Chapter 8: The Things Unsaid

Chapter eight – The Things Unsaid

"You said you want to become Hokage. I have become the Kazekage. If you are willing to bear the name Kage, you have to do what you must do." - Gaara

Team Orochimaru walked slowly down the street while Anko babbled about the bell test. The dark haired girl was clearly relieved she hadn't been demoted or thrown out of the ninja troops of Konoha. Apparently she was sure Orochimaru had been telling the truth, since both of the boys on her last team had been sent back to the academy when they failed to complete the task.

While Anko talked on, Naruto was pondering what the hell would happen now.

This had never been a part of her plans, and the possibility hadn't even been something she'd thought possible. Not once had she feared this. Orochimaru was Anko's sensei already, and the fact that he'd suddenly taken on two more students could not have been a coincidence.

"Hey, Naruto, you alright?" Wondered Shisui, nudging her shoulder gently. By now he had grown taller than her and was gaining in on Anko. He would probably be one of those tall ones when he grew up.

"I'm fine, dattebayo. I just don't like Orochimaru."

Anko stopped talking when hearing this and the happy expression on her face ebbed away. By raising her hand she stopped Naruto in her track while Shisui sighed and looked on in worry.

"Oy! Stop being such a baby! Orochimaru-sama is a great shinobi and a war hero you brat, treat him with more respect from now on." Anko ordered in her most serious tone to defend the snake while grabbing at Naruto's shoulder with a painful grip. The blonde looked hard back at her friend and snorted.

"He is strong, no doubt about it, but I don't like him. He's creepy and he feels evil, not to mention his looks. He just isn't normal." She argued back.

This only managed to anger Anko, who suddenly swung her fist at her best friend who ducked to avoid the hit right on time. The Uchiha reacted by running forward and restrained Anko by the shoulder while Naruto got out of the line of fire.

However, Shisui was far not enough to restrain Anko for long, and soon he'd been pushed aside and the two girls ended up in a fist fight. Again.

As Naruto trotted back to the orphanage Anko sat back in her couch. Looking emptily at the dishes the blonde had left behind after the tense dinner they had shared. She couldn't understand where Naruto's displeasure stems from. Orochimaru-sensei was an extremely gifted man, he was strong and wise and everything Anko had dreamed of having in a sensei. In fact, he had been everything and more. He was a well of information that never seemed to have a bottom. He had never failed in answering what she wondered about, and she was becoming so much stronger under him than she could have become under anyone else.

When Naruto had returned after team assignment she'd looked close to tears, and it had been very difficult for Anko to sympathize with Naruto's discomfort. Personally Anko had been thrilled.

Her best friend was her teammate now. If she had to share Orochimaru with anyone then Naruto was the one she'd wish for. Shisui was a little annoying though, but he was far from the worst teammate she could have gotten. But Naruto was ruining it.

Her constant complaining about her sensei had been annoying from the beginning, but Anko hadn't truly realized just how deep it went until today during the bell test. Naruto had tried to kill their sensei. Not that she had succeeded, but Anko had picked up Naruto's killing intent. It wasn't like anything Anko had felt before. It wasn't the way Naruto would radiate negative energy when they argued about mundane things or even when she was furious about one of her classmates.

It was genuine. Naruto wanted Orochimaru dead. And it was completely unacceptable.

Naruto was blessed to get him as a sensei. She'd been granted access to Konoha in strained times. She'd surfed though the Academy and now been given the best ninja in the village as a sensei. But she had the disgrace to be displeased.

It made Anko so angry she was unsure how to express it properly. But the blonde was still her best friend. She knew Naruto thought her own way and saw the world differently. It was the reason Anko had liked her to begin with. The blonde didn't give two damned what anyone else thought and because of that she had befriended Anko instead of the other orphanage girls. It was also why Anko couldn't force Naruto to stop disliking Orochimaru. Her mind was set. Her decision made, and now they all would have to pay for it.

Anko stretched her hands over her head, hearing a soft crack in her spine as some pressure released from her shoulders.

