridiculous! There's no such thing!"

"W- What did you say?!" Naruto was ready to pounce and would've made it if Mayu hadn't struck his leg, kicking behind Naruto's knees, effectively making them give out and him falling.

" Yah! Knock it off, baka! "

Inari turned his back to them, "If you don't want to die, you'd better hurry up and go home..." he then walked to the door, stopping when his grandfather called him. 

"Inari, where are you going?"

"The sea... I'll be looking at the sea..." he didn't bother to close the doors after.

Sakura was holding a still fighting Naruto back from going to, most likely , knock some sense into the kid. Tazuna apologized lamely.

----

"You know, you shouldn't even be standing, let alone walking with those treacherous things," Mayu said quietly to his sensei as he walked to the side of him. 

"I'm fine," Mayu wanted to slap the man for being so carefree, he let out a frustrated sigh.  "It's nice to see you care, it's cute. " Kakashi ruffled the owl’s hair, making it stick up sporadically.

"..." Mayu grew quiet, thinking.

Team 7 stopped in a small clearing in the woods by Tazuna's house, surrounded by nothing except dark trees that ranged in size.

"So, now the training begins!" Kakashi said, staring at the Genin in his company. 

Naruto saluted the man, "Yes, sir!"

Kakashi held up one finger, "So... before that, let me again explain Chakra power for Ninja, from the basics."

Sasuke stood in the back, close to Mayu as always , "At this point..."

Naruto pointed up with a smile, "Of course we know that! Chatora, right?"

" It's Chakra ," Mayu mumbled as Kakashi visibly deflated.

"Are you listening? Naruto?" Sakura put her hands on her hips, looking disappointed. "It's tiresome, so I'll explain it simply!" She brought out a scroll, unrolled it and basically defined Charka word for word. Mayu didn't bother to listen, he could probably recite the exact words along with her. It'd been drilled into his head since before the Academy.

" I wonder how the brat's doing. I hope Father didn't burn the house down yet, I'd like to go home and rest in my bed, not another hotel mattress," He stared at the treetops, sighing.

"That's exactly right!" Kakashi rubbed his nose, " Ah~ Iruka-sensei really does have the best students," he praised, clasping his hands together in delight.

"Whatever! I may not understand difficult explanations, but I'll just learn it with my body!"

"Naruto is absolutely right. We're already able to do Jutsu..." Some miracle had to have happened for Sasuke to agree with the dobe.

"No! You all still haven't used Chakra effectively." Kakashi let his half-lidded gaze scrutinize them.

" What?! " Naruto shouted with a weird face, Sasuke just looked surprised.

"Hold on, and actually listen ," the last part was a jab at Mayu, who only blinked innocently back at Kakashi. "As Sakura explained earlier, combining Chakra means picking up both physical and spiritual energies and mixing them together within the body. And of course the amount of each energy, the preparation of energies, changes depending on the Jutsu you want to activate. You all presently aren't using Chakra efficiently! Even if you're able to conjure a lot of Chakra at once, if you're not able to control it in a balanced way, the effectiveness of the Jutsu will not only be cut in half but it may not even be active at all. Wasting energy will prevent you from battling for long periods at a time. These are just some weaknesses that can occur."

Naruto squinted, "W- What should we do...?" he said sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"You need to control the Chakra within your body! It's difficult training that requires you to put your life on the line to master!" Kakashi pressured. He put a finger to his lips, " Hm? How about tree climbing? Since Mayu was so intrigued by them, why not get a closer look and learn, too?"

" Tree climbing?! " the Genin exclaimed together.

"That's right," he confirmed. "But it's not just simple tree climbing! You will climb trees without the use of your hands," Kakashi brought up his hands to show them. 

Sakura deadpanned, " What? How?"

All the Genin were curious, "Well! Just watch."

Before Kakashi could demonstrate, Mayu walked past the man and to the tree, muttering, " Try walk up that tree and your book will be ash ."

"Kakashi-sensei? Are you okay?" Sakura said as she watched her teacher blanch, a bead of sweat running down the side of his forehead.

"Y- Yup! Though, Mayu will have to display it, since I'm not supposed to really do anything for the moment." Kakashi coughed, scratching the back of his head.

Mayu looked up at the tree that loomed over him, dug his special Kunai into the ground, just in case. "Ram, right?" and after an affirmative nod, Mayu's hands made a Ram seal and held it for a second. It was easier gathering Chakra with seals to his feet, he thought. A small drift of dirt rose up in a crescent line on the ground just in front of his body, though no physical markings were made.

Once he stuck his foot to the tree for a second, the team made noises of astonishment as he then steadily walked up the side of the tree as if he were walking on pavement. Kakashi nodded his head at his student, then shivered looking at the boy's back.

"He's climbing ー”

" ー p erpendicular to the tree and with his feet!" He stopped scaling the tree and tested his weight, stepping under a tree limb, gravity weighing his clothes to the ground.

Sasuke could only gap at Mayu's talent, the thought that Mayu could help contribute to him growing stronger made him want to grin. "You know, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Mayu commented to himself but Kakashi caught it. 

Kakashi turned with bewilderment, "What do you mean by 'easier' ?"

Mayu blinked, "That was my first attempt, to be honest. I've seen other Nin in my Clan walk on water or buildings but, my grand- Grandfather had said to wait," he scratched the tip of his eyebrow with a faraway look. The rest of the team was in awe of their silver-haired teammate.

"How- How did you do that !" Naruto screamed, which Mayu shrugged, shakily pulling on a strand of thick hair.

" Ma~ , okay. So, see like that..." he said as his shock calmed down but was still visible in his eye. "Stick Chakra to the bottom of your feet and make them stick to the tree. If you use Chakra correctly, you can do things like that."

"Wait a minute! How does something like this make you strong?" Although the question was for Kakashi, Sakura hadn't taken her eyes off her teammate, who now sat down passively right side up atop a branch.

"So this is the main point... the aim of this training is to accumulate the required amount of combined Chakra to the required spot... This is surprisingly difficult for even an expert Ninja, though Mayu did it without a second thought. The amount of Chakra fused for tree climbing is very subtle," he shifted his weight to one of his crutches. "And the bottom of your feet are the most difficult place to gather Chakra. Anyway~! In other words, if you master that control it will be possible to master any Jutsu. In theory, that is! The second aim is to maintain that combined Chakra. Ninja combine the most Chakra in battles. Under such situations, the 'control' and 'maintenance' of Chakra becomes the most difficult. So, nothing's really gonna happen with me saying this and that... You'll need to learn with your bodies."

He threw three Kunai at the Genin on the ground, "Use those Kunai to mark at the spot where you can climb up to under your own strength now. Next, make an effort to add a mark further from it. I don't expect you to walk up from the start and do as well as he did, though it was unexpected," Kakashi gestured to Mayu in the tree. "So you'll run and use your momentum to get used to it... got it?"

Naruto grabbed his Kunai from the ground, "This training is nothing! Ha , it's too easy for me, believe it! " all the Genin held up their Kunai and got ready. "After all, I'm the one who has grown the most!"

"Enough with the talk... Now get to it! Try climbing any tree," Kakashi sweatdropped.

The Uzumaki wasted no time putting his hands into the same seals he'd seen Mayu had done, the same with Sakura and Sasuke as Kakashi and Mayu watched. They all closed their eyes to concentrate. Mayu disappeared with a flash of purple, back on the ground and picking up his Kunai to walk over to his still injured sensei.

Cerulean blue eyes snapped open, " Ready! Here I go!" and ran at the tree. Not making it even three steps before he fell back to the ground. Sasuke made it maybe a fifth up the tree before the bark concaved where his foot was, making him push off the tree and land on his feet. 

" Well...! The difference between Naruto and Sasuke seems about right, "

"This is pretty easy!" Sakura's voice sounded from above them, drawing attention to herself.

" What?! Sak- Sakura!"

Kakashi smiled his renowned eye-smile at the girl, Mayu subconsciously twitched his nose at all the eyes that were trained on his female comrade. "Well, it looks like the ones with the best control of Chakra are Mayu and Sakura, the girl and the smallest..." his eyes caught a gleam in them. Mayu slightly turned his head away from Kakashi. 

"Wow! Way to go, Sakura-chan! Just what you'd expect from the girl I've set my eyes on!" Naruto boasted. Sasuke rolled his eyes, the boy who his eyes were dead set on was far better than some fangirl, he stared off towards Mayu sitting criss-cross and twirling with that Kunai of his.

" I wanted Sasuke to notice me... Why does this always happen to me?" Sakura sighed dramatically and deflated as she watched Sasuke pay more attention to her other teammate and blinked sadly.

"Well, not only do Mayu and Sakura have the knowledge about Chakra, both their control and stamina are pretty good. It looks like... She might be the closest to the title Hokage... instead of someone else. And also, the Uchiha Clan isn't all that great... compared to the Kim's, or Hidaka's ," Kakashi taunted. Mayu clenched the Kunai he held tightly at the mention of his mother's Clan , hands turning white while Sasuke huffed angrily.

Sakura angrily pointed a finger at her sensei from where she sat on the tree, yelling, "Shut up, sensei!" with a blush on her cheeks. " Sasuke won't like me then! "

Naruto looked at Sasuke at the same time to see him staring back, competitive glares coming from both sides. "Having said that... the boys... Those three have an incredible amount of Chakra hidden in them... that Sakura could only dream of matching! If this training goes well, this will become an asset to them," Kakashi thought from his spot on the ground, now resting on the trunk of a nearby tree.  

" Mayu! " the boy nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Try climbing the tree a couple more times. Make it to the top and down until you can do it with your eyes closed and don't have to make the seals," he said quieter. Mayu walked away without complaint, repeating the steps he'd done the first time to a new tree, closer to the other training Genin.

" Okay! First I'll catch up to Sasuke! Then Mayu and then outmatch everyone else! " Sasuke just looked at Naruto. " I'll do it... for sure!" Naruto thought with determination. They were unaware of the little boy who had followed them out of the house to watch them and hid behind a tree.

"Whatever!" the boy said, just as he was turning around, a flash of purple sparked in front of him. He let out a startled, 'Woah!' and would have fallen if not for the two arms that wrapped around him.

"What are you doing out here?" Mayu said quietly. The boy blushed, pushed out of the hold and ran back home, Mayu assumed. He stared motionless for a second before returning to train, not that he had much to do .

----

" Ohhhhhhh !" Naruto screamed as he ran up the tree, farther than his starting point only to fall down once again, " Itai! " the blond said as he cradled his head.

It was slightly later in the day, both Mayu and Sakura had finished, though Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were visibly covered in dirt by this time. Notches littered their trees, each higher than the next or overlapping themselves. They all panted hard, Mayu sat by Kakashi's tree without a hint of sweat, having mastered the training in next to a couple minutes, if even that. Sasuke thought he sat in a very childish way, legs open and outstretched slightly to the sides and hands close together, leaning forward on them, and in his opinion, a cute face. But when didn't Sasuke think he was cute?

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto walked to her sprawled out form and crouched down. He cupped his hands to his mouth, " Can you give me some tips? "

Sakura looked confused, "What?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke not so subtly, "Let's keep it a secret from Sasuke! Come on! Come on!" Sasuke turned away from the duo, in exchange for staring at Mayu a second before walking over.

Chapter Text

The day was as sunny as the Land of Waves could be, light fog floated over the ocean surrounding the incomplete bridge. Workers dripped of sweat already, well focused on their jobs to gain liberty for their small island.

Sakura stretched her arms to the sky as she yawned next to a twitchy Mayu on said bridge, leaning against the railing and watching the men work hard. Tazuna walked up to them carrying a steel beam, "Looks like you've got time to kill all by yourselves there," Sakura dropped her arms as the bridge builder walked past them, "What happened to the blond and the stuck-up?"

"They're in the middle of tree climbing training," she commented.

"You two don't have to do that? And boy! If you're so fidgety, come help," Mayu immediately jumped up, grabbed the steel beam that Tazuna held and hauled it over his left shoulder with ease.

Sakura blushed and shrugged into an 'oh well' pose, "I'm exceptional and Mayu's talented apparently, so Kakashi-sensei told us to guard you," they both watched as Mayu set the beam down with a 'clank' and spoke a few words with the men that were in his area, which started him getting put to work. Tazuna made an astonished sound at the boy, nodding his head slightly.

"Really?" Tazuna spoke sarcastically to her, wanting a reaction.

Boy, did he get an angry one . " What?! " Sakura seethed at the old man, flustered and beet red with an irk mark on her forehead.

She observed an older man as he approached Tazuna as he got back to work, "You got a minute, Tazuna?" He turned at the sound of his name.

" Huh? What's up, Giichi?" Tazuna responded, wiping the sweat from his temple.

The other man, Giichi, looked down, "Uh, actually... I gave it a lot of thought. Building this bridge... will you let me quit?"

Tazuna was perplexed and outraged, " Why so suddenly?! Not you, too?! "

"Tazuna, I've had a bond with you from the old days. I'd like to cooperate, but if we push too far, Gato will set his sights on us, too," Tazuna's eyes hardened. "Also... if you get killed, everything is lost!" the man said worriedly. "Why don't you just stop building the bridge?"

"Not a chance..." Tazuna trailed off. "This is our bridge. This is the bridge that everyone in town has built believing that it would generate distribution and transportation for the poor Land of Waves that has few resources," he stated firmly, not willing to budge at all.

"But if it goes as far as to take our lives..." the man's voice faded as his concerns were spoken.

"It's already afternoon...  Let's call it a day," Tazuna patted his old friend's arm as Mayu strode by with what Sakura could see, maybe five or more beams on his shoulder and a yellow toolbox in his other hand.

The man turned around quickly, hand outreached, "Tazuna!"

Tazuna barely stole a glance back at his friend while adjusting his glasses and construction cap. "Giichi... you don't have to come back tomorrow," he said nonchalantly, walking away.  "Mayu, my boy!" the said boy peered over curiously. "Just drop what you have off quickly, we're done for today," Mayu nodded and continued to the unbuilt part of the bridge.

----

The sun had cast warm colours over the treetops, providing light for the minimal time of day left.

" Damn it! " Naruto shouted as he fell once again, panting and sweating. " What the heck is up with this? " he thrashed about on the ground like a child. Sasuke was close by, panting and sweating just as hard as the blond, peering up at the trees that daunted them.

They both growled as they glared at each other, standing up in sync. " I won't lose to you! " Naruto growled in his head, never breaking eye contact before both shot up the trees.

----

"Say, where are we going?" Sakura asked as she looked around the market that was set up with stalls bordering the street.  

"I was asked to get some ingredients for dinner on the way home..." Tazuna responded as he, Mayu and Sakura walked around. The commotion was slim, most residents tired and dirty.

" What's up with... this town? " Sakura thought as she saw the Land of Waves in a realization.  Mayu kept his head down, not wanting guilt to surface while looking at these people, knowing there was nothing he could truly do to help aside from building of the bridge or killing Gato, but both were not achievable anytime soon.

"We're here," Tazuna said, stepping into a practically bare produce stall. Beaten-up vegetables laid out on brown boxes before them.  

" There's literally nothing here... " Mayu signed, looking to the side in time to see a shady-looking man behind Sakura. He was between the two in less than a second, the flash of purple sparking as he quickly grasped onto the man's wrist tightly. "I would suggest not laying your filthy hands on anyone ," his voice was gruff and stare chilling but his face was expressionless.  Luckily, the man jumped and hurriedly nodded, " Scat, " Mayu all but growled, the man was halfway down the street by the time Sakura turned around.

They walked out of the stall after Tazuna got the ingredients when Sakura was grabbed by a hand on the backside. She tensed and whipped around fiercely, ready to give some pervert a piece of her mind, only to blink dumbfounded at the small child before her.  

" What...? "

The child cupped their hands together out to her, "Gimme some!" big navy eyes shined up at her with innocence.

" What a cruel world we live in... " Mayu sighed in guilt. He and Sakura both rummaged through their shoulder bags to find something edible for the young child.  

" ... Oh... Here," Sakura had given wrapped candies and Mayu added in some strawberry flavoured hard candies from a can, popping one in his mouth in the process, giving the child the smallest smile with his eyes.

" Yay! " the child clutched the candies in their hand, "Thank you." Sakura just shrugged, looking ready to cry as the child ran through the crowd. 

Tazuna stopped them, "That's how it's been since Gato showed up," he informed regretfully. "Here, all the adults turned into cowards," he paused for a moment, "So that's why the bridge is necessary..." His face was shaded by his straw hat. "It's a symbol of bravery... in order to restore their spirit, so they don't keep running away... For the people of this land, who have set their minds on remaining passive... if we can just... complete the bridge..." his fist shook, "This town will return to how it once was... and everyone will come back!"

----

The fog had risen higher than previously in the day, now nighttime and visibly cloaking the town. " Man! " Tazuna says at the head of a small wooden table behind Tsunami and the kitchen counters. "This is really fun!" Mayu, who sat next to the old man, side-glanced him while eating his rice. "It's been a long time since we've had a meal with this many people!"

Inari pushed his food around his plate, silently eating his food, looking up occasionally at Mayu through his bucket hat, swinging his feet. Naruto and Sasuke were shoving food down their throats like they'd been starved. Kakashi was seated to the left of Mayu, Naruto at the other end of the table, Sakura at the head. Sasuke was by Inari on the other side facing Naruto, leaving a seat for Tsunami between him and Inari.

"Seconds please!" Both Naruto and Sasuke shout as they raise their bowls in the air, disrupting the semi-calm atmosphere. They locked eyes, lightning passing through, both making faces before promptly throwing up beside their chairs. Inari accidentally kicked Mayu's shin in surprise.

Sakura stood from her chair, tick mark pulsing on her forehead, "Stop eating if you're going to vomit!" she spat angrily at the two. Mayu looked away in disgust, quickly losing his appetite and setting down his chopsticks, Inari following.

Sasuke got back up, "No, I'll eat," he said, a bit shakily wiping his mouth.

"I have to eat if it means enduring," Naruto said through gritted teeth, gaze determined.  "I have to get strong as quickly as possible, so..."

"Yes yes," Kakashi nodded his head calmly. "But vomiting is different."

Dinner was now over, Mayu and Tsunami washing the dishes and the rest stayed at the table, Sakura had gotten up and was staring at a torn picture hanging on the wall. Everything was fine until she opened her mouth.

