Cap12:)

Was this how other people normally felt, talking to him?

Oh, well. You learned something new every day.

"Look, just because I'm a Yamanaka doesn't mean I can read minds," Ino said, putting her hands on her hips. She paused. "Well. I meant your mind. Daddy said you're messed up."

Really? Was that what Yamanaka was telling his daughter?

He needed to try harder then. He had been sure the man had called him "totally and irreversibly insane" at his last psych evaluation.

"It was an obvious bluff anyway," Shikamaru muttered. "You're not allowed to split up the teams once they've been formed. You have to pass and fail us together. That's how things work. And even if youwere allowed to split us up, the test would still be impossible alone. You're a Jonin. We're Genin. The only reason why you'd give us an impossible challenge is if you wanted us to figure something out."

"Wait – " Naruto interrupted. "So were we or were we not supposed to work together?"

Kakashi sighed, deciding that dancing around the topic was too much of a waste of time. Not that he had much else to do at the moment. "Yes, Naruto. The whole purpose of the test was to see if you guys could work together. Fighting me, defeating me, getting the bells, whatever – that was just a ruse to drive a wedge between you guys. Naturally, since you saw through it before the test even started, it was exceptionally easy for you. The previous teams, on the other hand…"

"Previous teams?" Naruto asked.

"They've been giving me teams for years now, and every year I give the same test, and every year up until now they've all failed. Because they put themselves before the team."

"But why?" Shikamaru asked, baffled. "Surely they realized that it was impossible for them to win in a one-on-one fight? I mean, no offense, Naruto, but even you realized that you couldn't beat him alone after some point, right?"

Naruto shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

Kakashi shrugged. "Not everyone is as smart as you are, Shikamaru. Or maybe they knew, on the inside, but they still thought they had a chance anyway."

"But why would they do that when working together is so much easier?"

"Because unlike you, they actually fell for my lies. They actually thought that one of them would have to go back to the Academy, and so, they turned against their own teammates, instead of the more logical decision – that I, as a stranger and a Jonin, was a more dangerous opponent than their classmates of the same level." Kakashi shrugged. "Plus, you know how they try to balance out the teams. Every year, I'm always the guy that gets the team with the Rookie of the Year and the Dead Last. So there's always that one guy who thinks that he's better than everyone else, therefore simply treats the other two as dead weight. I'm glad to see that you're an exception though, Shikamaru." But, that was expected. Shikaku Nara was a wise man; he wouldn't have spoiled his precious little clan genius into thinking that he was god's gift to man.

"Oh."

Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Now that you mention it, though, that could have happened this year."

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked.

"Sasuke, probably," Shikamaru answered. "You know how he treats Naruto. And the rest of us, actually. But never mind that."

Ino looked at her teammate, and Kakashi saw a flash of guilt flickered across her face. "Oh."

Kakashi smiled at them – and for once it wasn't one of his infamous I-am-trying-to-make-you-angry-on-purpose smiles. It was only day two and they were already infinitely better than he, Rin, and Obito ever were. Seems like the Academy was actually smart this year and didn't put the two classic rivals together. That would have been hell on earth.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's okay, Ino. As long as we're on a team together, we won't have to worry about any of that. That means you, too, Naruto."

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "So does this mean we pass…?"

Kakashi responded cheerfully, "Of course! From now on – "

"HAH! TAKE THAT! I, THE GREAT NARUTO UZUMAKI, AM NOW A NINJA! FEAR ME AND MY – OW! That hurt, Ino!"

"Stop being so LOUD!" Ino scolded him, brushing off the lid of her bento where she had whacked Naruto over the head with it. Shikamaru gave her a sarcastic glance, and started poking at his own box of rice. "But you really mean it? You're our sensei now?"

"That's right. Now eat up. You've already had a long day, and missions start tomorrow."

"YES! MISSIONS! What will it be, Kakashi-sensei? Are we going to be rescuing princesses and – ow!"

"They're called D-ranks, Naruto. It's nothing to get excited about," Ino sniffed.

"What's a D-rank?" Naruto asked, rubbing his head.

"Oh my god, Naruto, how can you not know?!" Ino sighed exasperatedly, and Kakashi watched in amusement as she started detailing the entire mission ranking and organization structure to the poor overwhelmed boy. "You have to know this stuff, Naruto! You're on our team now and I won't deal with you slacking off! How do you ever expect to become Hokage if you can't even rank missions? That's a major part of the job description! Do you even know what the Hokage does? Or were you asleep for that lesson, too?"

"Uhhh…"

"That's IT, Naruto! As soon as we finish lunch, you are coming to my house and you and I are going to learn everything that you clocked out on during your six years at the Academy, and Shikamaru, I expect you to be there, too, because he's our teammate and I won't have him lagging behind and…"

Kakashi was still smiling as they sauntered away. If they thought his D-ranks were going to be boring, they had another thing entirely coming their way.

The Yamanaka Compound, that afternoon

Ino didn't know how she was supposed to feel about Naruto. He really was a nice and well-meaning kid, but he was so annoying! If Naruto wasn't going to start shaping up sometime soon, they were all going to die. Literally. That boy was going to get himself killed someday.

She would have preferred Choji to Naruto, since Choji actually knew what he was doing. Plus he wasn't so loud. Yeah, she knew she could be loud, too, but she wasn't loud all the time like Naruto. And when she yelled she actually had a reason, such as someone being dumb, like Naruto! Not Naruto, who just bragged about becoming Hokage for the heck of it.

But she supposed things could be worse. Sakura was stuck on a team with dogs and bugs. Not that there was anything wrong with dogs, but Kiba was almost as annoying as Naruto and Shino was just…weird. He wasn't a bad guy, but he was…yeah, weird was the best way to describe it. With all the – the bugs and stuff. Not good. Ino didn't like bugs. They were creepy.

Meanwhile, the one girl in the world that wasn't in love with Sasuke was the one who got to be on a team with him! How unfair was that? Ino wasn't stupid; she saw the way Hinata blushed and sighed at Naruto every day. Now, why she had a crush on Naruto of all people, she didn't know (well, he was kind of cute, but in that annoying-little-brother-that-you-wouldn't-look-twice-at-if-your-mom-didn't-make-you-look-after-him-all-the-time way), but she did know that it was pretty much obvious to everyone except Naruto himself.

Poor girl. And she was too shy to even approach the boy directly. And a direct approach was the only way to get through to a blockhead like Naruto.

In an ideal situation, she would have Sasuke-kun on her team as well, but since she already had Shikamaru, that wouldn't be fair. Shikamaru wasn't too bad. He wasn't dreamy like Sasuke, but he was all right. Objectively speaking he'd be an 7/10. Of course, she couldn't think of him in the same way as she thought of Sasuke, because they were childhood friends and that was just kind of weird, but whatever. Shikamaru was a decent person – kind, respectful, hardworking, and smart. He wouldn't have any trouble finding a girl in the future, and if he did, then Ino would be there to set him up.

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