A Leaf in the Rain

2. Detective Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki

Sasuke groaned vehemently as glimpses of light peeked into his room. Forcing himself out of bed, he ran his hands through his hair, trying to ruffle out the peaks that had formed from laying flat too long. After brushing his teeth and getting dressed, the Uchiha descendent made his way across the village to the training grounds he had come have a love-hate relationship with.

"Naruto..." he grumbled has the dirt under his feet.

I knew this was going to happen. That idiot. It wasn't my idea to leave yesterday. Naruto just had to find Kakashi, which didn't even happen! That dumbass.

Sasuke continued to state all of the reasons to his self as to why Naruto made the worst shinobi ever. That idiot is going to kill all of us before we even have a chance to go on an actual mission. How can I get stronger when he is a part of our group? I need to get stronger, and this is just a jo-

Exciting himself into a state of anger, Sasuke almost missed the reason he took the long way to the training grounds—Hinata Hyuga. Walking past the brush the hid the punching stump, Sasuke casually walked closer to the area that Hinata came to practice at. Don't get him wrong; he is not giving Hinata any attention, whatsoever.

He happened upon her by accident, well by Naruto, which itself is an accident, possibly three. One day while they were walking, Sakura managed to punch Naruto too far into the woods for some idiotic comment he made about her hair or clothes or whatever girls, err Sakura, got mad about. Being the sensible one, he went to help him, not out of kindness. Kakashi would have made them miss lunch again if they showed up to training short one person. Well, Naruto just happened to fall shy of Hinata Hyuga.

Hinata, of course, bowed enormously, stuttered profusely, and fell at least once according to the Uchiha. Naruto, being Naruto, brushed her off before running back to Sakura to apologize for being an idiot. That idiot. Sasuke acknowledge the Hyuga before turning to follow Naruto. What nobody noticed, however, is that he saw the dried, crusted scabs forming on her knuckles in between her many bows and apologies.

And so, here he was. Silently supporting Hinata, for she also has a goal she was training for. This was the only reason he walked this way, to make sure that she was also on the fast track to be a Chunin. Well, she was getting better. Kinda.

Sasuke silently and slowly continued his walk to the training grounds when the irregular scuffling of feet caught his attention. Oh no.

"Sasuke! Wait up you bastard!"

Ugh. Immediately, he ducked behind the nearest bush he could find.

"Sasuke! Sasuke? What, I thought that was him, for sure. Believe it! Oh, hey Hinata."

"N-N-N-Naru-"

"Well, bye Hinata, keep up the practice!"

"Uh, uh y-y-yeah. Oh! S-Sasuke! A-A-Are you alright? D-Did you fall? N-Naruto was j-just looking f-f-for you."

Realizing his position on the floor, Sasuke quickly sat up. "No. Che." Standing fully erect, he decided it was a decent time to leave, quickly.

"O-Oh. O-Okay, uh, b-bye."

"Bye." Naruto...you idiot.

Grumbling, Sasuke hastened his pace until he could see the annoyingly bright heads of his teammates. How lame.

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"Sorry team, I got lost on the path of li-"

"WHAT!?" Naruto and Sakura screamed in unison.

"What?"

"Kakashi-sensei, how is it that you are always late to training, but when we leave after you don't show up, we get punished?" Naruto asked, his hands folded across his chest.

"I told you, Naruto, I got lost-"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

"Alright, alright, calm down, Naruto. No need to be so hyperactive this early in the morning."

"I'm this way because of you!"

"You are really taking this whole calming down thing to heart, huh? Alright, assume formation."

As Team Kakashi's morning training passed without any upset, Naruto decided it would be a good idea to ask his sensei about the girl in the pictures during lunch.

With the sun high in the sky, the team settled about around a tree as they unpacked their bento boxes. Both Sakura and Sasuke did not waste any time in devouring their food. Naruto, on the other hand, had a different agenda.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"What is it, Naruto? I thought you would have been the first to finish your food?"

"Look, Kakashi-sensei, do you like girls?"

"Well, of course I do."

"What kind of girls do you like?"

"Well, the curvy, voluptuous kinds, similar to the women in-"

"Gross!!! Kakashi-sensei, do not even mention that poor excuse for a novel," Sakura chimed in.

"No! Let's try this again. If you were, say, our age. What kind of girls would you like?" Naruto corrected.

"At your age, I was put on highly classified missions. I didn't have time for that kind of leisure."

"Hn." Irritated at Kakashi's cockiness, Sasuke decided it was time to take over the situation. "Then who is the girl in the pictures?"

"What pictures?"

"SASUKE! You bastard! I was handling this! You always have to be the center of attention. Sasuke this, and Sasuke that."

"N-A-R-U-T-O! Shut up!!!" Saukra yelled, "I will not tolerate you upsetting the balance of this team."

"Yeah, yeah, you just mean Sasuke," Naruto responded as he made what appeared to be a fishy face at Sakura.

Eyes wide and face red, Sakura's fist clenched. "N-A-R-U-T-O!" Ready to take a swing at her fellow teammate, Naruto was lucky to be saved by a very confused instructor.

"What pictures?" Kakashi inquired once more.

As Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke looked at each other, they realized that they would just have to come clean. Sakura started by explaining how they tried to look for him at his apartment when he didn't show up to training yesterday. Naruto continued by explaining the situation inside, ultimately leading up to the discovery of the box in the floor with the pictures of the girl and random notes by him.

After explaining their situation, the Genin looked up at Kakashi, expecting to meet a face full of irritation and annoyance at their behavior. However, the look they received scared them all. Kakashi looked terrifyingly serious and alarmed.

"Training will cease for today," he remarked, before packing up his lunch and leaving the group to wonder at who exactly this girl was.