"Excuse me, why is there a torn picture hanging here?" She turned her focus to Inari, "Inari was looking at it periodically throughout dinner. This torn part looks like someone who was in the picture was deliberately torn off." Everyone in the house froze, Mayu clenched the plate he had a hold of.

Kakashi lazily looked over, "It's my husband..." Tsunami said quietly, not facing the people in the room.

"He's the man who was once called the hero of this town..." Tazuna started off, his eyes hard-set.

The chair scraping against the floor was loud and interrupting. Everyone was fixated on the little boy who got up abruptly. Tsunami quickly called out to her son, "Inari! Where are you going...?" He just walked out and shut the door. She stared worriedly, opened the door and looked back in, "Dad! I'm always telling you not to talk about that person in front of Inari!" she grunted as she left in a hurry.

Mayu felt his heart beat faster, he quietly set the rest of the plates to dry before trying to leave. Kakashi caught the boy as he strode past his chair, "Stay, you of all people should probably listen to this," he said lowly, grabbing the boy and holding him to his side so he couldn't run off. Mayu kept his head down through the entirety of the talking.

"What're you saying happened with Inari?" Sakura inquired. Mayu clenched his fist angrily, breathing heavier as rage slowly filled his body.

" Gods, are people really that ignorant? Is she that dense?! I doubt she's ever needed to be considerate for this type of thing, if people are getting upset about nothing that concerns you, drop it! " 

Kakashi patted the boy's head, telling him to calm down. "It appears there's some kind of good reason." Mayu wanted to kick Kakashi in the mouth but could do nothing in his restraints.

"Inari had a father not related by blood... It was like they were real father and son who got along really well... Back then, Inari was a child who laughed all the time... However..." Tazuna's body started to shake with sobs, "However, Inari has changed... ever since that incident with his father. The word bravery was eternally taken from the people of this island and from Inari. With that day, that incident, as a trigger,"

"That incident? What happened to Inari?" Kakashi asked.

"To explain the incident, I must first tell you about the man who was called the hero of this land," he took off his glasses and wiped the fallen tears from his eyes and cheeks.

Naruto had put his head down, "Hero...?" he muttered to himself.

"It was around three years ago when Inari met the man..." he explained that Inari was being bullied and one of them took his dog, Potchi, and threw it in the ocean. Inari thought it would drown yet hesitated to jump in after it. He was pushed into the ocean by the scumbags, even though he didn't know how to swim, the dog then discovered how to swim, leaving poor Inari to the waves. "I'm gonna digress, but... Potchi learned to paddle then," Inari had practically drowned and awoke to a man littered in scars and sitting in front of a small campfire. The man saved Inari's life, scolded the scumbag kids, fed him, and taught him a life lesson.

"His name was Kaiza and he was a fisherman who'd come to this land from another country in search of his dreams. After that, Inari really took to Kaiza. It may have been because Inari had lost his real father when he was too young to remember anything. But he was very attached to Kaiza. They were like father and son... It didn't take long for Kaiza to become a member of the family. And he was a man this town needed." 

A dam had broken one night and no one could fix it. Kaiza took on the challenge, survived and succeeded in the task none others were willing to do. "From then on, the people of this land called Kaiza a hero. And became a father Inari could be proud of. It was around the time Gato set his sights on this land. And then, one night..."  Gato had tortured Kaiza because when you have power over the one people follow, that power is yours . 

Gato later killed Kaiza in a public execution to crush their hopes and as an example of what would happen if they rebelled. Inari had been there and could only shout and watch as his father was killed, leaving him resentful for the man didn't keep his promise of protecting him and the town.

"Ever since then, Inari has changed... as well as Tsunami and the townspeople..." Naruto remembered when Inari told them that heroes didn't exist, he now understood. Both Mayu and Naruto glared into space. 

Naruto got up from the table, only to fall face-first. "What're you doing, Naruto...?" Sakura questioned the blond.

Kakashi peered through his hooded gaze, "You've had enough for training today. You've built up too much Chakra. You'll die if you move anymore." Though he made no move to stop him.

" I'll prove it, " he said gruffly, shaking as he stood.

"Prove what?" Sakura said dumbly.

"I'll prove that... there are heroes... in this world!" he defiantly declared to the room, maybe more to himself.

Chapter Text

"Good morning," a sleepy Sakura yawned. Mayu stumbled down the stairs right after, walked past her and promptly sat down to lean back in his chair, not bright-eyed. He grumbled a noncoherent response but Kakashi would like to think he said 'good morning'. The food and tea always looked better when he was hungry.

"Naruto didn't come back home last night, did he?" Tazuna's question was rhetorical and towards anyone who'd answer.

"He's such a fool, he's been out every night, climbing trees. He might be dead already from extensive Chakra use," Sakura answered flatly. Mayu's ear twitched at that as he saw Inari trying to reach for the tea, he grabbed the pot and Inari's cup himself, filled it up and set it in front of the kid and went back to his business. He saw the kid puff his cheeks.

"I wonder if Naruto's okay," the old man was concerned, to say the least, even though they hadn't known each other very long, he was grateful to them and would possibly say they were growing on him.

"To think a child's out in the middle of the night," Tsunami added, holding her face.

Kakashi spoke up as he sat slouched over by the table, "Well, you don't need to worry," he assured them. "Although he may not seem to be, he's a full-fledged Ninja."

"I wonder..." Sasuke was sitting in his usual pose, hands folded at his mouth with a faraway look. "That idiot's probably all pooped out right now," Mayu finished up his breakfast with a swig of his tea. As Sasuke began to get up to leave, Mayu quickly put his dishes in the sink, promising to wash them after they got back.

"Mayu? Sasuke? Where are you going?" Sakura asked aloud as she watched them walk to the door.

" Going on a walk, " Sasuke kept a hand in one of his shorts pockets.

" Out, " Mayu side-eyed their sensei.

The two male Genin looked at each other and then headed out the door without another word. " No doubt Sakura will be mad about that later, " Mayu concluded with a wince.

They headed straight for the forest right outside Tazuna's house. "I don't know if your intentions are to actually walk or look for the idiot but I'm gonna go get 'im," Mayu turned the opposite way, following the feel of Naruto's abnormally large amount of Chakra pulsing within the ground.

"Believe it or not, I really am searching for the usuratonkachi so he doesn't die out here," Sasuke caught up to the Kim boy. The raven stuck close enough to Mayu that their shoulders would brush every so often after that. He paused for a second, thinking before speaking, "Hn, how do you know where we're going?"

Mayu turned his head to the dark-haired boy and blinked, "I could basically become a sensor Nin, Sasuke ," Sasuke might've died there, he wasn't expecting the happy feeling that filled his being at Mayu saying his name. " Hm? Are youー you okay?" Mayu stuttered a bit.

Sasuke quickly shook his head, "Hn, no. It's just that, you were really quiet in the Academy so I'm not too sure where to actually categorize your full skill set, yet. Though, through spars and other things, I have a rough idea."

"Oh," Mayu mumbled, "Don't worry, Sasuke, you'll all probably see the extent pretty quickly if this mission goes how Kakashi thinks if Zabuza's well enough to show and we battle. If he has company, help me fight them?"

Sasuke wanted to explode but controlled himself enough, "Gladly, I need to get stronger anyway, it'd be a pleasure to fight foー with you," he said coolly despite the mess up.

"We can train together when we get back if you want. No pressure if you don't though, I don't mind either way," Sasuke's eyes light up with child-like excitement, nodding quickly, again.

Mayu just nodded and did an eye-smile that he'd only seen Mayu give to his little brother. At him. Sasuke . He tried to keep the heat off his face to no avail, "You have a nice smile," he blurted out, ears turning a deep red after. Mayu's heart skipped the tiniest of beats with a flaming face and promptly looked down while Sasuke stared off in the opposite direction of the owl, wanting to die. Thoughts plagued them both, one in embarrassment and the other in contemplation.

It was quiet after that until they heard faint voices, one the boisterous voices of their other teammate and another unknown to both of them. They looked back at each other and then picked up speed.

When they finally saw Naruto, Mayu let out a relieved sigh and Sasuke thanked Kami-sama for letting him live this one out. There was a person walking the same path, heading towards them.

Sasuke grabbed Mayu's hand to gently drag the boy subtly closer. The two passed each other without so much as a glance, though Mayu side-eyed them, wearing a pale pink kimono without sleeves and pretty, dark hair. Mayu thought they could pass as a relative of Tsunami's.

Sasuke looked back carefully after the individual had passed and hardened his features. He shifted to see Naruto on the floor with a constipated look on his face. " Why? So strange. The world is full of mystery... " he muttered, not realizing that two of his teammates stood in front of him. Sasuke walked up to him and bonked him on the head with a peeved expression, Mayu watched in amusement. “ Itai! Hey, what are you doing?!" he finally shouted up at Sasuke.

Sasuke only crossed his arms, "Did you forget about mealtime, usuratonkachi ?" Naruto went blank for a moment before smiling his dopey smile with a short snicker. He got a scowl in return.

"Naruto? What were you just doing? Your face looked constipated. I know it's not from Chakra deprivation, the symptoms are different," Mayu stated quietly, peeking his head behind Sasuke, who now smirked.

" Mayu! "

--

" Naruto?! " Sakura shouted out to the forest. She and Kakashi had come in search of their troublemaker of a teammate after they ate and excused themselves. "What in the world is Naruto doing? And Mayu and Sasuke-kun haven't come back after their walk either..." she wished she could've walked with Sasuke.

Both student and teacher were greeted by a fast-travelling Kunai that flew through the trees to embed itself in the ground a few steps ahead of them. They searched for the thrower only to find a dirty Naruto tiredly lying on a high tree branch, giggling to himself. Mayu grimaced from the ground at how weird giggling to yourself was to the people around you.

Sakura stared in astonishment, "No way! Naruto can climb that high now? Wow! "

Kakashi's only response was to widen his only visible eye. 

"How 'bout that?! How 'bout that?!" Naruto's voice travelled back to them. "As for me, I can climb this high now, believe it!" He jumped to a standing position on the branch. The minute he was up, his foot slipped and fell back. Both Kakashi and Sakura shouted at him, though she screamed. "Gotcha," Naruto said nonchalantly after catching himself and now stood on the branch upside down, looking down at them with a smug expression. "You fell for it! You fell for it!" he taunted as he laughed.

"Don't scare us like that!" Sakura yelled back, tense. " I'll kill him later! Cha! " the inner Sakura shouted with a fist-pump.

Kakashi's stance became bored once more. " He's grown a little, eh, " as Naruto continued to laugh with himself. Well, until the laughing blond unstuck from the branch when a 'pop' sound filled the air. Both people on the ground went ballistic at this, terrifyingly surprised.

One second Naruto was basically falling to his death, the next Sasuke's hand was wrapped around his ankle, dangling the idiot mid-air. " Usuratonkachi ," Sasuke hissed.

Kakashi and Sakura were both still frozen, but Sakura managed to praise Sasuke despite it, "Nice, Sasuke-kun! You're awesome!"

" These kids really are growing. " Kakahi showed his renowned eye smile as he stared at his students with pride.

----

It was way after dark, the moon now high in the sky. Both Naruto and Sasuke stood at the very tip-top of their training trees, peering proudly over the serene forest that lay below them.

"Shall we go back?" a tired Sasuke asked an equally tired Naruto.

"Okay!" Naruto smiled.

--

Mayu helped Tsunami set dinner down on the table. "They're late," Sakura worried. "I get it if it's Naruto but Sasuke's late, too."

"Their big boys, Sakura. I assure you they're fine," Mayu responded distractedly. " At least I hope I'm right, they're not stupid enough to get themselves killed yet and I haven't felt any spike in Chakra anyway. "

The door opened and in came the lost Genin, dishevelled and looking dead tired. Mayu's head shot to the door along with the rest of the occupants of the room. "What happened to you guys?" Tazuna pondered.

Naruto snickered while Sasuke just stared blankly. He was holding Naruto up from falling over, though he looked close to falling over himself. "We climbed... to the top," Naruto declared.

"Good," Kakashi nodded at both of them. "Naruto, Sasuke, you'll start guarding Tazuna next time!"

"Got it! Woah! " Naruto said as he got too excited and moved too quickly, both he and Sasuke fell to the ground.

" Usuratonkachi! " Sasuke vexed as everyone around him laughed, he caught Mayu's brief chuckle through his nose.

--

"In just a tiny little bit, the bridge should be complete. It's all thanks to you guys," Tazuna said. He nudged Mayu's elbow, which made it fall from the table, "Especially you, boy," Mayu nodded at the old man.

Mayu got up and tried to help Tsunami collect the dishes, "Mayu, sit down. You're the guest but you've done this every night you've all been here, sit down," she turned to her father, "Even so, don't let your guard down..." Mayu sat there, hands tensely set in front of him on the table, looking cutely lost to Sasuke. He reached beside him and lowered Mayu's small hands to the boy's lap, getting them off the table but Kim was too distracted to refocus. He stared blankly, shoulders tense.

"I've really wanted to ask you for a long time now..." Tazuna started off. "But why are you still here even though I lied about the mission?" he asked seriously to the Shinobi in his kitchen .

Kakashi peered at the old man plainly. " 'To see what is right without doing it bespeaks an absence of courage' ," he quoted. "Like master, like man," seeing the confused looks, he explained, "It's a teaching of the late Hokage."

Inari shifted his sights to a sleepy Naruto, remembering his late step-dad. Tears hit the table before he could stop them, "Why...?" he stated in a quiet voice.

Naruto sat up, "What is it?" he asked the boy.

Inari slammed his hands hard on the table. 

He glared at the blond, "Why do you desperately work so hard until you get like that?!" he bawled. "There's no way you'd be a match for Gato's men, even if you train! No matter what cool things you say or how much effort you make... the weak always lose out... against the truly strong!"

"Shut up. I'm not like you." Naruto wasn't deterred, he'd heard stuff like this his whole life.

" Shut up! Looking at you makes me sick! Sticking your nose in even though you know nothing of this land! I'm not like you who's always acting frivolously not knowing one thing about pain!" That seemed to crack something in Naruto, not going unnoticed by his teammates.

"So you're just going to cry all day like the lead in a tragedy? An idiot like you can cry forever! You crybaby! " Naruto's voice grew sharp.

"Naruto! That's a bit harsh!" Sakura scolded him, only to be ignored. Naruto got up and walked out of the dining area.

"And you think what any of Inari said was any different? The boy practically called him a failure and to get lost. Naruto only spoke the truth. You wouldn't understand, Sakura ," Mayu's voice was monotone, the slightest hint of raw anger as an undertone.

The whole room flinched at his voice and the heated side-glare Mayu was giving, his aura felt unforgiving, colder than usual. He really couldn't stand to look at Inari or Sakura at this point, so not wanting his anger to rage out, he left through the door and didn't look back.

The door shut silently.

--

It was a bit later, and Mayu hadn't gone far, sitting just outside the house and used his Chakra to sit on the underside of the walkway. He sat there for the past hourー or however long since he left, playing with the water flow, technically above him , with his hands and Chakra. He found it more calming. He'd cooled off considerably, he just added to the things bottled at this point.

He stayed silent when he heard and felt Inari come out to the dock, not close but close enough to hear his weeping. Mayu honestly wanted to tell him to shove off yet comfort him some way though he would be too awkward about it, he's sure about that part.

He could still feel everyone in the house, Sasuke sending out soft Chakra pulses repeatedly coming from their shared room, Mayu thought they were calming in a way. He could feel Tsunami and Tazuna in their beds, Naruto and Sakura where Sasuke was. His teacher was outside, probably to talk to the kid.

Mayu waited patiently for Kakashi to start talking, "Got a minute?" He sat beside Inari with a grunt. "Naruto didn't mean any harm in what he said... He's just uncoathed, so..." they sat in silence for a moment before Kakashi spoke again. "We heard about the story with your father from Tazuna. Like you, Naruto never had a father as a young child... Actually, he doesn't know either of his parents. Not only that. He didn't have a single friend,"

It caught Inari's attention, "What?" he said quietly looking up at the god-graced man beside him.

"However..." Kakashi didn't spare a glance at the heartbroken boy, instead choosing to stare off at the horizon. "I've never seen him sulk, be timid, or cry," he spoke as if it were a secret. "He's always eager, wanting to be acknowledged by someone. If it's for the sake of that 'dream' , he's always risking his life," he watched the water ripple unevenly, Mayu's Chakra could be seen by the naked eye, pulsing a tinted purple with its regular blue, making the water more beautiful , Kakashi thought. "He's probably tired of crying," he said lowly. "So he knows the true meaning of strength. Like your father. Naruto might understand your feelings the most," Kakashi stated firmly, not knowing another one of his Genin could, too.

"What Naruto said earlier... no doubt something he's said to himself hundreds of times," Kakashi smiled his renowned eye smile to the boy.

--

Mayu had gotten out from under the dock quite a bit after the two left. He wanted to wait until everyone was asleep to go back in, he still didn't want to face either Inari or Sakura, he wasn't going to apologise. He'd quietly closed the door once he was in the Genin's shared room, silent through his journey there. He'd changed into his pyjama shorts and a large, black T-shirt.

He sighed aloud into the void of darkness the room now held. Mayu moved his mat closer to Sasuke's so they touched, farther away from Sakura's. He knew it was petty and childish but he couldn't care less at the moment. When he finally laid down, he faced the Uchiha, not wanting to wake up and the first thing he saw in the morning was the pink-haired girl. 

It was after his breathing slowed did Sasuke turned around, now face-to-face with the smaller boy. His eyes darted along Mayu's soft features, no longer having tense muscles. Sasuke grabbed Mayu and shuffled him closer, put an arm around him and felt Mayu's breath on his collar. He let Mayu's rhythmic breathing lull him to sleep.

Sasuke didn't have a nightmare that night.

Chapter Text

"Okay then, I leave Naruto in your hands," Kakashi said to Tsunami as Team 7, minus the Uzumaki, left for the bridge with Tazuna the following morning. "Because he's used his body to the limit... I don't think he'll be able to move today." Mayu nodded at the assumption.

"Kakashi-san, are you sure you feel alright?" Tsunami repeated the question for the umph-teenth time this morning. Mayu had already checked his sensei, either Kakashi was feeling up to par or he was really good at hiding pain. When they got home, Mayu'd send Kakashi to Konoha's hospital and get books from the library on Iryō Ninjutsu .

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, "Yes, somehow," eyes flickering to Mayu.

"We'll be going!" Tazuna announced, waving to his daughter.

