"Well then, let's begin with introductions," Kakashi said when they made it up the last set of stairs. He was sitting on the railing that lined the whole roof, back to the village and had seemingly not a care in the world. They sat down several meters in front of him, between two rows of trees that were planted on top of the building for some reason.
"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" Naruto demanded after Kakashi asked for their likes, dislikes and dreams for the future.
"Yeah, you look kinda suspicious," Haruka piped in as seriously as she could. That earned her another glare from Kakashi, but then he shrugged.
"Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. You are too young to tell you my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future… hmm. Hobbies though, I have lots of hobbies."
Haruka raised an eyebrow at him, but he simply declared that it was their turn. Sasuke didn't look particularly happy—he never did, did he?—but Naruto seemed eager enough.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," the blond said, sitting up a little straighter and putting a hand to his hitai-ate. "I like instant ramen and when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen, but I don't like the three minutes ramen needs to cook. And my dream is to surpass the Hokage, so the people of this village will have to acknowledge my existence!" He finished, jumping up at the end. Then sitting down again added: "My hobbies are pranks I guess."
That was kind of a weird dream. Not the becoming Hokage part itself, but rather the reason for it. Why would he need a whole village to acknowledge him? Kakashi didn't seem all that surprised. The whole spiel about ramen had him confused for a moment, but he didn't bat an eye at the blond's dream. Or rather his chakra didn't react. Kakashi generally had too good of a poker face to show emotion when he didn't mean to.
"Next," he said, scratching the top of his had and making that mop he called hair seem even more unruly than it usually did.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't like anything," her other teammate declared with an air of impending doom about him. It seemed ridiculously dramatic and only got worse when he continued. "I don't really have a dream, but I do have an ambition. I will resurrect my clan and kill a certain man."
"Itachi," escaped Haruka on a breath before her brain had time to catch up with her mouth. Of course he would want to kill his brother. How had she not even thought about that before? If Itachi had attacked Ibiki or Kakashi she'd come after him just for that, friend or not. And Sasuke had lost more than a guardian figure he'd only known for a few years. He had lost his whole family in one night.
Kakashi's chakra suddenly sparked with lightning, pulling Haruka's attention back to the roof top. Sasuke was standing right in front of her, kunai in hand.
"What do you know of my brother?" He shouted at her, apparently not for the first time either. His eyes were filled with rage, the grip on his weapon so tight that his knuckles had turned white.
"That's enough," Kakashi said and let a wave of killing intent wash over all of them. His voice was steady, barely above a whisper and it made him seem all the more frightening. Naruto was shaking where he sat and Sasuke gasped, letting the kunai clatter to the ground. It wasn't nearly as bad for Haruka, who had felt a lot worse before, but even she had to actively keep her limbs under control.
"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. And you," Kakashi gave Sasuke a hard stare, "Are about to do both. And for what? Because she said a name you don't like? Get yourself under control!"
He kept glaring at the Uchiha, not giving him an inch, until Sasuke's shoulders sagged and he sat back down. Then Kakashi was suddenly back to his default persona. A lazy, eccentric and completely unthreatening jonin. It was probably the scariest thing Haruka had ever seen. That ability, to switch mental states in the blink of an eye, that was what made him such a terrifying opponent in battle. It might be peace time and Kakashi might be home, but the mentality necessary to live through a war and come out on top had never truly left him.
"Okay last but not least," he said with a nod in her direction. "The girl."
Haruka didn't skip a beat. She wasn't quite as fast as him, but switching mindsets wasn't new to her either.
"My name is Haruka. I like my pack and dislike whoever threatens it," she said, not even pretending to smile. Her acting skills weren't up to par and she didn't care if the Uchiha heard the underlying threat in her voice. The massacre had been a tragedy, but it wasn't hers. "My dream is to become strong enough to keep myself and everyone I care about safe."