Getting up to her feet Anko picked up the dishes from their meal. The dinner had been very uncomfortable. Naruto was just as aware of their disagreement, but for once they weren't using their fists to resolve the issue. They had tried, but the problem was still just as present as before. Instead of shouting and arguments there was now only silence.

It was this that frightened Anko more than anything else.

"I won't be doing missions with you this week." Stated Orochimaru plainly for a second time, looking bored when Anko asked when they'd start doing real ninja work. The lack of proper missions was annoying her greatly.

"Why not?" Asked Shisui disappointed. Naruto didn't really mind not having to babysit or clean up garbage from the park, but she was still curious as to what was going on.

"Because you need a lot of training and I'm not having second hand soldiers. Shisui, you need to get better at more than genjutsu and breathing fire. Anko, you need better ninjutsu attacks and Naruto… There's a lot to fix with you, but I guess I'll have to start somewhere... Your taijutsu is inefficient. If you'd been ten years older then maybe it would be suitable, but as a child with no muscle strength it's just idiotic of you to continue with it. It will be more efficient when I teach you a proper style of fighting." He said standing in front of the kids on training ground four.

Naruto bristled, stopping her outburst in her throat and looked pointedly away. She was a lot older. It wasn't her fault she'd been turned into a child, no the kyūbi could take that credit.

"But what about income? I have rent and food to pay! And Naru only has the orphanage clothes to wear. It isn't of a material made for fighting." Argued Anko looking over at Naruto who was wearing the same red T-shirt and black pants as she'd done the day they met.

Orochimaru continued to look unimpressed by the argument and folded his arms in front of him. "It's not my problem. You managed fine when you graduated Anko and I expect the same of Naruto. You should have saved more of your income if one week without payment is all it takes for you to go broke." Answered Orochimaru mercilessly.

"Uh…" Answered Anko, flushing and looking down at the ground.

"I expect you to have your equipment here by practice on Tuesday. Find a way to borrow some if it's impossible to get anything. I don't care. I'm just here to talk over your training for the next three months." Said Orochimaru and flipped his head sideways, his long black hair falling out of his eyes and behind his shoulder.

"I'll be entering you into the chūnin exam by the end of the three months. Which means that if you have a slither of talent I'll force it out of you. We'll have a normal training session where I want to see how you work as a team. When I've beaten some skills into you we will move on to individual training. I'll see what you are suited for and you will be having private lessons with me outside of team practice. On top of that we'll start missions from next week in between practice sessions. This way you will hopefully do respectfully during the chūnin exam." Orochimaru explained monotonously while studying each of his student's expression.

"So we'll be Rookie participants in the chūnin exam?" Asked Shisui looking excitedly to Naruto. The girl was frowning but gave a quick confirming glance back.

Orochimaru gave a humorless smirk. "Yes, I myself made Chūnin on my first try. Anko did the same because of my training program and I'm expecting the same of you two."

Naruto huffed and felt her already tightly folded fists tightening further. Of course he did, no sloppy seconds for the sannin was there?

"Now, you three are going to start sparring against me, I'll correct you while we progress."

Four hours later Naruto and Anko halted towards the latter's apartment. According to Anko, Orochimaru had been giving one of his harshest training lesson to date which left the trio feel like they weren't going to make it all the way home.

Shisui was the one who'd had the hardest time out of them.

While both he and Naruto had been pushed the same amount, he didn't have increased healing abilities like the blonde did.

The girls had helped him home seeing as he was limping, having problems with his left eye and looked delirious with exertion. Once Kagami had his son returned Naruto and Anko started the long way back to the apartment in the opposite direction.

It was a habit they had, and though the atmosphere between them had been tense as of late Naruto had no plans on sleeping at the orphanage tonight. Just the idea of Madam May's face if she returned in this state made her cringe. The kind woman was always fussing over her and was displeased about her occupation. Her appearance would be enough for Madam May to lose her remaining respect for ninjas.

The apartment was a far distance off, and the girls had to go back through the training grounds to reach it without having to do a large detour. This was also where they walked by training ground three where team Minato was practicing.

When Obito spotted them he burst out laughing at their pathetic, limping state and came running over. "What did you do? You both look like you've been hit by a fire jutsu head on!" He shouted when he was only halfway from reaching them. Naruto smiled despite the pain while Anko gave an insulted scowl.