----

"W- What the heck is going on?!" Tazuna shouted as he looked out over the bridge that had some of the men lying face down on the ground.

Mayu's eyes flickered around the bridge quickly, "They're all alive. Though we may want to seek medical attention as soon as possible," That made Tazuna calm down the slightest bit. 

"What's going on? What's happening?"

"It couldn't be..." Kakashi stopped. Mist licked around and over the bridge, waning visibility. "This must ..." He looked around, eyes widening as he got in front of his Genin and Tazuna. "Sasuke! Sakura! They're coming!" he didn't bother telling Mayu, judging by the look on his face, he already knew. They all quickly surrounded Tazuna, Kunai raised and gripped tightly. "I knew he was still alive. Making an appearance so soon, eh..."

"Say, Kaka-sensei," Sakura whispered. "This is his...  Hidden Mist Jutsu , right?"

She got her answer when a semi-familiar voice echoed through the thick mist, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Kakashi. I see you've got those brats with you as always. He's still trembling. Poor thing."

Sasuke was shaking softly but stopped to smirk at the Zabuza clone that had taken the spot in front of him, "I'm trembling… with excitement." he muttered, the clone reflecting the facial movement.

Kakashi turned his head to smile, "Go ahead, boys." he nodded.

Mayu and Sasuke needed no extra push, immediately slashing the Water Clones surrounding the group. They landed back in their original spot without a sound. 

"Well well. So they can see the Water Clones , eh. The dark-haired brat's grown up a bit. That means you've got another rival, Haku." Zabuza said to the Hunter Nin from before.

"So it seems." the Nin spoke softly into the mist, face still hidden behind their mask.

"Our prediction was right on the money, Mayu," Kakashi said.

Zabuza's brow furrowed, "Prediction?"

"That little mask..."

Sakura made a face, "Hah?"

"I knew it... Heh."

"So the elite Shinobi of Kiri thing was a bald-faced lie!" Tazuna added.

"No matter how you look at it, he's a comrade of Zabuza's. Standing with him and all... I hate brats who think they're so cool..." Kakashi ridiculed.

"He's better than you, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura reminded.

"Oh... really?" a dejected Kakashi said.

"In some aspects, but who isn't?"

"Mayu! I thought you were on my side?!"

"I am on your side, I'm physically standing right next to you."

"I'll do it," Sasuke stated, eyes hardening. "With his bad acting... I hate brats who think they're so cool!" 

Sakura balled her fist to her chest, "Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!" she squealed. Mayu side-glanced them both.

"Sakura doesn't take stabs at Sasuke." Kakashi sulked.

"Of course, she wouldn't, she's a fellow Konoha Nin. I believe if she did that, she'd be in big trouble if it wasn't for training purposes."

"Mayu, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all, bully." Mayu just shrugged with confusion.

"They're both impressive youths," Haku interrupted. "Hm, even though those Water Clones are one-tenth the strength of their original... to think they did that well."

"Indeed. However, you've made the preemptive move," Zabuza said. "Go," he instructed.

Without another word, Haku attacked Sasuke. He stepped out, rotating into a spin, wind cycloning around his body. Haku's Senbon clashed with the Uchiha's Kunai, neither gaining the upper hand as their strength was equalled.

"Well, well... so he can see that speed, eh ," Zabuza said.

"Yes. Mayu, Sakura, surround Tazuna and don't move away from me. Let him handle this," Kakashi said calmly. 

"I don't want to have to kill you..." Haku said to the boy, Kunai and Senbon clashing again. "I'd like for you to back down."

"Nonsense..." Sasuke responded, never once taking his eyes off the boy with the mask. 

" I don't want anyone to die, " Mayu thought, hand tightening around the hilt of his Kunai. 

"I knew it... But you won't be able to keep up with my speed. Also, I've already made two preemptive moves," Haku declared, still struggling to overpower one other.

"Two preemptive moves?"

"The first one is the scattered water. And the second one is blocking one of your hands... Therefore you'll only be able to defend my attack..." Haku brought a hand to his mask, making half of a Ram seal, then progressing into a set of sequences.

" A one-handed seal? " Kakashi mused. " I've never seen such a thing before. "

Haku had ended the seal exactly how he started it, " A Thousand Needles of Death! " he spoke, foot stomping in the puddle that surrounded him and his opponent. 

" So he doesn't want to kill them, " Zabuza observed as he watched the water splash into the air, morphing into sharp Senbon. " I wonder if that's how he really feels. "

Sasuke closed his eyes, "Remember... your training... build up Chakra at one burst..." he opened them just as the weapons rained fire. "... to the feet!"

Haku jumped back as the Senbon fired, creating a cloud of water. When he looked towards their previous battleground, he only saw the gravity bring the water down, " He vanished..." then quickly looked into the sky to see Sasuke throwing Shuriken at him, making him jump back farther as each hit the ground one after the other.

"You're surprisingly stupid..." Sasuke said from behind the Senbon using Ninja. "From here on out... You'll only be defending my attack!" They quickly spun away then rushed each other. 

As Haku blocked a blow by bending to the floor, Sasuke threw another Kunai, barely missing its target. The Uchiha saw his opportunity as the Nin crouched, kicking him in the face and letting his body roll all the way back to Zabuza's feet. Sasuke strode behind the crouching Kim, staring down at his opposed enemy with crossed arms and a higher-than-thou look. 

" To think Haku would lose in speed..." Zabuza stared wide-eyed at his pupil.

"It seems I'm faster than you..." Sasuke stated triumphantly. " Though, Mayu could've handled this quicker. I need to train to defeat him and protect Mayu."

Kakashi's face remained emotionless, "I can't have you mocking my team, calling them brats... just brings out their attitude. He may not look it, but Sasuke is one of the top rookies of Konoha. And Sakura is one of the sharpest. Combine those two and more, you get our deceiving little Kim here, he'll rival any thought you had of ' little brats' . And let's not forget our hyperactive, knucklehead Ninja, Uzumaki Naruto."

A dark chuckle came from Zabuza's throat, "Haku, do you know what this means? At this rate, you'll be defeated by your intended victim..."

Haku rose to his feet, answering a simple “ Yes. ” A veil of Chakra became visible around the boy's body, Mayu squirmed a bit at the raw power he was conjuring into the air.

"What...?" Sasuke asked dumbfounded as he looked at the surge of blue.

"He's driving the Chakra out of his body, the power of it is making it visible to the naked eye."

"It's unfortunate..." Haku made hand seals once again, the leftover water appearing behind the raven and owl, solidifying into a giant dome of mirrors, " Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors! " Zabuza watched with a smirk as the two boys were encased.

Kakashi stared in disbelief, " What is this? What's this Jutsu?! "

Haku calmly walked into the mirror, morphing into it, leaving him stuck in 2D. Mayu and Sasuke's eyes might as well bulge out at this point, " What is this? Grandfather never mentioned such a Jutsu!" Mayu thought.

"Damn it!" Kakashi raced forward only to be stopped by the adult comrade of Haku's.

"I'm your opponent, aren't I?" Zabuza smirked. "Since that Jutsu appeared, they're both done for." 

Mayu and Sasuke stood back to back, circling in a tight circle as they examined the cage of ice. "Now... I'll start. I'll show you... my true speed! " Haku's voice proclaimed. 

He started hurdling Senbon at the two, nicking Sasuke's shoulder, the Senbon breaking out through Mayu's opposite arm. A rain of real Senbon came shooting at them, slicing their bodies and leaving long lines. Mayu tried to counter, only getting so many before another wave came crashing down on them. 

Sasuke lost his weapon, opting to shield his head in the meantime. Haku continuously flashed from mirror to mirror in an inconsistent pattern. "Take this!" Sakura shouted as she threw Sasuke's weapon back at him, only to be caught by Haku. Mayu panted softly as the Senbon stopped. The Uchiha's view was of Mayu's back, standing protectively in front of him, shielding his view of Haku switching the blade downwards.

Clink.

A Shuriken had shot through the dome, hitting and cutting Haku's mask. Haku landed face-first to the ground, morphing out of the mirrors as he fell. 

He slowly got up as a big cloud of smoke emerged from the bridge. "It's that idiot... that showoff..." Sasuke muttered to himself. Mayu turned his body towards Sasuke, not moving his head from Haku's now sitting form to hold out his hand, waiting for it to be grasped. 

Sasuke took Mayu's hand for a help-up, "The number one hyperactive, knucklehead Ninja..." Haku trailed off.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" the blond Ninja finished, smoke evaporating from his Jutsu. "... is finally here! Now that I've come, you're alright! No need to worry anymore, Mayu!" Mayu just sighed, shaking his head at his ' saviour' . "The hero of the story usually appears in this situation and takes out the enemy in no time!"

"If only this was a story, Naruto. You're a Ninja, a Shinobi of stealth and secrecy, what was with that entrance? " Mayu muttered to himself.

" He's long on talk... " Sasuke deadpanned.

" Man, that idiot! " Kakashi sweatdropped, " Making such a conspicuous entrance... "

" That boy... " Haku thought back to when he met Naruto at the field, collecting herbs with him.

"Alright, here I go! Shadow Clone Jutsu ...!" Naruto shouted.

"Don't shout your Jutsu, Naruto! It defeats the purpose!" Mayu's voice sounded back to the blond who slouched but continued his attack. However, he was stopped once again by Zabuza this time, throwing Shuriken at him.

Haku intervened, " Hey! " Kakashi said harshly. "What kind of idiot would attempt to cast a Jutsu directly in front of an opponent?! The essence of a Ninja is deception. How you deceive your opponent! Even casting one Jutsu, you avoid the eyes of your opponents, catching them off guard, and outsmarting them... The way you just made your entrance, you're only putting a target on your back..."

"N- No!!" Naruto exclaimed, holding his head in his hands. "But I went to the trouble to come to the rescue."

"What concerns me more than that is..." Kakashi trailed off staring at Haku.

"Haku... What's the idea?" Zabuza turned to the boy.

Haku's head stayed down, "Zabuza, leave this kid to me... Please let me fight this battle my way."

"What did you say...?" Naruto started. Mayu was getting colder by the minute, hands subtly shaking by now.

Zabuza only closed his eyes, "So that means no interfering?" when the boy said nothing, Zabuza continued, "You're naïve... as usual..."

Haku ducked his head, "I'm sorry."

" Naïve, eh. True enough. Judging from these wounds, there's no mistaking I was attacked by Senbon. But no vital areas have been targeted yet. Does he mean to half-kill us?" Sasuke glared at the enemy Nin .

"If so! As for me, I'll take you out first, so...!" Naruto pointed. The two sensei muttered to each other. "That mask... You were Zabuza's comrade, after all, weren't you?! You've got some nerve to deceive us!" Haku only apologized again, taking Naruto by surprise. 

"But, your sensei also said it, correct? Things like deception and catching one off guard is a Shinobi's duty. Please don't take it personally," Haku's voice was calm despite the situation. "Don't think for a minute that I've forgotten about you two," calmly dodging Sasuke's thrown Kunai. "I would've wanted for you two to just go down quietly. But it seems that's not an option. Fine. I'll have to put in the effort,"

"H- Hey!" Naruto was astonished to be brushed off so quickly.

Haku stopped just before he reentered his mirrors, "Naruto, I'll have to deal with you later."

" This is it! " Sasuke thought, glaring up at Haku. He and Mayu positioned themselves facing away, backs brushing every so often. " The body has to be in here somewhere. Okay!" Sasuke took out another Kunai, clutching it tight whilst eyes flashed to the mirrors, one by one.

" I'm here. "

Haku slowly appeared in each mirror, all actions mimicking the original. Mayu tensed at the sudden atmosphere, a bit worrisome now he couldn't directly pinpoint where the original body was. His eyes widened, Senbon flying every which way. He could feel when the Senbon hit him, he was close to becoming numb, senses overloaded. The small wave stopped, Mayu heavily favoured his left shoulder, eye shut where blood dripped down his face, disappearing into his shirt.

"Sasuke!" Mayu tried to seem less hurt than he was, kneeling weakly by a sitting Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes turned sharp, willing them to find a hole in the mirrors. 

" Yo! I came to save Mayu, maybe you in the process!" Naruto not so discreetly whispered.

"Naruto!" Sasuke's eye twitched in bewilderment at the sheer stupidity his teammate acquired.

"Gods, Naruto! Thanks, but we might have a better chance of survival if you'd attack from outside. We're for sure going to die now," Mayu muttered.

"Idiot! If you're a Shinobi, you'll move more cautiously!"

"What's with you?! I came in here to save you guys! And this is the thanks I get?! Yeesh! " Naruto spat back at an equally frustrated Sasuke.

"Oi ! " Mayu pinched both arguing parties, who winced and clutched their red ears. "We're still in the middle of battle. I'd like to end this quickly before I pass out!" Mayu whispered.

Wide-eyed, Sasuke rushed through hand signals he knew by heart, "I'll try something. Katon Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu! "

Fire erupted from Sasuke's mouth, the flames spreading to the mirrors. Mayu shivered, the change in temperature differed greatly, making his own body uncomfortable. 

Even when set ablaze, the mirrors didn't let up, looking as if fire didn't hinder it at all. "It's Chakra-infused ice, probably a Kekkei Genki, Sasuke. While it'd work with regular ice, it's not going to do anything here," Mayu theorised.

The mirrors started to glow, growing brighter by the second, soon blinding them. Taking this opportunity, Haku attacked with another wave of Senbon. "Damn it! Where'd he attack from?! Is it the clones?!" Naruto shouted. He looked around frantically, " Where's the real body?! "

"It's useless for you to even attempt following them with your eyes. I absolutely will not be caught," Haku muttered confidently.

Naruto shook with fury, "Humph! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Sasuke barely had time to yell a 'No!' before Naruto already put the Jutsu into action.

Naruto Clones shot out from the smoke they appeared from, jumping to the mirror but being stopped short by Haku who fled out of them, jumping to the next while simultaneously slowly destroying the Clones. They all poofed out of existence, the real Naruto slamming back to the ground. 

"This is a Teleportation Jutsu that uses the mirrors to reflect only my image. Watching you from the speed I move, it's almost as if I wasn't moving at all."  

"Damn it!" Naruto mumbled. "So... What?! I can't die here yet," Naruto gained a dark look on his tan face. "'Cause I have a dream that I must turn to reality... The dream to have my strength recognized by everyone in the village... and become Hokage!"

" Dream...? " Haku said. "For me, becoming a Shinobi completely is difficult. If I can, I don't want to kill you guys. And I don't want to be killed by you guys. But if you guys are going to come at me... I'll kill my feelings with a sword and completely become a Shinobi!" he declared.

"This bridge is the battleground that connects each of us to our dreams. I, for the sake of my dream. And you, for the sake of your dreams. Please don't hold it against me... I want to protect my precious person... I work for the sake of that person, I fight for that person, and I want to make that person's dream a reality... That's my dream. For the sake of that dream, I will completely become a Shinobi... and kill you guys!" as he finished his declaration, he held up a Senbon, the boys on the ground gaining similar smirks of acknowledgement.

Chapter Text

The blood rushing through his ears made it hard to hear the sounds of battle from outside the dome of ice. Mayu knew Kakashi could take care of himself, but being weaker because of the previous attack, he wasn't so sure. Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones he could physically see, and though he could sense the others' Chakra, his stomach still ached with slight worry.

"I'm not one to be afraid because I failed once! I'll do it as many times as it takes! Shadow Clone Jutsu! " Once again, Naruto charged the mirrors with multiple Clones. Mayu watched with sharp eyes, searching for a moment of weakness that could be vital to their own survival.

Haku continued to move slightly faster than he could react, Senbon raining down again as the boys tried to protect themselves.

Naruto sat back up, "W- What the heck was that?!"

Sasuke squinted his eyes, " It was just slight but... I could see the trails of his movements... "

"One more try!" Naruto said and repeated his actions, both boys on the ground focused solely on their opponent. Mayu swiped water into the air and crouched down after he caught the flash of realization in Sasuke's eyes.

"Don't you understand it's useless?" destroying the clones and some of each boy’s pride as they fell to the ground.

Mayu lay still in between the boys, turning his head ever so slightly so he could connect eyes with the ebony-haired teammate, "Can you see that? My eyes can just barely and my body's not going to respond fast enough to do anything useful."

Sasuke tapped Mayu's foot in reply before sluggishly helping Mayu and himself up, " The water... is being repelled. But... what if it wasn't water...? Alright, the next one is our big shot! " as he took in each reflected figure and then at his favourite teammate, "What's your affinity?"

"Lightning, nothing over C-ranked. And Water." Sasuke nodded to himself.

"Back me up on my signal, use lightning."

Naruto ran straight at Haku's mirror, repeating his Jutsu for the fourth time, "You just don't learn do you?!" Haku pondered. Sasuke nudged Mayu's foot and both began the seals for a basic but powerful Jutsu.

As Haku left the safety of the mirrors, they attacked in sync.

" Katon: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Raiton: Dragon Style!"

Haku barely had time to act, flashing to another mirror before either Jutsu hit him. Then, he continued with his onslaught of Clones.

They attacked again, catching the end of Haku's garbs as he changed mirrors. The cloth sizzled as small cracks of lightning popped occasionally telling the boys they had successfully landed a hit, albeit barely. 

Naruto gradually struggled more to get back up every time he went down. They all stood, back to back, as they panted. Sasuke gave Mayu a slight upturn of the lip as he noticed their accomplishment. " Bit by bit, I'm figuring out the timing..."

Kakashi and Zabuza both briefly paused at the lightning and fire that roared in the fight next to them, both wondering how any Genin could produce such Jutsu.

"That's one talented brat you got there, Kakashi. You trade him for your measly lives and we might let you go," Zabuza taunted through the thick mist. Kakashi didn't respond as they started their game of cat and mouse, none too sure who the predator and who the prey was.

" They could read my movements... No way they could do that, one of them is on to me, " Haku thought troublingly.

"Damn! We were so close!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke turned towards his teammates, "Can you guys still move?" Mayu shook a bit as he nodded, Chakra exhaustion sneaking up quickly. 

Naruto only responded with more determination, "Of course! I'm totally fine!"

Haku chuckled through disbelief, " Ha , impossible. That was just a coincidence.” The mirrors glowed feverishly.

"Naruto! Run! " Sasuke said.

" Huh?! "

"Run out of here and attack from the outside!"

Naruto smiled, "Alright!"