And I will do whatever it takes to achieve that dream, she didn't say out loud. Judging by his look, Kakashi heard it anyway, but it wasn't like he didn't already know. He'd been there when she'd lost her chains, when she'd shared her past with Ibiki and when she'd decided to become a shinobi. Kakashi might not necessarily approve of everything her moral code entailed and just how far she was willing to go when pushed, but he knew.
"Well, now that we got that over with. Tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi," he said ignoring Naruto's exited exclamations. Apparently it wasn't so easy to keep the blond's mood down.
"First there's going to be a little test. Survival training if you will," at that the jonin actually cackled, which had Haruka a little scared. "Only a handful of the thirty graduates will be chosen to become genin, the rest are just going to be send back to the Academy. The rate of failure for this exam is over sixty-six percent."
Sasuke seemed a little nervous at that, while Haruka was mostly confused and still a little scared that Kakashi could cackle. Naruto though vented his insecurity by shouting at their sensei.
"What? No way! We worked so hard! What was the point of graduating in the first place if you're just gonna send us back?"
"Oh that?" Kakashi waved it off, as if that question had never really occurred to him. "That was just to see who might have a chance. Anyway, tomorrow I'll be testing your real skill on the training ground. Bring whatever tools you think you need. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll just throw it up."
Their sensei handed each of them a slip of paper with the address of a training ground and a time on it, and then he disappeared in his usual manner. Naruto was frantically searching the paper for some kind of hidden meaning, whereas Sasuke just crumpled his up.
***
Today wasn't a lunch-with-Ibiki day, not to mention that lunch had been several hours ago, but that didn't stop Haruka from knocking on his door anyway. He seemed understandably surprised to see her. She usually kept to their routine, but he let her in without a word.
Haruka sat in her spot at the kitchen table for a while, just staring at one of the pans on the wall. Ibiki didn't ask questions then either. He'd learned years ago that waiting her out would generally yield answers faster, and being a professional interrogator meant he wasn't above using that knowledge to it's fullest potential. Instead he made tea for both of them and then sat down across from her.
"I've met a boy today. Sai," she started and then paused for a few seconds before continuing. "He's like me, but I think his monster is still here. Whoever it is .. they are interested in my new team Ibiki."
He tensed, but remained silent. Waiting for what she really wanted from him, and it didn't take long to get that answer too.
"Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke," she said, noting his chakra hitch just the slightest bit at each name. She shot him an incredulous look. At first she'd thought there was something about one of them she needed to know, but this?
"All of them?" She asked, not stopping long enough that he could inform her it was classified. "I know you can't tell me anything. I know. Just… I can't protect myself, or them for that matter, if I can't see the danger. All I'm asking for is a breadcrumb. Just point me to where the trail begins and I'll follow it on my own."
Her plea was greeted by an even longer silence. Ibiki wasn't throwing her out though. He didn't even seem angry. Conflicted at worst. All she really got from his chakra was concern. And then finally, just when she was about to give up and leave: 'white—tree—had—deep—roots,' he tapped out in a code only the two of them knew. They had both come up with it together as a training exercise. It had never been meant for active use.
Haruka's eyes widened. Just how high was the classification on this? But Ibiki wasn't finished. He tapped out two more sequences of words, pausing a few seconds between them.
'gold—fox—attacked—leaf'
'black—clan—old—rumors'
Not one issue that connected them then, but three separate ones. What was this new monster after? One of them? All of them? What did it know about her teammates? And what did it know about her? Haruka had half-hoped Ibiki would tell her she was imagining things when she had come to him. She would have been hurt that he didn't take her seriously, but actually getting confirmation was so much worse.
She slept on Ibiki's couch that night. He didn't even ask her if she wanted to stay, merely got a spare blanket and pillow from somewhere. It was the first time she was glad Ibiki was such a paranoid bastard because it mean his apartment was secured by so many traps that no intruder would make it in unnoticed. At least that was what she told herself until her body and mind were so tired from being on high alert that she simply blacked out for what little was left of the night at that point.