"Orochimaru is a slave driver. I think he enjoys our pain." Answered Naruto with honesty. Rin, Kakashi and Minato had followed after Obito to see what was going on and came up next to the Uchiha.

"Orochimaru-sensei is great! He is harsh though, I can't feel two of my toes anymore and Shisui is having problems seeing with his left eye." Muttered Anko and became her shy counterpart since Minato was standing so close by.

Giving the girl an exasperated sigh, Naruto looked back to Obito. "What are you guys doing?"

"We've been doing battle formations against Minato-sensei." Answered Kakashi. Rin was smiling worriedly from Anko's foot to Naruto's much bruised neck. She was wondering exactly what sort of sensei Orochimaru was to injure his genin like that. To boot Rin was also pretty sure this was Naruto's first day as a genin.

"I have some numbing cream and it should help your bruises a little. I'm still learning so I'm not going to risk attempting to heal you completely on my own, but the combination will help with the swelling." She said helpfully.

Naruto grinned widely at her. Rin was just one of those genuinely nice people. The brunette smiled sweetly back before running to the other side of the field where their belongings had been dumped earlier.

"So how is Orochimaru-sama as a sensei? You probably already know this Naruto, but his teammate Jiraiya was my own sensei when I was genin." Smiled Minato while looking closely at their state. Jiraiya could be strict as well, but he couldn't remember coming home in such a state as these girls were.

"He's awesome!"

"He's evil."

Obito laughed at Naruto's scowl contrasting Anko's wide smiling and shining face. It was like they had temporarily changed personalities. Even Kakashi seemed to find them amusing.

"He has no comprehension of limits, Anko! He's treating us like a science project." Naruto stated with unconcealed venom in her voice. She continued by making an uncanny impression of her new sensei.

"'Naruto, what if I put some weight seals on you?' 'Naruto, since you use so much time meditating and have such large chakra reserves you might have the knack for senjutsu, maybe I'll try pushing some of my own into you next time and see how it goes.' 'What if we tried using a genjutsu while you fight so you have no idea where your opponents are.' Naruto tried with a horrible imitation of Orochimaru's earlier speeches during the training while the others watched in various degree of amusement.

"Seriously, I'm eight years old! I shouldn't be having weights on me, it can stunt my growth! I'm pretty sure senjutsu can turn you into a freaking stone and last time I checked throwing kunai around blindly can poke an eye out. Shisui pretty much proved that today." Exclaimed Naruto getting passionately into her own rant.

Minato looked worried while Kakashi seemed a little envious.

When Rin came back she gave the cream to Anko first who thanked her and started applying the cream on instantly as she sat down on the grass. "I'm sure Orochimaru-sama will make sure you won't get hurt… irrevocably." Minato said with a little uncertainly.

Naruto stared back with a pointed look before glancing quickly towards Anko's ankle that had blown up to twice its normal size as a result of the swelling.

"Riiight. What was the Hokage thinking making him interact with kids is beyond me." She said while rolling her eyes.

"You're being whiny, Naruto!" Laughed Obito. "Cheer up! You made genin and have a sannin as your sensei. I'm sure he'll make you strong and you'll need it for when we fight for the Hokage title!"

The blonde grinned back and giggled when Obito started shifting his goggles proudly. Anko who was now frowning handed her the cream while Rin bent down and started doing something to heal her foot. After the brunette was finished helping the two orphans, Minato called his team to resume training.

Anko and Naruto wordlessly decided to stay a little longer while the cream started numbing the throbbing pain. They watched while Minato went through another battle formation and how to work together for protection and attack.

After half an hour of tense silence they got up again and with a wave to team Minato, they walked back to the apartment.

Contrary to Naruto's belief, Orochimaru did have some comprehension of their limits. It was proven since none of his three students had any lasting excuse not to meet up for training. They were always sore and always had the longing for a sleep-in but were never too damaged to be allowed to skip practice.

When the sannin deemed her and Shisui's taijutsu plausible, which he did by the end of the week, he moved on to individual training. It was not really individual, since all three met up at the same time. But only one got the "real" Orochimaru to train with, the other two got a clone each.