"You won't be able to...!" Naruto repeatedly got knocked down and got up, more than he did when he used his Shadow Clones .

"I- I'm not going to lose!" 

"There!" Sasuke alerted himself and Mayu as Haku left his mirror, both throwing Jutsu at him again. Haku turned at the last second, sending a Senbon in retaliation. 

Mayu pushed a shocked Sasuke out of the line of fire but not himself, receiving a Senbon through his left shoulder. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Now that I think about it, if you're going to be ungrateful I should've let you take the stupid Senbon.” Mayu shrugged then winced, the Senbon went through all the way, it lay abandoned while covered in the owl's blood.

"Aside from Mayu being stupid, that was good just now."

" Geez. "

"What?"

"We're going to do it one more time," Sasuke declared.

"Alright!" Naruto said with vigour. Mayu just rolled his eyes, completely over the fight already even though it was still highly dangerous, he just wanted to take a nice, long nap after this.

"You okay to do one more, Mayu?" Sasuke asked quietly, putting a hand on his back. He only got a glare from the silver-haired boy. "I'm taking that as a yes because I- we can't do this without you," Mayu looked forward, ignoring the heat that came from his cheeks from the words.

"It's likely there's a limit to this guy's Chakra... To prove that, he's little by little..." Sasuke thought as they all split up and ran in different directions.

"This won't go as you've planned," leaving his mirrors, Haku attacked, "First, I'll get you..." he sent a small barrage of Senbon to the Uchiha.

"Sasuke!" Naruto turned back to look at him only to be greeted by Senbon. Mayu could only run so far before Haku stopped in front of him.

"I see the way they protect you, even if none of you acknowledges it. Why waste time when I can get rid of the weak link?" Haku muttered, twirling a strand of Mayu's silver hair before plunging a Senbon into the boy's neck.

"This isn't the type of nap I was imagining ー" he was caught before blacking out, not knowing if it was a teammate or the foe. 

Through his consciousness did he see nothing but the black, lifeless void that comforted him, wrapping around his mind like a blanket. Worries escaped him as he lay limp in the darkness. 

No, he didn't talk to any dead relative or someone important, just thoughts aimlessly roaming freely. That's the only tell that he was still alive unless he was dead and his consciousness remained, though he doubted it. He couldn't feel his body but knew he's going to be sore, not just from fighting but from emotional exhaustion.

Being called the ' weak link ' didn't sit well with him, conscious or not. He knew he wasn't anything close to weak, he'd seen how above his peers he was, he just ... it was hard not to believe something like that. After all, he'd bet he was the only one to be knocked unconscious. It hurt... tremendously . What has he been doing, if not getting stronger? Was defeating one of Zabuza's Clones earlier an accident, a cruel hoax? He feared not being good enough, no matter the aspect. 

His grandfather would ridicule him if he found out he was taken out so easily and early into a fight. He'd say his mother wasn't ever going to be proud of him, neither Clans nor his father or brother and certainly not himself. In a way... he knew he'd never live up to the expectations anyone had ever set for him.

He knew he disappointed his mother from the moment he stepped up and said he was going to be a Shinobi, one way or another, he'd done it for sure. He never seemed to say the right thing, he was already a quiet child so it wasn't a big difference when he started talking less and less. He was pretty much mute in the Academy, not bothering to burden anyone with his foolishness. 

Ever so slowly did he gain enough consciousness to begin to feel his numb body. Though it was significantly harder to breathe, his body tingled. He twitched his fingers and toes, hopefully starting his other limbs to cooperate and function. One of his hands was occupied by something cold, something he didn't know. 

Sound faintly flooded his sensitive ears, the distinguishable sob of a female. She sounded painful, Mayu vaguely wondered what happened to make such a heart-wrenching sound.

"Sakura, you're heavy," was the first understandable thing he heard.  Mayu groaned softly and tried to move, only for something to move his hand. " Mayu...? " the same voice called. He was shakily lifted up, his head put on something soft but firm and a hand softly swept the hair from his face. 

"Sasuke," Sasuke heard Mayu mutter, putting a hand on his face in reassurance. The Uchiha managed a small smile looking down at the boy. 

"Can you sit up?" Sasuke grunted. Mayu tried to sit up only to fall lamely back down, he sighed in frustration and shook his head.

Sakura stood by Tazuna as they watched the two, trying to help one another even though they were both clearly hurt, "Sasuke-kun, I don't think you should do that. You're hurt, too. Let someone else get Mayu."

Sasuke glared at the girl while supporting Mayu, both wrapped an arm around each other, trying to stabilize themselves. Mayu subconsciously ran a hand through the back of Sasuke's head, tugging a bit. 

The Uchiha held on tightly to the boy, as did Mayu. "Where's Naruto? And what happened to that masked guy?"

"Naruto's fine," Sakura said dejectedly. "And the masked kid, he died..."

"Died? Did Naruto get him?" Mayu interrupted curiously.

Sakura shook her head solemnly, "Well... I'm not too sure, but he protected Zabuza..." Both look over to the crowd, at the lifeless body of Haku on the ground. "I had faith in you. You're awesome, Sasuke-kun! You avoided getting inflicted with any mortal wounds!"

She continued to praise him, making Mayu clench his fist while Sasuke stared blankly between him and Haku's body. "Naruto!" Sakura called. "Sasuke's alright! He's alive!" she waved as the two boys slowly stood up. Mayu put an arm around the Uchiha's shoulders while overlapping at the back of his.

"Huh?" Naruto muttered. Sasuke looked away but raised an arm in acknowledgment, Mayu just looked at the boy beside him and gave a small wave. A small trail of tears flowed its way down Naruto's dirtied cheeks.

" So, the boys are alright, too... That's a relief, " Kakashi thought.

" Hey, hey, hey! " a staff tapped at the unfinished bridge. "You guys are too relaxed!" a man boosted.

"Damn Ninja...! Killing our source of money!"

"Now that it's come to this, there's no choice but to attack the whole town and take everything valuable!" the same man with the staff spoke.

"Shoot, this isn't good!" Naruto turned towards his teacher, concern on his tan face. "Kakashi-sensei! Don't you have a Jutsu to annihilate them all at once?"

Kakashi contemplated, "That's impossible! I've used too much Chakra! Mayu will yell at me and force me to stay even longer in the hospital!"

The man raised his staff to signal start, "Here we go!" and all the leftover men ran for the Ninja.

A single arrow shot out from the sky, embedding itself in the unfinished bridge, halting the thugs in their dirty tracks.

Everyone turned back to look at the archer, Inari, with the rest of the rekindled villagers behind him. "Enemies that come any closer to the island... with all the might of all the island's people... will not be allowed to live!"

" Yeah! " The islanders cheered.

"Inari!" Naruto shouted.

Said boy just wiped his nose with his hand, a smug smile on his face, "Heroes always arrive on the scene late!" Pride filled Tazuna as he watched his grandson and fellow islanders stand up for their home.

Naruto whipped around, Ram seal ready, "Okay, I'll help you guys out, too! Shadow Clone Jutsu! " a multitude of Clones stood beside him.

" I can do that even with my scarce Chakra... Don't yell too loud, Mayu!" Kakashi said in his head, Clones immediately filled the rest of the bridge, creating a barrier between the thugs and islanders. " Shadow Clone Jutsu! Kakashi Version!"  

All the thugs froze, fear high in the atmosphere, "So... are you ready to fight?!" all the Clones spoke together.

"No, we're not!" they replied, scurrying back to their pathetic excuse for a ship. They looked like rats in a maze.

"We've done it!" Inari cheered along with the rest of the islanders.

"Sounds like it's over," Zabuza mumbled, face down on the pavement, slowly bleeding out.

"Yeah..." Kakashi trailed off. 

"Kakashi... I need to ask you a favour,"

"What is it?"

" Him ... I want to see his face."

Kakashi pulled down his forehead protector, eyes filled with sympathy, "Alright..." he plucked the many weapons that varied in size and models from the rogue Nin's back, carefully lifted his body and gently placed him beside his fallen partner. 

Stark white snow fell from the grey clouds. 

Zabuza dully watched the snowfall, " Haku... are you crying? " he pondered. "Thanks, Kakashi..." The clouds parted, the sun smiling sadly as it peered down.

Naruto was crying, "This guy..." he looked away. "He was born in a village where it snowed a lot," he sniffled.

"I see..." Kakashi said, "He was a boy as pure as snow... You'd be able to go, Zabuza. The two of you... together."

----

While the sun glared its last rays on Zabuza's sword, Team 7 had struck it in the ground as a sort of gravestone for the Swordsman.

"But you know, Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura spoke softly, kneeling on the dirt cliff in front of Haku's makeshift grave beside Zabuza's.

" Hmm? "

"I wonder if the way of the Ninja should be is really what those two were saying,"

"' Shinobi shouldn't seek the reason for their own existence. What's important is to exist merely as tools,' it's the same in every Hidden Village," Mayu spoke up for the first time since the fight, never taking his eyes off the waning horizon. Neither Sasuke nor Mayu had left each other's side since then.

"I wonder if that's what it really means to become a Ninja. I guess... I guess...! I don't like that! " Naruto complained.

"Do you think so, too?" Sasuke asked rhetorically. 

Kakashi tilted his head, "Hmm... Well, that's why all Shinobi live trying to figure it out without realizing... Like Zabuza... and that kid..."

"Okay!" Naruto said. "I've just decided! I'm going to pursue my own Ninja Way! I'm going to sprint straight ahead and pursue a way I absolutely won't regret!" Mayu and Kakashi smiled faintly at the blond.

----

It was time for their departure, Team 7 and the villagers stood at the gate of their newly finished bridge saying farewells but not goodbyes.

"Thanks to you the bridge was safely completed, but we'll miss you very much," the old man spoke sincerely.

"Take care," Tsunami said, eyes trained on Mayu's slumped figure practically glued to the Uchiha's side. She gave the boy a longing smile.

"Thank you for everything," Kakashi announced with his infamous smile.

"Now, now!" Naruto said smugly. "We'll come back for a visit, old man." 

Inari gulped back tears, "For sure...?"

" Huh? Inari... you're gonna miss us, aren't you?" Naruto gave a watery smile. "It's alright to cry. Go ahead and cry!"

"I won't cry! It's okay if you cry, Naruto!"

Naruto grunted, "Oh, is that so? See ya!" he quickly turned around, tears burst from his eyes.

"You're so stubborn."

"Okay! I'll get back soon and have Iruka-sensei treat me to ramen as the mission completion celebration!" Naruto leisurely walked with his hands folded behind his head, "And! And! I'll tell Konohamaru tales of my heroic exploits!"

Mayu side glanced at the blond, "That kid needs no more encouragement. He's troublesome enough on his own," he mumbled.

"Then I..." Sakura animatedly turned to Sasuke, "Hey, Sasuke! Do you want to go on a date when we get back to the village?"

"No thanks," Sasuke replied. "Mayu, let's train when we get back."

" Hm ."

"Just like that...?" Sakura thought, staring desperately at her crush.

Naruto quickly spoke to Sakura, seeing her mood plummet, "You know! You know! I'll go with you!"

Instead of accepting as Naruto hoped, she hit him on the head, " Be quiet! "

" Sakura, I think that counts as abuse, even if we're Ninja. "

" Shut up, Mayu! " 

" Sakura, you're being loud.”

" Sorry, Sasuke-kun! "

Chapter Text

Haruka and his father were overjoyed when Mayu came back. What turned into a couple of weeks mission from a couple of days, Haruka was another limb, telling him all that he's missed. He told him that their father almost made a decorative pillow out of Inu with all his squawking. 

Mayu could only imagine the fright that passed through his duck's brain. Said duck sat atop of his head the minute he entered the house, squawking away about leaving him here with buffoons. That is if ducks could talk, but Mayu got the gist of it.

Now, getting ready for rather cooled-down missions to compensate for the harsh Land of Waves mission, Team 7 met by their usual bridge. 

Mayu sat right beside a standing Sasuke, leaning against the male's legs as his own swayed with the current flowing under the small bridge. They had gotten considerably closer since they started to train together, spending a questionable amount of time together with Mayu's father and brother, and Sakura, along with his crazy fangirls.

Sasuke shivered just thinking about them, ruffling a green leaf from Mayu's hair.

Sakura stood tense, arms crossed as she waited impatiently for her knucklehead of a teammate and impractical sensei. Naruto came running up to the bridge, smiling brightly, "Good morning, Sakura-chan!" he waved. Before she could say anything, if she was even going to acknowledge him , Naruto and Sasuke thinly glared at each other. Naruto spun around, " Hmph! "

And so they stood, or in Mayu's case sat , as the time went by agonizingly slow, waiting for their very, very late sensei. Not that that was anything new at this point.

When he finally heard Kakashi talk, he let out a relieved sigh, "Well... Good morning," he waved a little. "Today, I got lost."

"Kakashi, that's a very serious matter. If you're still getting lost when you've lived here your entire life, are you sure you don't need to be in a home already?"

" ... Good morning to you too, Mayu, " his teacher sweatdropped, discouraged. Sasuke smirked.

" Hey! " Naruto and Sakura shouted, scaring off a pair of birds, and probably Mayu's hearing .

Naruto got an excited look on his tan face, "Hey, hey... Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi put his hands up defensively. "Team 7 has easy missions lately. Aren't there more exciting missions where I can be more active, where I can use my Ninja Way and my soul... You know? " 

Kakashi backed away slowly, "Oh, yes, yes... I basically understand what you're trying to say."

Naruto momentarily ignored his sensei to glare back at Sasuke, who did nothing except stare blankly. Sakura looked ready to burst, Mayu just stood up with a helping hand from Sasuke. Kakashi giggled.

"Hey, Naruto! What're you doing? We're going on our mission!"

The day was mostly uneventful for Mayu, very mundane things they did for their " missions ." 

The first was picking weeds from some old lady's yard, Mayu and Sakura worked in peaceful bliss before the woman came back screaming at Naruto for also pulling the actual produce.

Next was recycling while Kakashi " supervised"  from the side as they picked up trash from beside the river bank. Naruto managed to slip and almost got himself killed by taking a plunge down the waterfall if not for the other males on his team. 

And as it turned out, cats and rabbits weren't the only animals that didn't like Naruto but dogs as well; he'd chosen the biggest one only to have it lead him into an unauthorized area full of highly explosive bombs , which left him charred and in a bad mood.

Having to carry a charred Naruto back to the village wasn't what you'd call fun . Kakashi continued to stand by idly, choosing to ignore the trouble his team was causing. 

One factor throughout the whole day was Naruto's one-sided rivalry with Sasuke. The boy couldn't seem to get over it, it was quickly becoming more annoying than it was in the Academy, only this time Mayu couldn't disassociate himself from them as they were his teammates. 

What a pain...

"Well, it's because you're so reckless!" Sakura scolded Naruto, shaking her head.

Sasuke smirked, " Geez , you're so much trouble," Naruto lashed out, annoyed that Sasuke took the words straight out of his mouth.

Sakura put a hand in front of him, "If you act up any more, I'll finish you! " blocking his path from Mayu and Sasuke who followed close behind.

Kakashi hummed to himself, " Mmm ... Teamwork hasn't been… the best lately."

"That's right! That's right!" Naruto said, waving a fist. "Sasuke, you're to blame for the poor teamwork! You're always attracting attention!"

"That's you, usuratonkachi ," Sasuke didn't even turn around to make the jab. "If you don't want to owe me big time..." he finally stopped, only turning his head to the blond. "... You need to become stronger than me," he taunted, knowing Naruto would take the challenge headfirst.

Mayu pulled on Sasuke's hand as Kakashi caught sight of the hawk circling them, "Well, then... Perhaps we should disperse. I do need to submit a report about this mission."

"Okay, we're going home," Sasuke said, wrapping his fingers fully around the owl’s and leading them away. Smirking at the other’s faint blush they ignored.

Sakura ran after them, "Sasuke-kun, wait!" Naruto stood dejectedly as she continued talking, "Hey, how about... Why don't you and I... Why don't we work on improving our teamwork together?" a blush covered her cheeks.

"You're just like Naruto," he muttered. "If you have time to spend on me, why don't you practice a Jutsu!"

"If you're spending time with Mayu, why don't you go work on a Jutsu?!" Naruto shot back.

Mayu sighed in exasperation, "Not allowed to, Chakra and physical exhaustion aren't pretty in the long run," he looked at the boy, " Stubborn brat, " he muttered. 

Sasuke playfully wrapped his arm around Mayu, "Come on, I'm hungry." Sakura watched them walk away with an unidentifiable expression.

"Sakura! Just let those two be, and let's practice together!" Naruto called. Kakashi just giggled again at Naruto's choice of wording before disappearing with a cloud of smoke.

"If you're hungry, let's go eat something," Mayu spoke, not bothering to move Sasuke. Sasuke led them to a small pop-up shop that sold Onigiri and other sushi. They got a plate, deciding to share as they split the cost. " ... Red bean paste ... buns..."

"Hn? "

"Uh, I'm going to get something real quick, I'll meet you by that one fence," When Mayu saw Sasuke hadn't moved, he tilted his head. "Seriously, just about three minutes. If not, you can tell me off or something, whatever you want."

Mayu watched Sasuke walk away before entering a store that smelled like his grandmother. He simply ordered a small batch of the buns, his excitement unnoticeable. When he was handed the bag and paid for them and a carton of strawberry milk, he took a coloured bun out of the bag and nibbled the pastry. 

"Let's play with them before the strict one comes around," an unknown voice said as Mayu rounded the corner.

" Let go! " the unmistakable voice of the Third Hokage's grandson struggled to say. Mayu blinked, whipping one of his special Kunai into his hand as he disappeared in a flash of purple, leaving smoke in his wake.

The next thing Kankurō knew, he was holding a squished steam bun, the contents spilling over his gloves, "What theー ?"

Mayu stood in front of two of his shocked teammates and two other little kids, likely Konohamaru's friends. "Are you purposely trying to wage war between our villages, Cat-man? And Little Leaf, where's my troublesome little brother?"

" What'd you call me, pretty boy?! " Mayu deadpanned, eyes flicking upwards with a sigh.

"He got sick after we played in the rain earlier, my baby's gonna be fine!" Konohamaru said confidently with a smile and hands on his hips.

"That's the Sandaime ’ s brat, are you trying to start something? Or can we be on our way after you apologise?" Mayu nodded to Konohamaru who stuck his tongue at the cat-man. The other kids and Naruto had stars in their eyes.

"Mayu! You're so much cooler than that loser Sasuke!!" Naruto shouted, cupping his hands in front of his chest with a dreamy look that made Mayu grimace and look away.

Just as the cat-man with purple markings was about to take a step forward, a rock came and bounced off the side of his temple. "What do you think you're doing in someone else's village, you... leave him alone." Sasuke tossed a rock up and down in his hand, sitting on a branch above the fence.

Sakura started to screech praises at the ebony-haired boy, Mayu glared at the girl. "Another little punk to piss me off." 

Sasuke crushed his remaining rock, "Get lost," now Konohamaru's gang squealed over the brooding male, as well as the spiky-haired blonde wearing purple and had a noticeably large fan on her back that accompanied the cat-man. Mayu rolled his eyes with a glare.

"Get down here, you little punk," the cat-man said again. "You're the kind of smart-aleck little punk that I despised the most," he muttered, hands reaching towards his wrapped rucksack.

Mayu tilted his head and slightly pursed his lips. "Who else is in the tree? It's a bit cowardly to hide like that," everyone ignored the small male. The other male in the tree peered down with wide eyes.

The Chakra was… weird . Bloodthirsty that made Mayu want to shrink.

"Wait! You aren't thinking of using Karasu , are you?!" the blonde asked in disbelief. 

A voice stopped the cat-man's advancement. "Kankurō, stop that," the owner stood on the underside of a branch, presumably using Chakra. He had maroon red hair and seafoam green eyes outlined in black, Mayu suspected he didn't sleep much. " You're an embarrassment to our village. "

Unbearably cold...

The once confident and arrogant cat-man turned timid kitten just by the few words spoken by the redhead. He was someone to watch out for . "G- Gaara,"

"What do you think we came all the way to Konoha for?"

"P- Please listen to me, Gaara!" Kankurō pleaded. "T- They lashed out first."

"I know all these kids can be rowdy but don't blame your ignorance on them."

"Shut up, pretty boy!" Kankurō hissed.

"You shut up... I'll kill you." the redhead's eyes thinned.

"Understood, I was wrong. I- I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

The boy ignored the apology, turning towards the owl with apathy clear in his voice, "I'm sorry about that..." he materialized on the ground as sand travelled the distance from the tree. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play around."

"I know," muttered Kankurō.

"He's collecting strays? Lovely," Mayu commented softly.

"Hold it!" Sakura spoke up. "Judging from your headbands, you're Suna Nin, right? Without question, the Lands of Fire and Wind are allied nations. But the arbitrariness of coming and going of Shinobi is supposed to be prohibited by treaty," she got confident real quick, "State your purpose! Depending on the circumstances..."

The spiky-haired blonde hummed in annoyance, " Hmph! So that's what they mean by the darkest place is under the candlestick," Mayu choked a laugh but covered it with a cough. "Don't you know anything about it?" she held up a card with her credentials on it, "My permit!" she gloated. "As you say, we're Suna’s Genin from the Land of Wind."

"They're here for the annual Chunin Exams, Kakashi still hasn't said anything about that," Mayu told the children.

"Finally an intellectual, smart and cute. Why don't you, me and the raven go out sometime?" she said with a wink and pink cheeks.

Sasuke jumped down and wrapped an arm around Mayu’s side, "No thanks, we're fine by ourselves," which caused her to blush harder and Mayu to glare at her.

"Chunin... Exams?" Naruto squinted. Konohamaru explained that they were the exams that promoted Genin to Chunin, which Naruto jumped in excitement.

"Hey! You there..." Sasuke spoke again. "What's your name?"

The blonde turned with another blush, " Huh? M- Me? Change your mind?"

"No! The one with the gourd on your back..."

"I'm Gaara of the Desert... I have interest in you two as well... What're your names?"

Sasuke smirked, "Uchiha Sasuke and Kim Mayu," tightening the arm around Mayu's middle when the redhead's eyes lingered on the boy.

A tense silence evolved them, staring at one another as the wind blew through their space.

"Say! Say! What about me? What about me?" Naruto spoke happily, thumb pointed back at himself.

Two words knocked him down though, " Not interested. "

" Heh. Things have gotten interesting," Sasuke thought as he and Mayu continued back to his lone apartment to eat their snacks.

They took off their shoes as they entered, Mayu muttering a small ' Tadaima' out of habit. Setting their food bags down on the counter, they spread the platter out. "I got what you guys call, 'steamed buns' but they're filled with red bean paste, try some after I heat them up." Sasuke watched with his head resting on his hand as Mayu left the small room.

" He's already so comfortable in my apartment." Sasuke thought to himself, Mayu had been to his complex a number of times as it was soon becoming normal for him to be here. The apartment always felt less empty when he was.

"Feed me." They swapped foods and shared Mayu's surprisingly unsweet strawberry milk.

Both had come to learn they didn't care for sweet things, opting to share foods because their taste was surprisingly similar. As time grew on, Sasuke learned many things about the boy; he groaned and whined when he was sleepy and would always pass out in his bed, he tended to hug things, liking weight on his body throughout the night as it helped him sleep better, he had to have one of the most adorable faces when sleeping, too. 

No, it wasn't the creepy stalker Sasuke but things he noticed more and more. Sasuke liked waking up to something other than a dead-quiet apartment even though the two weren't the loudest of people.

Another day, another mission.

They once again waited on the bridge, in the same positions as all the times previous. As usual, Naruto and Sakura pop off, " Say! Say! Say! " Sakura said in frustration. "Why is it that he's always the one to call us out, and then makes us wait?!" she whined.

Naruto hurriedly agreed, vigorously nodding his head, "That's right! That's right!"

"What's he going to do about the feelings of a maiden who accidentally overslept and resigned herself to no blowdrying?!" She continued. After training sometimes, Mayu would shower at Sasuke's and let him blow dry his hair.

Naruto kept a fist raised, "I overslept, so I haven't washed my face and didn't brush my teeth," which pulled Sakura from her anger to disgust.

" Y- You ... That's dirty," she shivered as a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead.

" Why are these guys so hyper first thing in the morning?! Mayu's so quiet compared to them."

"... I want... some strawberry milk..."

"Hiya, good morning, folks!" Kakashi greeted his Genin from the bridge stand.

" Be careful or I might just push you into the river. "

"Ever so cheerful, Mayu. Today , I got lost on the path of life..."

"Right! That's a lie! " Both Naruto and Sakura pointed out. Mayu cleaned his ear, were they always this loud or did they get noisier?

Kakashi stuttered, "Uh, well... This is sudden, but I recommended you guys for the Chunin Exams, so... Here, these are your applications," he held out four leaflets to his Genin. "That being said, the recommendations are not compulsory. You guys are free to decide whether or not to take the Exams."

Mayu opened his mouth in confusion only to shut it when Kakashi gave him a look. "Alright! I love you, Kaka-sensei!" Naruto said with glee, Kakashi dodging his student too late for the male was already stuck to him. 

"Cut it out, don't drool on me!" he carefully set the Genin back on the ground. "Only those who want to take the Exam, sign the application and come to room 301 of the Academy at 1500 five days from now... That's it!"

Naruto truly did remind Mayu of a puppy, "Chunin Exams! Chunin Exams! "

----

Genin continued to come to the village throughout the week, making the looming event of the Chunin Exams seem closer and closer. The new faces weren't the only thing to fear, old faces rekindled old flames that had since been put out. The days were filled with training, more so than usual.

Mayu and Sasuke were out and about, as usual, switching between the market's stalls. Every so often they'd lose each other but always wound up back together.

They had gotten separated once more and Mayu led his search in finding some tomatoes that someone had been whining about recently. He turned away as ' Sasuke' came up behind him and gave him a hard kiss on the cheek that had him giving ‘Sasuke’ a weird look, proceeding to ignore him.

Finding the real Sasuke was... weird .  Mayu found him when he was talking to ' Mayu' ー did he always look that small? ー which was honestly just Kakashi who transformed into the male. 

Sasuke was a little off-put by the affection Mayu was giving him at that moment. Mayu was hugging the Uchiha from behind, nuzzling his head into the boy's back. His fingers twitched as he caught sight of a familiar mop of messy grey hair. He gave a signal to the real Mayu to meet by the corner of the fence. 

When they both met up, both fakes were oblivious to the two's plan. Having swiftly trapped the pair with a lit aflame Lightning Cage, Mayu asked the million-dollar question, "Kakashi-san, Iruka-san, what in the five nations are you doing?" Both Nin changed back to their regular form with sighs and slight deflation.

"What gave us away?" Iruka asked, hoping to best another Genin so they'd be safe.

"I'm still a sensor, if anyone remembers?" Kakashi stared blankly at the boy with an ' oh yeah, huh? '

" Sensor Nin?! Since when?" Iruka's eyes looked as if they were going to depart from his body.

"Iruka, I don't kiss and tell. But know it's been developing since I started your class," Mayu blinked, mischief in his gaze.

"... Mayu's not that affectionate outside..." Sasuke commented offhandedly, getting a jab in the ribs in the process.

----

Mayu, Naruto and Sasuke stood together as they awaited their fourth member. Mayu sensed her approaching, "Guys, say something encouraging, I guess. Sakura's coming."

"Sakura, you're late!" Naruto said.

"Yeah... sorry," she said, not as hyper as she usually is.

"We'll be fine," Mayu said quietly to the girl. 

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she greeted.

He side-glanced her, "Yeah..."

----

"So, you're going to attempt taking the Chunin Exams with that skill?" a Chunin guard taunted a tall male covered in a green onesie (??) with very distinguishable eyebrows.

"Maybe it's best if you runts quit," said the other guard with a chuckle in his voice.

"You're all green-arsed brats anyways."

"Please let us through," a Chinese girl with two buns on her head spoke, supporting her fallen teammate.

"Didn't you guys listen? We're being nice to you! The Chunin Exams are a high hurdle."

The other guard backed his partner up, nodding, "Many times have we seen people quit being Shinobi as well as being disabled for life, just because they took this Exam."

"Also, a Chunin is at the level of unit leader. Mission failures, death of subordinates and comrades, it's all under the responsibility of a squad leader!"

"What's so wrong about weeding out those who won't pass anyway?!" the guard asked incredulously.

Sasuke stepped forward, Mayu and the rest of Team 7 trailing behind. "A just argument. However, you will let us through. And could you also take down the Genjutsu? It's giving my partner a headache. We’ve got business on the third floor." 

The people spoke around him as if he were crazy.

"Well, well..."

"So you noticed, eh?"

"What's with the getup, Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san?" both froze at the mention of their names, choosing to say nothing but slightly glare at the devious boy in front of them. "Did you leave the gates unguarded again ?"

Mayu whispered in Sasuke's ear as he was about to say something, which led him to side-glance the boy before continuing. "Sakura, you should've been one of the first to realise it," he boasted. "Your analytical strength and Genjutsu know-how have improved the most in our squad, so..."

Sakura sounded more sure of herself as she started talking. " Sasuke-kun ... Thank you... Of course! I realized it ages ago! You see, this is the second floor!" baffling all around her.

The sign above the gate guards warped 301 into 201 as the Genjutsu broke. "Well, not bad. But all you've done is catch on. Right?"

Anticipating it, Sasuke kicked to counter the guards, but neither connected as a blur of green swiftly caught their legs.

"... Eyebrows..." 

"Hey, this isn't what you promised," a Hyuuga male spoke to the guy in the green leotard. " You were the one who said you didn't want to carelessly attract attention and to be watched."

"That seems unlikely because of your eccentric appearance," Mayu muttered, shifting his eyes away.

"But..." the eccentric boy's attention was caught by the beauties on Team 7. With a blush, he walked up to Mayu and Sakura, holding one hand of theirs in each of his. "My name is Rock Lee... And you're Mayu and Sakura, yes?"

" Hmm? "

" Huh? "

Rock Lee posed a thumbs up at them, blush painfully obvious as he winked at them. "Please, go out with me! I'll protect you both until I die!"

Sasuke's face turned darker, glaring with a snarl but before he could step in Mayu's broken filter of a mouth was already talking, "I’m not interested in a polyamorous relationship. Maybe ask my teammate here, Naruto." Gesturing to his blond teammate with an awkwardly apologetic face. 

Sasuke tugged the male into his side with a typical Uchiha glare that burned into Lee.

" Mayu?! " Naruto and Sakura shouted at him, eyes filled with panic. "Absolutely... not." she deadpanned.

" Huh? " Rock Lee deflated from the rejection of both. "I apologise for trying to court your boyfriend." He bowed his head at a faintly flushed Sasuke before sulking further.

Before Mayu or Sasuke could respond, the Hyuuga and the Chinese girl approached them from behind, "Hey, you there. Identify yourselves."

"When asking someone his name, give your own first," Sasuke said coolly, hand in his pocket as an arm wrapped itself around the Kim's slim shoulders.

"You're both... rookies, right? How old are you?"

Sasuke stared blankly, "... I'm not obliged to answer."

" What ...?" the Hyuuga asked incredulously. The Chinese girl giggled at them.

Sakura perked up, "Now then! Sasuke-kun, Mayu, Naruto, let's go!" Sasuke turned with Mayu tucked under his arm, Sakura grabbed a sullen Naruto and walked off.

Chapter Text

"You, with the unpleasant look. Wait a minute!" Rock Lee glared down at Team 7 from the railing.

"What is it?" Sasuke called, looking up in annoyance.

"Why don't you fight me right here?"

"A fight, right now...? No can do," Mayu shook his head.

"Yes," the green-clad Ninja wasted no time, jumping from the ledge. "My name's Rock Lee," he gestured to himself. He pointed at Sasuke, rephrasing him from earlier, "When asking a person for their name, I'm supposed to give mine, right? Uchiha Sasuke..."

" Hmph ... So you knew?" Sasuke said quietly.

Rock Lee got in a stance, "I want to fight you," he declared. "I want to test how effective my techniques will be against the descendant of the clan reputed for genius Ninja. Also..." he struck a disturbing pose, sending hearts and the like to Mayu and Sakura, "Sakura, Ma-. Love," Rock Lee wasn't deterred when Sakura debased him, "You're an angel!" sending a heart her way, she moved faster to dodge those hearts than Mayu's ever seen her.

"I was dodging for my life!" Sakura exaggerated.

"To be honest, you're a naïve one, knowing the name of Uchiha and still challenging me. Do you realise what that name means, Bushy Brows?"

"I insist," Lee made a 'come here' motion.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted. " I’m going to take out the Bushy Brow. Believe it! " Naruto said darkly. "Big deal. I'll be able to take care of him in just five minutes!"

"The one I want to fight isn't you... It's the Uchiha!"

"All these people..." Naruto shook. "Keep saying Sasuke, Sasuke! How annoying! " he surged forward. 

Lee barely touched him before Naruto was sent sideways, though he quickly maneuvered so he'd be launched back at the Genin. The kick Naruto actioned didn't connect, Lee merely dodged before he swept his leg under the hand that held Naruto up. Mayu's teammate went spiralling away like a turtle on its back.

Lee stood up, completely unaffected by the assail, "I declare you’re absolutely no match for me. Because... among the Leaf Village Genin, I am the strongest now." Sasuke's brow twitched.

The Uchiha then smirked, "Interesting. I'll do it."

Mayu tugged on the boy's finger, "We have less than half an hour to get to registration. We don't need to waste time, you can beat him in the Exam."

Sasuke smirked again, "Just sit back and watch the show. I want to do this just once," and then he set off.

Just as Sasuke reached him with a right hook, Lee disappeared. Only to reappear above the ebony-haired boy, " Leaf Hurricane! " he called. The hit missed but Lee continued with the momentum to go into a sweep. He faked out, kicking Sasuke in the face when the boy was trying to get out of range, sending him flying back. Mayu clenched a fist.

"Hn, that's okay. If that's the case, this is a good opportunity to use that . I'll do it," Sasuke said darkly. When he looked up again, the red of the Sharingan glared brightly.

Although the Sharingan helped him in speed, it did nothing to counter Lee's moves. Sasuke got kicked by an uppercut directly to the chin, making his teammates wince, once again making him fly back. "My technique is neither Ninjutsu nor Genjutsu." Lee continued with a barrage of kicks and punches, heavily relying on his legs. "That's right. My technique is mere Taijutsu... Sasuke," he said heatedly. "You may not be able to believe that it's just like that, but..." Lee repeatedly flashed to different places, mostly trying to get behind Sasuke, which he succeeded more times than he'd like to admit.

"Even if you can spot my movements with the Sharingan, your body isn't equipped with the speed to respond to my Taijutsu. Do you know? There are two types of strong people, genius-types and effort-types," Lee continued. "If your Sharingan is a genius-type drawing the Uchiha ability..." Sasuke ran at him, "I'm the effort type who has patiently mastered only Taijutsu," he talked throughout Sasuke's attacks. "In a manner of speaking, your Sharingan and my Taijutsu have the worst compatibility," he kicked Sasuke for the last time. If Mayu’d looked away for a second, he wouldn't have been able to see Lee's speed, appearing behind the Uchiha again while still mid-air. 

The bandages around Lee's hands and forearms began to unravel. Yet just as he was about to make his move, a pink pinwheel shot out and pinned them to the wall, obstructing Lee from proceeding.

"That's as far as it goes, Lee!!" a pink turtle said, Mayu and the rest of the team looked at it with confusion. Lee retracted as Sasuke fell ungracefully into Mayu's arms, they landed on the floor in a heap.

"I misjudged the velocity," Mayu let out a pained gasp. "Gods, what are you eating ?"

" Huh? "

" Oi! Oi! " Naruto said, regrouping with his team. "That thing... That's a... turtle, right?" Naruto squinted.

Sakura gained a tick mark, "Isn't it obvious?"

"I thought we were going to ignore... that ..." Mayu said quietly.

"Say! Say! Can a turtle even become a Ninja teacher?"

"It's most likely a summons."

"I don't know!"

" Baka! " the turtle said. "You think such subterfuge will work?! You should know very well what it means for a Shinobi to give away his technique!!" he scolded.

Lee looked down in shame, "I... I know."

"Have you prepared yourself?" the green-clad Ninja only nodded. "Alright, if you will, Gai-sensei!" a cloud of smoke materialized above the turtle, an older Lee look-alike stood on the shell in a rather... odd pose.

"Man! Life is treating you well, huh?" he said. All of Team 7 made unpleasant expressions, Mayu was genuinely disturbed.