"Take a paper." Said Orochimaru while holding up some familiar looking brown papers. Affinity paper. The ones telling you what main element you were more adapt at.

"I know what my affinity is, Orochimaru." Stated Naruto without bothering to pick a paper the way the other two had.

Her sensei looked uninterested and pushed the papers further into her face, making Naruto pick one just so she could step back without being followed by the sannin.

"Shisui knows his too." Naruto added while the boy in question looked a little nervous. Orochimaru had mostly the same effect on him as it did on Naruto. But he didn't hate his sensei the way the blonde did.

"I don't care. I want it confirmed and then I want to test just how adapt you are with them. Now push some chakra into those papers." Snapped Orochimaru and folded his arms in front of him, staring hard at Naruto until she stubbornly broke eye contact.

As predicted her paper split in two, confirming that while she might have become a time traveler, she still had a wind affinity.

Looking up she noticed the pile of ash in Shisui's hand proving that he had a fire affinity. While Anko's paper had crackled up. Meaning she had lightning affinity.

Looking back at their sensei she noticed he wasn't paying attention to them anymore. Instead he was looking through his weapon holster for something. Fishing out the item he had in there, he held up for all of them to see… a needle.

Instinctively Naruto had taken five steps backwards, her eyes narrowed in on the pointy tip.

Her two teammates looked confused over their shoulder to where the blonde was standing with her kunai ready in her hand.

Orochimaru ignored the ordeal.

"I'll take blood samples of you now. Or, more accurately I'll take a blood sample each of Shisui and Naruto since I've already done this with Anko. While the affinity paper is sufficient to find out your main affinity it doesn't help much with the other four or how compatible you are with those. This blood test will show just that." Explained Orochimaru, making Naruto even less agreeable. She just instinctively knew her sample would be used for something freaky.

"I'm not doing a blood test." Naruto argued back, her hand fisting tighter around the kunai in her hand. A loan from Anko's to-be-sharpened stack of weapons.

"Too bad, you don't really have a say in this Naruto-chan." Stated Orochimaru with a wicked smile.

"You can't seriously be afraid of needles, Naru?" Exclaimed Anko with furrowed brows, her hands on her hips and a disproving expression on her face.

"I'm not giving a blood sample to anyone but the blood bank. Far less an experimental researcher who is known for having used said experiments on himself. Just look at some of the techniques he's using! That's not normal!" Shouted Naruto and took a step further back. No way in hell was she letting this happen.

"I can use my wind affinity just fine. I'll pick a second element and practice it like everyone else. I don't need your experiments to learn a second affinity!" Shouted Naruto and now she folded her arms. Mimicking the stance of her sensei.

Orochimaru tilted his head, his eyes narrowing in slight annoyance at the determined conviction in Naruto's eyes. She wasn't going to budge on this.

While she was correct, he had been planning on sparing a little of her sample for personal research, this would hardly be the last chance he got at drawing a sample from her. They would go on missions and they were in the middle of a war. If Naruto managed to go unharmed throughout her first year as a ninja it would be a miracle. Orochimaru could wait until she was unconscious or bleeding from a wound. But still, he wasn't going to let her off that easily.

"Fine, you can choose your own way of learning a second affinity, but I can guarantee it will be less efficient if you choose the wrong element to study. With a blood sample I could tell you within a few hours what you should focus on. Instead you'll probably spend months, if not years, on the wrong affinity." Said the sannin with a satisfied smirk.

"Oh yeah?" Said Naruto while returning the smile, delighted at Orochimaru's belief in his own words. It was time to prove him wrong.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" She shouted while doing her cross hand sign. Thirty clones popped up all around them. All of them staring daggers at Orochimaru.

"I will do this thirty times as quickly by the help of my clones, dattebayo. Their memories will return back to me the moment they're dispelled. In other words I'll be a hell of a more efficient when practicing than anyone else will be!" Explained the real Naruto slowly, or at least who her team assumed was the real Naruto.