Naruto had no problem voicing his opinion, "Whoa!! An even more intense guy has appeared!"

"Yo, Lee!" he gave a thumbs-up, a shine in his smile.

" Super intense. That extreme bowl cut... T- Those are some incredibly raging brows... I've never seen anything like that in my life ." The team was frozen.

Lee roared back, "H- Hey! You guys! Don't mock Gai-sensei!"

Naruto retorted back just as loud, " Shut up! I don't know how you're supposed to react to that !" he pointed at all three of them. " How do you react to something like this? Huh? Huh ?"

" What?! "

"Hey, Lee. Drop it!" he made a sweeping motion with his hand.

"Yes, sir..." Gai released rage none of the Genin were prepared for, punching Lee right in the face.

"I... I-" Mayu couldn't finish his sentence because of the pure bewilderment stuck in his mind. " I want to go home already ," they watched as bystanders as Gai and Lee repeated each other’s names, seemingly having a ' moment' ー whatever that was . Mayu completely lost interest when the sunset appeared behind them.

"That sort of tone's kind of nice, though," Naruto shrugged, having gotten over most of the shock.

Sakura turned to him, "I- Idiot!! That's dangerous! Very dangerous!" Mayu nodded.

"Now then, take a hundred laps around the training field toward that setting sun!" Gai declared, pointing outwards as he smiled.

"Yes, sir!" both looking towards the sunset.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Naruto interrupted. "We're still in the middle of a conversation!"

"What are you going to do about the Chunin Exams?" Sakura added. "There's no time."

Gai turned around, " Oh! That's right..." he sheepishly rubbed his head. "Lee, you will be punished for attempting to break the prohibition on top of fighting... in principle, after the Chunin Exams."

"Okay!" Lee saluted.

Gai struck another eccentric pose, making Mayu flinch at his sudden movement. "Five hundred howls of adolescence!" he howled.

"Yes, sir!"

"Idiots..." Sakura grumbled.

Naruto pointed again, "Say! Say! By the way, what's with the turtle?"

"Naruto, pointing is still rude, put your finger down before I get the turtle to bite it."

" Mayu! "

"Oh, no! He's looking over here!" Sakura said, recoiling as they made eye contact.

"You guys... How's Kakashi-sensei?" Gai asked in a faux attempt at not sounding curious, crossing his arms.

"You know that loser?"

"I know him all too well," Gai stroked his chin. "People call us... eternal rivals!"

" I've never once heard that. I think I hear Kakashi crying in the distance, " Mayu muttered, mockingly cupping his ear lazily.

"Sounds like a lie!!"

"What are you guys saying?! Gai-sensei really is- !"

Gai cut off Lee, "That's fine. ' Actions speak louder than words,' anyways," Mayu didn't bother turning around, already moving out of the Nin's range before said Ninja even relocated fully. "By the way... My record is 50 wins and 49 losses."

"When did he...?!"

" These are the prodigies, huh? An Uchiha and a Kim, ha, Kakashi got a handful for sure!" he laughed internally. "One thing, I'm stronger than Kakashi..."

Lee interrupted everyone's stupor, "How about that?! Gai-sensei is awesome , isn't he?!"

Gai gave a thumbs-up to Team 7, "This time around, Lee caused trouble. Out of consideration for my handsome face, I forgave him. Out of consideration for this pleasantly handsome face," Mayu gripped Sasuke's clenched fist, "You guys and Lee should probably go to the classroom soon," he threw a Kunai that dislodged the pinwheel, Lee's bandages falling lifelessly. "Then, do your best, Lee! Farewell! " Just as fast as he appeared, he vanished leaving only a small trail of smoke in his wake, as well as the pink turtle.

“He was like a hurricane…” Mayu said blankly, Naruto nodding along.

The blond scratched the back of his head, “But… I don’t know… I kinda liked it, to be honest…”

"Sasuke..." Lee began. "I have one last thing to tell you. I actually came here to verify my own ability. I lied before. The strongest of the Konoha Genin, he might be on my team."

Sasuke glared. " ... He?... The Hyuuga?" Mayu thought back to the male with long hair.

Lee never let his expression falter, "I'm entering to defeat that person. And, you and Mayu are both my targets," despite declaring love for the boy along Sakura, Mayu is still very much a real threat if the rumours of the village's Jounin was anything to go by, or anything about the Kim's, not to even add on to the Hidaka’s. Both Clans are notorious for strong-willed, powerful Ninja and leaders. "Please prepare yourselves for the Exams!" and he flipped away, presumably to find his teammates.

Mayu stared at the spot he disappeared from with a blank face, “... okay."

" Ha! So..." Naruto held his hands behind his head. "I guess the Uchiha Clan's not all that, huh?" he brushed off.

"Shut up!" Sasuke said to the blond, agitation clear on his face. "I'll knock him flat next time!" a smirk rested on his lips.

Naruto chuckled, " Ha! That's rich coming from someone who just got your ass handed to you."

"Hey... What's your problem, Naruto?!"

Naruto lightly glared at Sasuke, "You saw it, didn't you? His hand..."

"He's probably trained countless hours, what a strong mindset that kid has," Mayu spoke absentmindedly.

"Exactly! That Bushy Brow probably did a heck a lot of special training. Day after day... More than you have... That's all it is," he said honestly.

Sasuke faced his back to his team, "Hn, it's starting to get interesting... The Chunin Exams! What's next?"

"Yeah!" Naruto said. The team earned a determined aura at the thought of the challenges that lay ahead.

"Let's go, Mayu! Naruto! Sakura!"

--

Team 7 stopped just short of room 301, Kakashi leaning on the wall next to the entrance door. "I see. Sakura, you've come, too," Kakashi was pleasantly surprised. "Now you can formally register for the Chunin Exams."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side with furrowed brows.

"Actually, from the start, only three-to-four-men squads could apply and take the exams."

Sakura was confused, as well as her teammates, "But sensei, you said that the decision to take the exams was up to the individual." Kakashi confirmed as such. "Were you lying?"

Kakashi looked out the window, "Yes, I was..."

"If he'd said that, one of us would've more than likely pressured you to take the exams. It'd be morally unfair to you and the rest of the teams here. Thank you for the option and opportunity... sensei. "

Even though he planned to have a serious talk with his Genin, Mayu had to ruin it by finally calling him sensei, he felt pride as he looked at them. He was glad they couldn't see how his chin wrinkled, emotion running through his body. "Mayu..." the teacher pathetically muttered, sniffling. He patted the boy on his head, messily ruffling the silver locks everywhere. He sniffed once more, hand still firmly on the short boy’s head, "If only the boys came, I would've stopped the exam here. Although teams of three are permitted, and more common, you have to take the exams with your original group from the Academy's placement, with the exception of certain circumstances. Yet, all of you still came on your own will."

Mayu tapped his heel once on the ground, "Sakura!" Kakashi caught her attention once more. "Naruto! Mayu!" he ruffled the boy's hair again. "And, Sasuke! I'm glad you came!" he smiled with his renowned eye-smile. "You're a team I'm proud of! Now then, go on!" he stepped out of the way to their future.

"Thank you, Kakashi." With one last head bow, the Team was already past the doors.

----

The minute they stepped into the room, hundreds of eyes glared from their standings. A very unwelcoming welcome, the room filled with a tense atmosphere.

" W- Wow! " Naruto exclaimed, an astonished expression on his tan face.

"W- What is this?" Sakura muttered, trying to keep her eyes from staying on one face for too long.

"Sasuke, you're late!" a familiar voice whined. Mayu sidestepped the blonde, dragging Sasuke out of the way of the attack. The blonde met nothing but air, " Itai! " Naruto and Sakura both laughed, pairs of black and purple eyes watched in disinterest as they deadpanned. "I thought I'd be able to see you for the first time in a while, so I was waiting in excitement!" she recovered quickly, though the blush still lingered.

"Get away from Sasuke, Ino-pig!" Sakura raged. "Mayu! Open your mouth like you usually do, say some heart-crushing remarks!" she pointed, like unleashing a dog on a robber.

"I'd rather not get in a catfight."

" Ha! Even your own teammates won't back you up."

"Cats was to be plural."

" Hey! "

"Are you guys here to take this bothersome exam, too?" Nara Shikamaru asked as he walked up with Akimichi Choji loudly munching on chips by his side. 

Hmm… BBQ flavour...

"Oh, it's the idiot trio," Naruto said simply as he saw them, digging a pinky into his ear.

"Stop calling us that!" Shikamaru's tone was filled with annoyance. "Man, this is such a freaking bother..."

"Sasuke... is mine! Bleh! " Ino pulled down her under-eye at Sakura, tongue out.

"Slavery's illegal."

"My, my~. Everyone's here," Inuzuka Kiba interrupted, Akamaru on his head as always. He was led up to the rest of the Leaf's Genin, teammates in toe.

"H- Hello..." Mayu's seat partner in the Academy said quietly from behind the dog-loving brute. Hyuuga Hinata blushed when Naruto looked at her, gaining a confused face in return.

Shikamaru hunched his back, "What'd you say? You guys, too? Oh, man."

" Ha! I see. This means all nine Genin rookies are taking the exams, eh...?" Kiba laughed.

"What do you mean ' nine' rookies? There are ten."

" Huh? " Kiba caught sight of Mayu's silver hair. "Oh! Lucky , I didn't notice you," at the boy's flat gaze, Kiba continued, "Calm down that pretty little head of yours, I'd assume you'd outrank your loser teammates already!"

"Stop with that nickname already, Scrappy-Doo."

"Where was that when I asked you to be mean to Ino-pig?!"

"You can't force talent," Mayu smartly replied, choosing to ignore Kiba's statement.

"How far can we go?" Kiba smirked. "Eh... Sasuke?"

Sasuke stared straight back at the dog boy, "You're mighty confident, Kiba," he taunted.

"We've trained a great deal, so... We won't lose!" He boasted.

"Shut up!" Naruto barked. "What do you think we were doing? Picking daisies ? I don't know about Sasuke, but I sure won't lose to the likes of you!" he declared.

Hinata poked her index together, "I'm sorry. Naruto... Kiba didn't mean it like that..." she muttered quietly.

When Naruto acknowledged her with a " Huh ?" She turned scarlet. When Kiba looked at her, Choji started walking closer to the boy-dog duo.

Shino subsequently walked in the way of the food-loving Genin, "What?" he said irritatedly.

Shino looked down, which made Choji follow his gaze, a small insect crawled past. "Don't step on it," he muttered.

"Huh?"

"I said, don't step on it," the only indication Shino was glaring was the way his eyebrows downturned.

"You're... gonna eat it?" Choji pondered. Mayu made a face.

There was a brief moment of pause from the room, only interrupted when another silver-haired Genin walked up to them, "Hey, you guys!" He wore all purple and circular glasses, his hair pulled back into a low ponytail. "You should be a little quieter," he suggested. "You guys are the ' Rookie Ten '... fresh out of the Academy, right?"

"Yah, go ahead and announce that we're fresh meat if we weren't already targets, please."

"Mayu, that's rude."

"When is anything that comes out of my mouth not rude?"

"Carrying on like that with cute faces... Man," he shot a glance at Mayu.

"Perverted old man," was the only response he got, and of course a glare from the Uchiha, to which he raised a brow.

"Who are you?! Acting all haughty!!" Ino questioned the man, hands on her hips as she leaned forward.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto," he introduced. "Anyways, take a good look around you," not a single pair of eyes weren't trained on the group. "Behind you... they're from Amegakure. They're hot-tempered. Everyone's tense before the Exams. I thought I'd warn you guys before you got your butts whipped," he let a small smile out. "I guess it can't be helped... You're rookies who don't know left from right..."

Sakura looked a bit embarrassed. "You're... Kabuto, right?"

"That's what he introduced himself as. Do you think he's gonna correct you after blatantly telling you?"

Sakura took a deep breath, ignoring Mayu, "This is your second time taking it?"

"No... This is my seventh," Mayu let out a cough to cover the giggle that worked its way out of his mouth, Sasuke practically had stars in his eyes at the sound. "This Exam is only held twice a year, so it's now my fourth year," he confessed.

"Then that means you know a lot about these Exams, right?"

"No kidding. Kabuto, you're awesome," Naruto admired.

Shikamaru tilted his head, "But you haven't passed," he pointed out.

"Seven attempts? Pretty soon, I'll have more fingers to sho- " Mayu's retort was cut short when Sasuke put a hand over his mouth. Mayu rolled his eyes.

"Be good, Mayu. I'll buy you a steam bun or something later," Sasuke commented lowly. Mayu grabbed Sasuke's wrist, nodding until he was reluctantly let go, keeping his mouth shut it was.

Kabuto sheepishly rubbed his neck, "Yeah, well, that is the case, yes..."

"Is the Chunin Exams that high of a hurdle?" Shikamaru deadpanned. "Man, this is utterly bothersome..."

"Then, maybe I'll give a bit of information to my cute juniors. With these Ninja Info Cards," he held up orange cards from his pocket. "To put it simply, they're cards that have information burned into them and coded with Chakra. I spent four whole years gathering information for this Exam. There are close to two hundred of these cards." Mayu lost interest, blankly staring at the scene but not actively listening, not a single thought passing through his brain.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto!!" Mayu's eyes flickered to one of his loud teammates. Naruto was pointing to all the other Genin in the room, his eyebrow twitching. "I won't lose to any of you!! Got it?! "

" Say! What's wrong with him?!" Ino asked an equally aggravated Sakura. "It won't do any good to provoke everyone!"

"Don't tell me! "

"Oh, I feel great! " Naruto exclaimed.

"What are you talking big for?! You-!! " Sakura caught the blond in a headlock.

Mayu just watched as he flailed violently, "But, I just said what was true, believe it!! "

When Sakura felt the gaze of the other Genin, she raised a hand and put on her usual innocent act, "E- Everyone, that was a joke," she tried. "This guy's quite an idiot, you see...! After all, he says idiotic, spazzy, scatterbrained things and gets carried away, so please don't concern yourselves with him!" she then turned and continuously hit Naruto on the head, "Geez, thanks to you, I get glared at!"

Mayu pulled his teammates out of the way of something coming at them fast. It was a couple of seconds after they were about to yell at him when some Sound Nin appeared. Two Kunai were thrown at Kabuto by one in the air, another one with a pale fur coat went to punch him but Kabuto dodged at the last second. 

His glasses cracked a second afterward .

"I see... It's that type of attack, eh?"

"What's going on?" Sasuke muttered.

Mayu tugged the boy's finger as usual, "It was sound waves. Even though he wasn't hit physically, sound is energy."

" Oh! He puked!"

"Kabuto! Are you okay?" Naruto and Sakura crouched by the other silver-haired male.

"Probably a dysfunction of the vestibular ear, Vertigo. Do I still get the bun? "

"Write this on your card!" the Nin that threw the Kunai said. "The three from the Sound... doubtless Chunin."

A cloud of smoke from an apparent Jutsu flooded the area, a rough voice originating from it, " Silence!! Degenerates!! " The smoke cleared to reveal a man littered with scars, the two gate guards and a handful of other Chunin Mayu couldn't put a name to. "Sorry to keep you waiting... I'm Morino Ibiki, the proctor for the first test of the Chunin Exams," he smirked.

Chapter Text

The man pointed a gloved finger at the trouble-causing Ninja. " You, from the Sound! No doing what you please before the Exams! You want to be disqualified before the get-go?! "

The Nin wearing the fur coat and bandages turned to the scarred man. "Sorry. It's our first time taking the Exams, so we flipped out... despite ourselves."

" Hmph. This is a good opportunity, so I'll say it now. There will be no battles or anything of the like without the permission of the proctors! Even if so, anything slightly towards death is not permitted. Any pig that screws with me will be disqualified in that instance. Understood?! " Sasuke discreetly gave Mayu a warning glance, to which he huffed.

The Oto Ninja that had faceguards spoke up, "Looks like the Exams will be easy then."

Morino stonely looked forward, "Now then, we will start the first test of the Chunin Exams!" he declared. "Turn in your applications, you'll receive a card in exchange, and sit in the correlating numbered seat! Once everyone's settled, paper will be given out!"

Naruto squinted at the man, " Written...? Paper...? " at the sound of the paper ruffling, Naruto began to freak out.

" Geez , calm down. You've learned things from the time you've become a Ninja... You can't fail fail, right? You'd really have to be an idiot," Mayu tried to get his teammate to stop whining.

" But, Mayu! I've never gotten a seventy on any written test!? "

"... Oh, boy..."

" Mayu! That's not reassuring to anyone, at all!! "

"What was I supposed to say?" Mayu asked Sasuke quietly. He got a shrug in response, the boy telling him it was best to just ignore their knucklehead teammate. " Reasonable, I guess. "

----

After some thoroughly encrypted instruction, the exam began without too many hitches. It wasn't until the last question that everyone really started to second-guess themselves.

"Let me explain. Here are the hopeless rules!" Morino had started. "First, you'll have to decide whether or not to take this tenth question!"

" What, choose?! What happens if you choose not to take the tenth question?" Temari, the blonde from the Sand, asked with an edge in her voice.

"If you choose not to take the exam, your score will be zero. In other words, you fail! And of course, the same goes for the other two in the group!" Morino explained with a smirk, loving the sound of disbelief and terror. "And... one more rule..." he closed his eyes. "If you choose to take it and are unable to answer correctly, then you will have to... relinquish your right to take the Chunin Exams, forever! " and turmoil really set into the room.

"What kind of ridiculous rule is that?!" Kiba irately spoke. "Besides, there are plenty of people here who have taken the Chunin Exams many times!" Akamaru let out a yip in agreement.

Morino just chuckled, "You're just unlucky," he said darkly. "I make the rules this year. But I did give you the option to go back!" Kiba was taken aback. "For those of you who aren't confident, you can choose not to take it and take the Exams next year or the year after that," he chuckled once more. Morino just glared, "Then, let's begin... the tenth question... Those who will not be taking the Exams, raise your hands now! Once I've confirmed your number, I'll ask you to leave!"

Mayu stayed put, knowing his teammates had more fight in them than to give in so easily. They had all come for a reason and had strong morale, nothing was going to deter this bunch of misfits. He was confident they could surpass anything thrown at them this far, they wouldn't go running with their tails between their legs. He leaned over his desk with closed eyes yet his heart still thundered in his chest.

Everything was still, silent until a man stood up with unease and raised his hand in confirmation of not participating. The man's number was called, along with his two other teammates, the man apologised to them before leaving the room. 