Orochimaru's eyes had gone oval. The yellow orbs trailed over the thirty perfect shadow clones. Taking in everything he could before he took a step forwards. "Fassssscinating." He hissed out, sounding like the snake Naruto knew he was more than the collected front he used in front of most people. "Such large reserves. And you're only eight. Splendid Naruto-chan, just splendid. Now pick an element. We'll make this into a competition. If you can master your chosen affinity enough to use it in battle before the Chūnin exam then I will be proven wrong. If you can't then I'm proven right."

The challenge was not a very serious one, and had it been anyone else uttering it Naruto wouldn't have cared half as much. But as it was it was Orochimaru who was betting that Naruto would be wrong and he would be right. Something that was completely unacceptable.

"Okay. I'll choose…." Naruto stopped thinking for a long moment before she decided. "Suiton!" She cried out with determination. The reason she chose this element was because of the water puddle next to Shiusi's feet, but she went with it anyway.

"Ah, well that's not an easy pick is it? Out of all the techniques Fire is perceived as the easiest one to learn while Wind is the most difficult. But Water is a close second to Wind." Orochimaru supplemented graciously. Taking a short step closer to Naruto who without thinking took another step back. She really couldn't stand this person.

"Then you'll have to find a river, Naruto-chan. I'll come by and demonstrate the exercise you'll have to complete before going to the next step. But first I need a blood sample from Shisui." He said in his slithery voice and turned like some sort of reptile. First his head, then shoulders and upper body before his hips and feet followed last. The movement was graceful but oddly… Inhuman. Snake like. Naruto shuddered and took a breath of relief she wasn't in focus anymore.

"Even if nature affinity is not what you want to specialize in it is always better to know your body's limitations and strength. Having a proper understanding of your chakra system is a very useful tool. I will have to keep track of you though Shisui. You're still young and growing quickly." Said Orochimaru and came to a stop in front of the Uchiha.

Shisui looked a little hesitant at first. But since he didn't have the same conviction as Naruto seemed to have in this case, not to mention that he couldn't muster up an army of clones, he did as told.

Orochimaru was surprisingly quick and the blood sample was filled and pocketed within a minute. Shisui looked curiously up at his sensei, wondering if his blood sample really would be used only for its intended purpose.

But even if it wasn't, what was the worst that could happen? Orochimaru was a Konoha ninja and he worked in their village best interest. Naruto really was being unfair when it came to their sensei.

Naruto frequently had a feeling of being constantly unlucky here in the past. Because of the orphanage, her poor finances, her lack of any useful possessions and last but not least her new sensei. But there was still a few things she was looking forwards to.

The missions were one of them. Because work meant money in her pocket, and Naruto badly needed that these days. Another thing was the opportunity to move out of the orphanage as soon as she'd saved up enough money, and third and last but very, very far from least; Ichiraku ramen stand had opened.

This had come to her attention after yet another gruesome practice session with her new team, when Iruka had come sprinting onto their training ground, his hair sweaty and a huge smile on his face. "Naruto! Me and Kushina-sensei just found the best ramen stand ever! It just opened and it's so good! We have to go there!" He'd cried out before catching the emotionless stare Orochimaru sent him.

It was the first time Iruka properly met Orochimaru, and safe to say he didn't impress the sannin.

"What? Ramen stand?" Exclaimed Naruto, not noticing how she abandoned Shisui who she was supposed to be sparring against.

"Y-yes..." Answered Iruka, his eyes still caught in the gaze of Orochimaru. It was not normal how his yellow eyes seemed to paralyze him in place. Sweat broke out on his brow while he fought the urge to flee.

"Oy!" Exclaimed Shisui and caught Naruto by the collar of her borrowed shirt. "We have team training right now. You can eat ramen later." Scolded Shisui. Anko sat a little further away, concentrating on a chakra exercise. The interruption from Iruka had shattered her concentration, and she was mimicking Orochimaru's stare where she sat glowering in his direction.

"But-" Naruto said and turned astonished towards Shisui who for safeties sake was still holding onto her. When ramen was involved he'd noticed how the whole girl lit up like it was Christmas. Orochimaru didn't seem happy either, and he was not going to antagonize his sensei this early.