Like a chain reaction, hands raised left and right, unconfident and sorrowful.

A loud smack resonated through the classroom, making Mayu open his eyes, unsurprised it was one of his teammates. "Don't underestimate me! I won't run!" Naruto glared, resolve showed clearly within those blue eyes. "I'll take it! But even if I'm stuck as a Genin forever, I'll become a Hokage no matter what it takes! " He stood, staring Morino straight in the eye, " I'm not scared! " before sitting down, ignoring the way Morino was looking at him. The other Genin now solidifying their insecurities.

" That guy, not even thinking about us at all. Such audacity! "

" That's right... That's exactly the kind of fool you are! "

" Took you long enough, idiot. "

"I'll ask again," Morino said aloud, looking at all the now confident faces of the previously nervous Genin. Naruto sure had a way with words when he actually thought things through. "It's a choice that will affect your life. If you want to quit, now's your last chance! " he said, trying to dwindle down the number even more.

"I'm not going back on my words!" Naruto told. " That's my Ninja Way! "

Morino nodded at the Chunin lining the room’s border before looking at the Genin. "I like your determination!" he said. "Then... for all those that are still here... the first exam... You passed it! " he smirked. Mayu was suddenly reminded of when they took Kakashi's Exam and closed his eyes lightly. 

" Huh? "

"H- Hey! What does that mean?" Sakura asked. "All of a sudden you're telling us we passed! What about the tenth question?"

Morino unexpectedly smiled at her, "There wasn't such a thing to begin with! Well, you can look at the choice you just had to make as the tenth question!"

"What?!"

"Hey! Then, what were the other 9 questions for?!" Temari asked, confused.

Mayu didn't even turn, eyes still closed as he asked, "Reconnaissance, of course." Temari blinked.

"Exactly," Morino eyed the boy, raising an eyebrow when the boy opened his eyes, staring into his, a silent challenge left unspoken. "To test your ability to collect information under high pressure without the help of your teammates. By placing the point system of grading by the group’s overall score, you had to carry the weight of possibly deterring your team’s score-set."

"I see, I see," Naruto nodded. "I kind of felt that was the point of this test!"

" No, you didn't, Naruto. I can smell your sweat from here. "

" You're supposed to back up your teammates, Mayu! I thought we were friends!? "

"However, the questions on these tests weren't things that you Genin would have been able to solve..." Mayu raised a brow at Morino's accusation. "So, in that case, I imagine most of you would have come to this conclusion: " In order to score points, I need to cheat, " In other words, this exam was created under the premise that you would all cheat! That being said, I had two Chunin in the group who knew all the answers from whom you could cheat," said Chunin raising their hands in greeting. 

"It was so obvious!" Naruto said nonchalantly, leaning back on his hands. "There's something wrong with you if you didn't notice! Right, Hinata?!"

"However, those who had cheated foolishly were naturally punished by disqualification," Morino silently took his Hitai-ate off, "That's because... information, depending on time and situation, will be more valuable than your life. In a mission or on the battlefield, you will always have to risk your life to fight for it!" scars, small holes and red veins were visible to the room, showing how dangerous these situations really could become. 

"When information is gathered and the enemy or third-party finds out about it, that information is no longer guaranteed to be correct. Just remember this," he tied his headband back around his head. "To be given wrong information can bring a catastrophic blow to your friends and town. That is why, out of necessity, we forced you guys to cheat in order to test your ability to collect information. We simply filtered out those who lacked that ability."

"But..." Temari spoke. "The last question doesn't make any sense."

"This tenth question was the main issue of the first exam," he lowered his arms into his pockets, "I'll explain. The tenth question was to merely see if you would take the question or not. Were you willing to risk all your teammates failing and hating you if you couldn't answer correctly? It's a tough burden to carry, a difficult decision indeed," he gave them a small scenario about infiltration and unknown tasks along with it. "A Chunin's role is squad leader, it's your decision and burden to pursue the mission or not. If someone dies, it's on you. For those of you here who have chosen to take the question, you can say you've successfully answered the difficulty that was the tenth question! Shall you be able to take on any adversary that may come your way! You've passed through the gates! The first exam for the Chunin Exams has been completed. I wish you all well!" Mayu stared at the window, waiting for the object to make contact, seeing how the Chunin and Morino were calm, he'd suspect they knew what was happening.

" All right! Wish us well! " Naruto's sudden outburst disrupted the tense atmosphere in the room. " I did it! I did it! Yeah! "

Morino quickly turned his head in the direction of the window, where an object’s shadow had begun to form, breaking the window on impact.

"W- What's going on?!" Naruto shouted.

A lady wrapped in a blanket had thrown two Kunai that were tied to the blanket at the ceiling, holding up the textile, covering Morino from view. "You guys! This isn't the time to be celebrating! I'm the proctor of the Second Exams! Mitarashi Anko!" she announced. The lady had purple hair tied in a ponytail and a long tan trench coat, a brown skirt and white shin guards, fishnet everywhere else. "Let's move to the next Exams! Follow me!"

After a beat of silence, Sakura broke it, "Mayu! Cover your eyes!" she shouted. "There's a naked lady you don't need to see!" Mayu shrugged and covered them with his hand, Sasuke released a sigh of relief and slumped over his desk.

Anko was frozen before hearing Morino speak, " Read the atmosphere, " making her blush even more.

She quickly recovered, counting the heads, " 79?! Ibiki!! You let 26 teams slide by?!" she asked incredulously to the man next to her. "I guess, the first exam this time around was too easy," she chastised.

Morino merely side-glanced her, "It seems like this time, there are a lot of excellent candidates."

"Huh! Well, alright... I'll drop more than half of them in the next Exam!"

" More than half?! " Sakura asked, disgruntled.

"I'm getting excited," Anko smirked. "I'll give you the information tomorrow. We'll be changing locations, so get the information from your Jounin sensei about the location and time! That's it, you're dismissed!" she instructed, watching the remaining Genin exit the room.

"Mayu, in situations where I actually look cool, don't go spouting your usual remarks! I lost a lot of respect!" Mayu coughed to cover a small chuckle and quickly turned his head. Sasuke got in the small boy's face, trying to see that smile, holding the boy's side and shoulders.

"Let's go get the milk I promised, Mayu. We can walk around afterwards or something," Sasuke suggested, leading Mayu away from everyone else.

Sakura's eyes lit up, "Yeah, we should all go celebrate in finishing the first part of the exam! Good idea, Sasuke!"

Mayu just shrugged, “I’m literally gonna take a nap. You won’t miss anything.” Sasuke gave her a look, grabbed the boy's hand and started off.

"Sakura! I'll celebrate with you, we can go eat ramen! As much as you like!" Naruto excitedly announced to the deflated girl.

" I'm not hungry! Are you calling me fat?! " she raged. Naruto quickly shook his head and scrammed. Sakura sighed, watching as her crush left her once again, being whisked away by a cute boy who had everything going for him.

Kakashi chuckled at his cute little Genin from afar.

--------

" W- What is this place?! " Naruto exclaimed the next day. The rest of the remaining Genin had gathered the day after the first exams in a training ground that looked deserted, some trying to stay away from the fence that provided as a barrier from the forest making creepy and ominous sounds from them.

Anko stood unfazed in front of the Genin, back to the fence. "This is the location for the 'Second Exam' , the 44th Training Grounds. Also known as..." she took a pause for dramatic effect. "... The Forest of Death..."

"The Forest of... Death?!"

Chapter Text

" Forest of Death...?" Naruto muttered. A moving object in the corner of his eye caught his attention as it was an impractical disguise, it had eye holes for Pete's sake. He did nothing aside from twitching his brow in agitation. Naruto proceeded to spazz around the large group to try and get the rock-looking box that hastily followed, off his trail. Mayu, Sakura and Sasuke just watched from the sidelines with no intent to help. The mood went from serious and tense to downright confusion.

Naruto finally stopped and pointed at the obvious box, " Konohamaru! What do you want?!"

"Just what I expect from the man I respect!" a small voice sounded beneath the hollow box. "Good job figuring it out!" The box glowed and exploded leaving four coughing children on the ground. "Too much gunpowder!" coughed Konohamaru.

"Hyung is gonna kill me for using his gunpowder!" Haruka cried exaggeratedly only to be gently shushed by the Third's grandson. The boy then froze as an intense glare was brought on his back.

" What is this about my gunpowder, Kim Haruka ? " Mayu tilted his head with a faux innocent look, Haru could only smile lamely.

"What's going on you guys?" Naruto said, faking annoyance. "Hey, I'm about to take the second exam for the Chunin Exams. I've got no time to be fooling around with you guys!"

"We didn't come here to fool around!" Konohamaru said indignantly.

"That's right! We came here for an interview!" Moegi said.

"That's right..." Udon nodded.

"Oh, right! Hyung, we're here for an interview! Chew me out later, I want to interview a clumsy Hyung!" Haruka perked up, pointing at the older Kim.

"Pointing is rude, put your finger down," Mayu tipped his head back and glared down his nose.

"Interview?" Naruto murmured.

"Yeah, we were put in charge of writing the feature article ' Chunin Exam ', for the Academy's class newspaper," Konohamaru told them. Haruka nodded with a chest puffed with pride.

Moegi blushed and looked down, "So, that's why we came to interview you, Boss... Please cooperate with us!"

"Please," Udon bowed.

"But..." Naruto trailed off, staring out of the corner of his eye to Anko with a careful expression.

"Hey, you over there!" the shout made Naruto wince. "What're you doing?" Anko walked over.

"Konohamaru is asking about an interview for a class newspaper..." Naruto put it simply.

Anko cheekily smiled, "Oh, I forgot that Lord Hokage was mentioning something like that. Hey, Hey, Hey!" She then addressed everyone else. "All right, take a ten-minute break starting now! For those of you who will be interviewed, resign yourselves and be courteous!"

"Hey, hey... what is this all about?" Naruto asked.

"Big brother Naruto, Mayu, we're depending on you!" Konohamaru beamed.

Naruto smiled, "All right! In that case, I'll show you how attractive I am!" Mayu blankly stared back.

----

"Mayu! Your little brother is adorable!" Sakura said with a delighted air. " How can they both be so cute? Is it a Kim gene? If so... I wonder what their parents look like!"

Mayu side-glanced his brother practically sitting in the Third's grandson’s lap with a large smile, "If obnoxious, loud-mouthed, and smart-aleck is considered adorable, sure. He's a little prince."

" What was that?" Haruka shouted. Mayu only ignored him, pretending as if he didn't hear him with a bored expression, choosing to make a face at the Uchiha.

--------

All the Genin stood in front of the enormous gates that stared hauntingly at them.

"There's something kind of creepy about this place..." Sakura said quietly to her teammates.

The second exam's proctor just chuckled, "This place is called the Forest of Death, you'll soon realise why that is."

Naruto put his hand on his hips and wiggled them around, mockingly repeating her in a nasally, high-pitched voice, " The Forest of Death, you'll soon realise why!" Mayu subtly kicked the back of the boy's knees, making him narrowly get nicked by the Kunai that was headed his way by Anko.

Before anyone could move, Anko was directly behind the blond, "A kid like you dies from the very beginning, dappling with that red blood I like." She suddenly spun around with another Kunai ready in her hand, only to be greeted with her previously thrown one being held by a long, pink tongue.

The owner of the long tongue spoke, "I'm just returning... your Kunai knife..."

Anko smiled a tense smile, "Thank you for taking that trouble... but don't stand behind me thirsty for blood if you don't want a quick death... " she took hold of the other Kunai as the tongue retracted.

The long-tongued person’s smile was a little too stretched, "Well, it's in my nature to act up at the sight of crimson blood ー" a sinister aura overtook, "ーand my precious hair was cut, so I got excited... I'm sorry." As soon as they finished their sentence, they were walking away from and out of the peering eyes of the disturbed crowd.

"To give off such an unpleasant vibe..." Mayu muttered lowly to Sasuke, only to look at Naruto and be a bit crept out by what he was trying to do with his tongue.

"Evidently, we've got a lot of hot-blooded kids this time," Anko smirked. "This will be fun," She walked back to the main gates opening, gathering attention once again. "Well, before we start the second exam, I have to pass this out to you! It's a consent form before you can take part in the test, you have to sign this."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"From here on out, corpses are gonna come out, I have to get your consent for that," Anko replied as if it were obvious. "Or it will be my responsibility. Well, I'm gonna start the explanation for the second exam. In a word, the limits of your survival will be challenged," she passed the stack of papers to Naruto to hand out, "First, I'll give you step-by-step instructions on the terrain of the 44th Training Ground. This training ground is surrounded by forty-four locking entrance gates, with rivers, a forest and a tower in the centre of all of it. It's roughly ten kilometres (~six miles) from the gates at any standpoint to the tower. In this confined area, you will go through a certain survival program. The contents are... anything goes scroll battle!"

"Scroll?"

"Yes, scroll. I want you and your team to fight for the two scrolls, of Heaven and of Earth. All 26 teams got through the first test. Half of them... 13 will get the Heaven Scroll and the others will be given the Earth Scroll. I'll hand over one scroll to each team. To put it simply, that's what you're vying for," Anko explained.

"And the conditions to pass?" Sasuke asked.

"I'd assume to get both scrolls, one of each. Seeing how she did say it was a scroll battle," Mayu answered, looking up to the raven-haired boy beside him.

"You brat, stealing my thunder. But yes, as you say, it is true. You're to obtain both scrolls to unlock the right of passage into the tower's interior," Anko said.

"Thunder...?" Mayu mumbled in confusion.

"Then that means... for sure 13 teams won't pass at all!" Sakura exclaimed.

Anko simply looked bored, "Except it has to be in time. For this second exam, there's a limit of 120 hours. You have to reach the tower and have both scrolls within five days."

" Five days! " Ino exclaimed.

"What do we do about food?" Choji asked incredulously.

"Be self-sufficient!" Anko said surely. "It's a treasure trove in the wilderness! There's more than enough food..."

Kabuto looked back at the Rookie Ten, "However... It's teeming with fierce people-eating animals, poisonous bugs and plants and much more."

Ino looked agitated as she saw Choji deflate, "Idiot, that's why it's called survival! "

"Besides, it's improbable that forty people, 13 teams will pass," Hyuuga Neji hummed.

Rock Lee glanced at his teammate, "The interval for activity gets longer with each passing day, while seemingly having time to recuperate decreases... sounds pretty gruelling!" Lee hyped.

Sasuke shifted an arm around Mayu's shoulders before he spoke, "On top of that, you're surrounded by nothing but enemies, even falling asleep will be a problem..."

"And, besides those injured during attempts to capture scrolls... there will definitely be people who are unable to endure the rigours of this course,” Anko added.

Shikamaru lazily raised a hand, "Um... so could you quit in the middle of it?"

Anko furrowed her eyebrows, "According to the rules, you cannot give up in the middle of it!" she declared. "I want you to spend five days in the forest."

 "Just as I thought..." Shikamaru sighed. "This is gonna be a pain!"

"Moving on, conditions of disqualification..." Anko droned on to the point Mayu stopped listening again. It really was a problem he should fix but for now, he'll just get the details off Sasuke.

--

"Okay!! We won't lose!" Naruto dragged out while throwing fake punches into the air. Team 7 crowded around gate #12 with a Chunin ready to open it at the go signal. "I'll bring down whoever comes near me!" he declared.

Sakura nodded her head, "Yes!" trying to ease her thoughts. Mayu looked away from the boy with a grimace and into the forest. Sasuke glared readily in the same direction, standing with crossed arms. 

All were ready for the challenge that lay ahead.

The Chunin unlocked the gate. Ten tense seconds after, at exactly 12:30, Anko spoke, "We now start the second exam of the Chunin Exams!" and everyone ran as the gates swung right open.

Team 7 strolled in all too casually. "All right, let's go!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically.

A sudden, startling noise caught the attention of the team of rookies. "Wasn't that someone screaming just now?" Sakura asked with concern.

Mayu just shrugged, "Yeah, probably. Though it's just started, things can go bad real quick, so keep your eyes focused and ears sharp."

Team 7 stilled as a murder of crows flew above them. "I- I'm kinda getting nervous," she breathed.

Naruto quickly composed himself and leaned on the arms folded behind his head, "I- It was nothing. Sakura. Believe it! " he stuttered before making a face. He suddenly tensed up and ran to a nearby bush, "I- I have to pee... !" and then proceeded to relieve his bladder and some of the tension in the air.

The Kim and Uchiha just signed as Sakura roughly hit the blond as soon as she realised what he was doing, "Y- You... b aka! " she raged. "What're you doing in front of a lady?! Go to the grass!" she harshly pointed to the shrubs beside them and out of view. The knot on his head swelled as he dejectedly walked away.

--

The idiotic blond had come back to the group, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed look. "Ah~!" he dragged out. "That was a lot! I'm refreshed!"

Mayu flinched slightly, "Who are you?" he asked as his fingers twitched ever so subtly.

‘Naruto' let a brief second of shock pass through his face before putting on a confused expression, Sakura mirrored him for a second. Sasuke wasted no time in quickly hitting 'Naruto' away after Mayu confirmed his suspicions.

Sakura stared, shocked as 'Naruto' went barreling into a robust tree, a small dent was made from his body. "S- Sasuke, you didn't have to go that far!" she stammered.

'Naruto' wiped his unscathed cheek as he stared at the males, shielding a bit more from the Uchiha. "W- What was that for?" only to be surprised and hurried to dodge a kick headed for his cranium. He tumbled away and then jumped up and twisted on a low-hanging branch, away from another kick. Sasuke quickly jumped after him, kicking him from the tree, Mayu waiting patiently in front of 'Naruto' with his Kunai ready in hand. "W- What are you doing all of a sudden?" 'Naruto' weakly asked as he tried to raise himself from the ground.

"What do you mean? That's our line, isn't it?" Sasuke said as Mayu tilted his head at the impersonator.

"What'd you do to our dumb blond, hm?" Mayu's intense stare made the 'blond' stiffen. Mayu signed to Sasuke, "I knew he wasn't all there but... really?" he twitched.

Sasuke rushed the impersonator with a Kunai, who readied his own, "It can't be helped!" 'Naruto' said, running to meet the incoming Sasuke.

'Naruto' went on the defensive as Sasuke assailed rapidly. Their Kunai clashed once, twice, and jumped away.

Sakura gasped, continuing to be in the dark. "Sasuke, Mayu! Please stop! This isn't funny anymore! "

"Look closely at him!" Sasuke told her. "Talk! Where's the real Naruto?"

Sakura made a noise of realization, "I have no idea what you're talking about!" 'Naruto' hoaxed confusion.

"Still lying, tsk , and to a sensor, too. Life must be pretty sad," Mayu ran a finger down his face, mocking the motion of a tear. 'Naruto' s face portrayed pure shock.

"It was obvious for even someone who wasn't trained to have a high-sensor radar. Whatever happened to that scratch on your face from the proctor? Or how you decided to become left-handed?" Sasuke only added to the shock. "Your transformation is almost as lousy as his though, you phony!"

'Naruto' was then submerged in a veil of smoke, lifting to reveal a completely different person. Messy brown hair and crazy eyes were supported by an oxygen mask, which made his voice sound funny.

"Unlucky. You got me. In that case... Which one of you has got the scroll?" his fingers continuously fidgeted, twitched and tensed. "If you listen to me obediently, I'll spare your lives... If not, I'll resort to force!"

Chapter Text

"Which one of you has the scroll?" the crazy looking man asked again. "Since things have come to this, I'll certainly have to resort to force!" he chuckled, rushing the three.

Mayu slid in front of the man and proceeded to throw hand signs, calling out, " Raiton: Lightning Dragon Style! " and shot a giant sparking dragon towards the unnamed Genin. The man dodged, creating decent-sized craters of Earth from the impact. Mayu shot one last bolt at the scattering man and proceeded to make a relatively large tree burst into splinters.

Sasuke followed Mayu loosely in case he needed backup, only to end up almost tripping over a tied up Naruto flailing on the ground. "Mayu! Let him go! The dobe's over here!" he called out to the focused Kim. "You've gotta be kidding me, loser," Sasuke breathed, looking down at the blond.

Mayu barely had time to land on the ground before the masked lunatic came back, throwing Kunai about. "Alright! Caught you off guard. Lucky! " Sasuke kicked Naruto out of the projectile, only to grab the idiot when there was an attached Paper Bomb. Sasuke landed on all fours as the man came up behind the unprepared ravenette. "This is lucky! " the man exclaimed. "I'll kill you if you move, hand over the scroll."

"I'd advise against trying to injure any of my teammates, crazy ," Mayu held two Kunai in each hand behind the brunet, it was like Kakashi and Zabuza all over again, except Sasuke was real. The crazy man froze and slyly put his hands up in surrender, jumping away when there was more space between the other Genin and himself.

"Cheeky for someone straight out of the Academy, aren't 'cha? Not lucky."

"I won't let you get away!" Naruto said, shooting out of the bushes after escaping the ropes, and came sliding beside the raven and owl.

"You're always late, Naruto!"

"It's we , we won't let you escape. As you said, you're trying to threaten fresh out of the Academy Genin, it's kinda low even for someone who looks like they've been a Genin for far too long," Mayu corrected.

"Not the time, Mayu."

"Sorry, Sasuke," he mumbled, looking away with pursed lips.

Sasuke dropped his Kunai, turning around to glare at the brunet man with his blaring red Sharingan, making said Kunai stick to his foot by applying Chakra and releasing it once he kickedー headed straight for the air-borne Genin. The masked man narrowly dodged the incoming Kunai, though he wasn't fast enough to look back at an oncoming Sasuke and another Kunai.

"It's unlucky," the man started, clutching his newly inflicted wound. "I came on my own to conceal my presence, but that became my enemy..." he bounded off before someone could make a move which led to Sasuke 'tch' ing.

"He got away, huh?" Sasuke bit out.

"If he was any smart, he wouldn't have had a scroll. It was best to just let him go because what would we've done with him anyway?" Mayu planted a hand on the boy's arm.

----

"If there's an inference where we become separated," Sasuke started off, raising a brow from across their small circle and into those piercing wisteria eyes. "Don't just trust them if they look like your teammate. Just like now, there's a possibility that an enemy will transform to get close to us."

Naruto agreed for once with a nod of his head, "So, what do we do?" Sakura asked.

"We should have a passcode that only we'll be able to decipher," Mayu muttered, nodding back to the Uchiha in acknowledgment.

"Password?" Naruto question.

"Listen, if the password is incorrect, no matter what they look like... presume he's an enemy," Sasuke reasoned. "I'll only tell you once, so you better listen closely. You ask Ninja Song, " Ninja Chance ". And the answer is this: " The chance to sneak up when a large number of enemies are making a scene. The quiet place has no secret hideout. It is important for a Shinobi to know the right time, the time when his enemy is tired, dropped his weapons and his guard". That's it."

Mayu and Sakura both nodded their heads while Naruto sweated bullets. "Could you say it again?" he squinted.

"Huh?" Sakura deadpanned.

"I told you I'd only say it once," Sasuke repeated.

"Could it be that you couldn't memorize it?" Sakura teased.

"Not everyone has a head such as yours, Sakura, lay off." Mayu inputted.

Sakura blushed and shook her head, "You fool, Naruto."

" Huh? " Naruto fidgeted, "I- I memorized it perfectly!? I figured just in case, I'd listen to it one more time..." he trailed off scratching his head.

Sasuke got up, "I'll carry the scroll."

Naruto stood up, too, " Hey , wait, Sasuke. Itai! " he winced as something thinly cut his cheek. "What was that?"

There was a faint echo of wind, growing louder until an enormous gust swept Team 7 by force. The wind continued to struggle against the bodies standing, resisting. "A new enemy?" Sasuke questioned.

"Our little spy has finally come out to play," Mayu spoke against the harsh winds.

---

"You guys go play around..." the creepy person from before told two men, possibly teammates as they walked off. "I'll go alone," they said, following the path their Jutsu created.

---

Sasuke leapt up, ready to take a head. "Sakura!" he spun around.

"Sasuke-kun!" she felt her body release its tight hold of muscle.

He lowered his weapon for a second before she tried to get closer and held it threateningly, "Don't come any closer! First, the password... Ninja Song, " Ninja Chance "," the girl repeated the answer word for word, leaving Sasuke to relax. "Good."

Both of them turned their heads as a cry of pain was heard behind them, "Hey, everyone, are you okay?" Naruto ran up to them, only to hobble to a stop once Sakura held a hand out.

"Naruto, stop, the password..."

"Oh, I know..." he smiled, proceeding to repeat it just as Sakura had previously. She breathed a breath of relief as a smirk painted itself on Sasuke's lips. Naruto jumped back and fell when a Kunai came flying his way. "What?" Sakura and him made matching noises of bewilderment again. " What are you doing?! "

"This time it's someone who can dodge my attacks, huh?" Sasuke smirked.

"What are you saying, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. "Naruto just said the password properly," she reasoned.

Sasuke subtly tilted his head, a habit taken from Mayu, "That's exactly the problem, he just repeated it."

" Huh? Wha- ?" Sakura puzzled.

Sasuke straightened back up, "Do you really think that guy could possibly remember something that long, no matter how much Mayu seems to give him credit for?" Sakura gasped in realization, once again. "If we asked the normal Naruto what the password was, what do you think he'd say?"

Sakura looked back at the poser with a hard stare, "' Sorry, I've forgotten it.' "

"Besides, his movements when he avoided my attacks... It was clearly different from Naruto's. Show your true self, faker."

The smirk didn't seem right on Naruto's face, it was full of malign and pleasant surprise. "That's how it is, huh..." ' Naruto ' was replaced by the hatted creep from earlier and a veil of smoke. "But if you knew he would forget, why didn't you make the password shorter?"

"Another teammate and I knew you were underground eavesdropping on our conversation. So I chose that password on purpose."

" Oh. So you're not tired and letting down your guard. This will be more fun than I thought. And where is this teammate you speak so highly of, hm? " Sasuke didn't need to see the bottom part of their face to know they were smirking again, the only reaction he gave was the hardening of his renowned glare.

" This person... is creepy. Where are Mayu and Naruto?" Sakura thought to herself in worry for the two boys.

----

Mayu had been thrown into a large tree, swinging around a branch so he wasn't impaled. He could feel Naruto's presence, which was closer than the other two, who he knew were together. Sasuke would be able to fend for himself and Sakura could use that big brain of her's to help, too. They'd be fine but knowing how Naruto always found a way into trouble, he'd meet with him and help out if he needed any then go after the other two to regroup and replan so they could hurry up and get out of this horrid forest.

" H- Huge! " he heard Naruto say aloud. Mayu peaked through the brush and into the small grounds that held the troublesome blond and, as Naruto had said, a huge serpent. The thing was indeed exceedingly bigger than average, its body as wide as the forest’s tree’s trunk and big, beady eyes full of hunger, staring straight at a frozen Naruto.

Mayu jumped to Naruto's side, Kunai raised, "Come on, Naruto, we should hurry and get rid of this summons."

Naruto spun his head around so fast Mayu wondered if the boy ever got whiplash. "How do I know you're not an enemy? What's the password?"

...

After a few seconds pause, Mayu blankly side-eyed the blond and responded with, "I know you didn't even try to remember any of that, so what'd be the purpose of me repeating it?"

Before Naruto could retort, the snake was moving rapidly for them, plunging its huge head and almost getting stuck in the ground while Naruto and Mayu jumped to safety. Mayu landed and turned around to find the snake had coiled around Naruto's body. The giant thing slithered its long tongue in the air before diving again onto the blond.

" Naruto!? " Mayu could only watch with brows furrowed in panic as the outline of Naruto was swallowed down the snake's neck. "I can't pinpoint your exact position, the snake's presence is too strong. I'd be scared of hitting you!"

----

The creep calmly pulled out a black scroll and held it for Sakura and Sasuke to see. "You want our Earth scroll, don't you? 'Cause you have the Heaven scroll," they said surly. Sasuke could only glare as they swiped their tongue out and gulped down the scroll like water, making Sakura gasp. "Well, let's begin..." making the motion with a finger. "... the battle for the scrolls," they touched their eyeball unflinchingly, "Life or death."

Both Sakura and Sasuke gasped as they froze at the sight of their own blood splashed on the trees, of them dying and being torn to shreds, Kunai embedding themselves in their foreheads. " Genjutsu?" Sasuke thought. They could only look forward, petrified as Sakura sank to her knees and Sasuke leaned over to throw up. " No, that's not it. It's simply bloodlust. What's going on? Just looking into their eyes makes me think of death... I wish I was with Mayu..." Sasuke shook. "Sakura...?" he stiffly turned his head to look at her shaking form, only to see she was crying. He rigidly looked back at the dark, blank eyes of their opponent.

----

Mayu silently followed the huge summons as it slithered farther from their other teammates. "Let me go!? Hey!? " Naruto's muffled voice screamed at the snake.

Hearing Naruto struggle, made Mayu want to smack himself as he called out to the blond, "Naruto? Are you decently okay in there?" The response he got was a movement from the vague area where he knew the boy was.

----

The hatted creep smirked, "Can't move already...?" they taunted. Sasuke repeated 'movemovemovemove' as he glanced down before moving a shaky hand slowly towards his Ninja pouch, wobbly standing on both feet while continuously glaring at the creep.

"What do you intend to do... with that?" they said coyly. "Don't worry. I'll end this quickly," they promised, taking out a few Kunai. "You won't even have time to feel pain," as they walked closer and closer as the seconds passed dauntingly slow. "I wanted you to entertain me more. That's too bad," they almost seem to pout as they raise their Kunai, throwing them straight at the frozen Genin.

The only thing that was left in the Genin's spot was a tiny blood splat, the hatted Genin simply looked down at the area. Their eyes trailed after their Kunai that lodged themselves in the tree roots behind their intended targets. "I see," they silently nodded.

Sakura sat in front of a bleeding Sasuke, who'd stabbed himself in the thigh to focus on something other than death, to get himself to react which proved effective as they weren't currently not breathing.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura gasped as the terror faded.

----

"Naruto!" the boy bellowed. When a semi-affirmative yelp came from the snake, he continued, "I know you're going to become Hokage and all so you have no right to give up, do you hear me, Naruto?"

"... I'm gonna try something, stand back, Mayu!" the boy shouted before calling out his Shadow Clone Jutsu . Mayu barely had time to cover himself behind a tree root as he watched the snake's stomach expand irregularly. 

It continued to expand until it exploded with a great multitude of Naruto's suddenly combusted. The snake fell dead as Naruto landed facing the grey-haired male. "I... am a Shinobi who will become the Hokage!" he reassured, standing proudly as Mayu let his lip quirk the slightest bit. "I won't put up with being snake dung in this place!?"

Mayu patted Naruto's back as he smiled softly, "... I knew you could do it..."

----

Sasuke counted to a silent three and yanked the Kunai wedged into his thigh out with clenched eyes.

Sakura leaned forward with concern, "Sasuke-kun. Are you okay?" she barely got her sentence out, Sasuke covering her mouth with hast. He peered around the thick tree, thinking of a way to escape the lunatic trying to kill them.

Sakura's eyes caught a large shadow, turning slowly to face a giant snake, similar to the one Naruto and Mayu had just unknowingly faced. She struggled against his hand for a second then tore it away, "Sasuke-kun, a snake! "

The Uchiha quickly turned around to come face-to-face with a giant brown snake. Sharingan and yellow, beady eyes clashed for no longer than a second as the snake lunged forward. 

"Shit. I was too shaken up to notice the snake," Sasuke said aloud as both Genin leapt away from the closing maw. The snake coiled around a tree before going to attack again. Sasuke suddenly bellowed, " Don't come near me! " as he spun Shuriken at the reptile.

The thing hissed madly and flopped over on a tree branch, Shuriken sticking out along its body with blood and dirt covering the wounds. The hair on the back of Sasuke's neck stood straighter than him as he watched with a horrified expression as the snake's side began to part, tearing away flesh and scales.

Something seemed to prod at the scales, purple surfaced previously to a body emerging back-up. "Don't lower your guard, not even for a moment..." the voice trailed off. "A prey must always stay tensed and try to flee desperately...'' The body was fully out of the giant snake, covered in a liquid Sasuke'd rather not know. The eye not veiled by wet hair was wild, like looking into a deranged person, which Sasuke figured wasn't so far off. " ... before a predator."

They calmly flicked out their longer-than-average tongue, loving the taste of fear in the air. Unexpectedly expected, did they shoot out and elongate their torso, coiled like the snake, rapidly incoming towards Sasuke.

The path that the purple and dull brown garbed person was following was interrupted by the intrusion of throwing weapons being lodged into the bark right in front of them. They stopped with a surprised gasp, looking towards the throwing origin.

A proud voice sounded from the direction, "Sorry, Sasuke!" Everyone looked towards the voice, finding none other than their Knucklehead teammate of a Ninja and their ever-deceiving little Kim. 

Naruto was in a hero stance with his hands on his hips and Mayu quietly crouched on the same branch, taking in the situation with sharp eyes.

"Naruto! Mayu!" Sakura shouted in relief.

Naruto's next words were too proud for someone who did it, "The password... I've forgotten," he said, practically repeating Sakura's previous interpretation.

And of course, Mayu was there to point out just that, "Naruto, that's not something to boast about," he shook his head, locking eyes with that blazing red. Mayu softly smiled in relief at seeing the other boy in one piece before frowning at the sheer terror that passed through those three combed eyes.

Chapter Text

"I don't like the vibes this Nin gives off, it's making me uneasy," Mayu mumbled.

"That's alright, Naruto, you're doing great!" Sakura yelled back. 

"As for Mayu, he checks out. He simply said ' why bother ' when I couldn't repeat it," Naruto told them. Mayu just shrugged at Sakura's deadpan.

Sasuke looked up from the person in front of him, "Naruto! I know you're trying to be cool and rescue us, but don't get involved, either of you! Naruto, take Mayu and run! They- They're on a much different level!" he said with a barely concealed shiver.

"Seems like you brought that giant snake down with you, Naruto. This must be Mayu, your supposed great teammate. Has he come to rescue you? Hmm? " The creep said, unbothered by their position still wrapped around the tree's branch.

" No matter how you look at it, they look like a snake... I get it, it was all of their handiwork, " Naruto nodded to himself.

" Naruto showing up to help has never benefitted any situation... And he recklessly dragged Mayu with him... What should I do? " Sasuke thought.

" Hey, hey! " Naruto said, "Evidently you've been bullying the weakling!" he pointed at the person. "Now that I, Uzumaki Naruto, and him, Kim Mayu, are here, we'll surely wipe the floor with you!" Mayu breathed in heavily and closed his eyes so as to not punch the blond at such a crucial moment.

"... I'll kill you ..." Mayu muttered dryly.

" Darn it!  If things like this continue, all four of us are done for! " Sasuke's jaw dropped at the blond. " What should I do? " he repeated, he was starting to get even more anxious, especially now that the enemy was between him and Mayu. Everything was silent, tensely silent. " It's no good. This is the only way," he resorted.

Sasuke released his Sharingan and stood straight, "Wait," Everyone stopped for a moment to stare at the dark-haired teen. Sasuke reached into his weapons pouch, "If it's the scroll you want, I'll give it to you," he held the scroll up for them to see and tossed it to his other hand. "I'm asking you. Just take this and go."

While everyone made different noises of confusion, that person smirked. Naruto stomped, "Hey, Sasuke! What're you doing? Why are you giving our scroll to that jerk ?"

Sasuke glared, "You, shut up!"

Mayu looked at the blond from the corner of his eye, "Minimizing the chance of death and fighting, plus a possible raising of our survival rate. Though we can't count on the enemy just letting us go like that, can we?"

"I see... You're very sensible. The only thing prey can hope for from the predator is by presenting other food in hopes of being spared, right?" they reasoned.

Sasuke threw the scroll, "Take it," Naruto snatched it before they could lay their hands on it, jumping off the tree to land next to a shocked Sasuke. Mayu looked at the spot Naruto occupied prior in a stupor. "You, don't interfere! Don't you understand the situation?" he stared at the blond's back.

Naruto spun around and socked Sasuke in the jaw. The Uchiha wiped the blood from his mouth after landing, "Naruto! This really isn't a time-" Mayu gasped.

"No! Mayu! You and Sasuke listen for once!" the blond shouted in a rage. "Yes, I don't remember the password... So I've got no way to make sure. But you... you're a fake Sasuke, aren't you?"

Sakura gasped at the accusation, "Naruto! W- What're you trying to do?"

"You loser. I am the real me!"