"No but. You have practice right now. We were sparring, and technically you are dead. If all it takes to distract you is a bowl of ramen then we have some serious work to get through." Shisui mumbled and sent Iruka a friendly smile, but keeping Naruto in check all the same. He had the distinct impression she was waiting for him to let go just so she could bolt away.

Iruka wasn't paying attention to Shisui though. He was slowly backing away, his hands gesturing a sort of wave while he repeatedly apologized. "I'm so very sorry, Orochimaru-sama. I got excited… I didn't mean to disturb… I… eh… I'm so sorry. Please continue, I never would have come here if I realized you were still training…" Iruka continued in this fashion for quite some time. Orochimaru's eyes trailed after him like a hawk until the poor boy had backed a substantial length away.

When he was almost out of sight Naruto finally managed to get loose from Shisui, and she called after him. "What is the name!? I'll meet you there after training!" She shouted, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She had waited so long for this, and Naruto needed the ramen stand Iruka was talking about to be the one.

Iruka didn't reply because Naruto's cry had drawn Orochimaru's attention, and free from his eyes Iruka turned tails and bolted as quickly as he could manage.

After a grueling training practice later, Naruto made her way alone to the ramen stand. She knew where this was, and had never really needed Iruka's explanation or confirmation that what she hoped for was true.

What she hadn't expected though, was the cue.

At first she had lost hope, thinking she had been mistaken in thinking Ichiraku ramen stand was the one Iruka was referring to. There were just so many people around that she couldn't even see it at all. It took her a long moment to realize all these people were here for the same reason as she herself was.

The realization had made her gape openly. Never had she gone to Ichiraku and not been served right away. She herself had been their best customer, and at most there were three other people at the booth simultaneously.

Now there had to be at least twenty people just waiting to get a seat. At Ichiraku…

Naruto walked up to the end of the line just to make absolutely sure, and a wide smile grew on her face when she saw a brown haired man smiling and hurrying around. Making ramen and serving in hurried sessions. It was Ichiraku alright. The only one missing was Ayame, but she suspected she was too young to be helping out just yet. But with a line like this old man Teuchi could probably need the help more than anything in the future.

It was while complementing about asking Teuchi for a part time job that Naruto picked up on the voice calling her name.

"Naruto-chan! Over here!"

The blonde turned around and saw Rin waving to her from the line. She was standing with Obito and Kurenai in line and smiled brilliantly when their eyes met.

"Rin!" Naruto cried and jogged over to them, greeting Obito warmly and giving a polite hi to Kurenai. Naruto hadn't known her all too well in the future, and even less now in the past.

"Are you here to try the ramen, Naruto-chan? I heard from sensei that it's really good. His girlfriend has been dragging him here for the last two days." Rin said excitedly and stood on her toes, trying to peek over the shoulders of the people in front of them.

"I heard so too, so here I am!" Naruto said and looked back towards the end of the line again. Rin and the others had apparently already been waiting for a while, seeing as they were halfway.

"I think I'll try the eggplant." Mused Rin, and Obito gave her a dejected look.

"I heard the miso was good." He suggested and shifted from foot to foot. His hands were stuffed far into his pockets and his shoulders looked tense.

"Hmm.. Yeah, maybe another time. Kakashi-kun recommended the eggplant so I'll try that today." Rin replied without taking notice of the aura her teammate was giving out. Naruto raised an eyebrow, suddenly remember that in fact, Kakashi did eat a lot of eggplant. He usually ordered it whenever Naruto had dragged her sensei with her to eat ramen back in the future.

"Where is Kakashi exactly?" Asked Naruto off handedly, noticing neither he nor Minato was anywhere within sight.

"On a mission." Answered Obito at once, his already sullen face going even more displeased.

"Without you two?" Naruto asked confused. It was unusual, at least from when she was genin, for a team to leave anyone behind in the village. It was a team after all.

Rin stopped trying to get a better view of the booth and nodded to Naruto. "Yes, Kakashi-kun got special permission to go with Minato-sensei and some others on a secret mission. They should be back in a week."

"I could've done that mission. I'd probably have done a better job than Kakashi." Muttered Obito stubbornly, and Naruto finally realized why the Uchiha was in such a bad mood. He was jealous. A familiar feeling, seeing as Naruto had spent her early genin days constantly trying to catch up with Sasuke. At least Kakashi hadn't singled him out to go on a mission and left her and Sakura behind. That had only happened during the genin exams, and back then Sasuke had the very real possibility of getting killed during the first round because he was going up against Gaara who at the time was rather insane.

"Don't be silly, Obito." Said Kurenai with her hands folded in front of her. Her down to earth manners made the rude words sting less, but Obito still bristled at the offending words. "Kakashi-kun is the best in our age group and he was chosen for a reason. If you were the better option for this mission I'm sure Minato-sensei would have picked you." She explained and ignored the boiling of outrage in Obito's eyes.

"Does this happen often?" Wondered Naruto aloud, thinking that maybe her father should work more on not favoring one of his students over the others. She remembered Kakashi had done the same with Sasuke, but he'd paid for that later. Everyone had…

"No, this is the first time this has happened. But we're at war. They can't always follow protocol when a special circumstance shows up. Kakashi-kun is also very skilled for his age. He's even very skilled for just being a chūnin." Gushed Rin, her cheeks going slightly pink and a familiar glazed look came over her eyes while she talked. Naruto realized Rin had more feelings towards Kakashi than mere comradeship.

Without being able to stop it, Naruto burst out laughing. Immediate she tried to stifle the sound with her hand while she tried to get a grip on herself. But the idea of her sensei being in a similar role as Sasuke was just too much. Rin was more subtle then Sakura had ever been when it came to having a crush, but it was still rather obvious. Even Kurenai….

All three looked confused at her, but Naruto waved her hand from side to side while she tried to stop laughing. "I-I'm sorry… It's just… Kakashi doesn't seem like..." She trailed off, not sure how to say this without making them either mad, embarrassed or both.

"Doesn't seem what?" Asked Obito, for the first time not looking like a grumpy troll.

"Nothing… I just didn't know he was so… popular." Naruto explained vaguely. Rin seemed a little bemused, but let the matter drop. Kurenai on the other hand saw right through it, and a small frown appeared on her face. The Uchiha understood too, but instead of commenting, continued to shift from foot to foot. Clearly not interest in speaking about his teammate any more than he needed to.

The line moved forward and Naruto had her node held high while she breathed in the delicious smell of Ichiraku ramen. It had been so long… Way too long. Her mind went back to the countless hours she'd spent at this booth while growing up. The many conversations held while eating here.

Her day dreaming was interrupted by the conversation held between the two older girls. "I have just enough for two bowls, but I don't think I'll have more than one." Said Kurenai while looking inside a red wallet. She sipped it up and put it back into her pocket, not noticing how Naruto had stiffened.

Money…

Of course… Naruto couldn't afford this.

The blonde looked down at the ground, her stomach turning while she realized it might be a long while until she could start going here again.

Taking a deep breath she looked up at the three others and put on the brightest smile she could muster, but internally she was crying.

It was stupid really. She had been faced with far worse since coming back to the past. She had met Jiraiya, her Jiji and her parents who didn't seem to care much one way or another about her. And now was the time she wanted to start crying.

Maybe it had something to do with the familiarity of Ichiraku, or maybe this was just one thing too many. Either way Naruto knew this was just one more thing she couldn't have.

Out of everyone she'd lost in the future and found here in the past Jiraiya was the only one she felt she had a proper bond with again. She didn't have that with the others, because Naruto couldn't find an excuse to hover around them. Didn't have a reason for a random orphan to start nosing in their business. But she'd been so sure she at least could have a bowl of ramen from Ichiraku…

"I'm sorry! I just remembered I have to deliver back a kunai I borrowed from Anko. She wanted to hone them this evening. I'll have to get ramen another time it seems." Naruto said as an excuse, pulling out one of the kunai Anko had borrowed her. Rin and Kurenai nodded in understanding, but Obito looked at her with one eyebrow raised. If he believed her or not Naruto couldn't tell for sure.

"See you guys later!" She exclaimed and turned her backs to them, running away as fast as she could manage before the stupid tears started falling.

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To be continued…