"We hold on to an idea and we'll fight what we can`t see.
We just hold on to an idea we'll keep going till we can heal."

Dawn broke like a long, trembling sigh. It came slowly, pushing back the heavy veil of night until finally light flooded the sky. Even then, fog pooled in the streets and dew clung to flower petals. Morning Glory was strewn across the wall of the Yamanaka house, a tide of purple spilling over the stucco. There was a small window on the second floor, thrown open wide to welcome the cool dawn air. From inside came the faint sound of humming, the quiet voice of a girl lost in thought.

Isa Yamanaka was laying on the floor of her bedroom, flipping idly through a thick book. The writing was small, cramped, as if the author had taken care to fit as much information onto each page as they could. She seemed to pay it no mind, her eyes – clear and blue, great oceans in a frame of pale skin and blonde hair – skimmed the pages without thought. The flipping continued, a smooth, repetitive motion that spoke of habit, done more out of familiarity than anything else.

She laid in a pool of morning sunlight; it streamed in through the window, bathing the room in gold. The rumpled bed and cluttered desk were alight with a hazy glow, the shadows slowly lifting from within the closet and the bookshelf. On the desk, amid books and loose papers, was a pictureframe, two young girls smiling from within it. They were identical, Isa and her sister, twins in every sense of the word. Even now, they were separated only by a single wall, Ino sleeping peacefully in her own room.

There was still time before they had to be up, before the dawn stretched to their parent's bedroom and they too awoke. Isa had woken with the dawn for as long as she could remember, and like a morning songbird, she was always the first to greet the rest of her family when they woke. Today, her morning ritual was edged with anxiety. It gnawed at her, pricking incessantly at the back of her mind.

What if it all goes wrong? What if I don't get picked? What if I didn't even pass at all?

The voice in her head was shrill, worry running it ragged. It was silly to worry, of course. She'd be placed in a team, just like everyone else. She'd passed, she knew that already. It was all just a simple walk down to the Academy for the team announcements, that was all. Nothing to worry about. Not even a little bit.

Her eyes were glassy, glazed over in thought as she tried to calm her nerves. It didn't help. Of course not; it never did. She waited, flipping pages as the minutes slipped by, until there was a muffled rustle of movement on the other side of the wall. She clambered to her feet, slipping out of her room. Padding down the stairs on quiet feet, she followed the sounds of her mother to the kitchen. Hanako Yamanaka was there, pulling a kettle of tea off of the stove. She was a beautiful woman, tall and lithe, as if she was made of air. There was a gentle nobility to her, dignified but effortlessly kind. She turned when Isa entered, smiling at her daughter.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" She asked, offering a cup of tea to Isa as she approached.

She took it, sipping carefully before replying. "I think so."

Hanako tucked Isa's bangs behind her ear, leaning down to plant a kiss on the crown of her head. "You still have time to join your father outside, if you'd like. It might help to stop the worrying."

Isa opened her mouth to retort, but her mother simply smiled knowingly and pushed her gently toward the garden door. It was already open, letting in the cool breeze that carried with it the light sweetness of flowers. She stepped out onto the porch with her tea in hand, looking out over the garden. Inoichi Yamanaka was sitting cross-legged in the wide stretch of grass before her, his eyes closed in meditation.

A smile lifted his lips and he opened his eyes, beckoning her over. "You haven't come down here to meditate with me in a long time," He said as she sat down beside him.

She leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Were you afraid? Before you were assigned to your team?" She asked quietly, staring down into the clear gold of her tea.

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest as she leaned against him. "Of course. No one's fearless, kiddo. Not even Ino, no matter how much she acts like it."

"But who am I going to be teamed up with? There's always an Ino-Shika-Cho team, what if I'm not part of it?"

"You'll do just fine no matter who you're teamed with," Her father said, confident as he smiled down at her. She gazed up at him, at his green eyes and blonde hair, so similar his daughter's. The Yamanaka clan was strong, it always had been. They were masters of powerful jutsus, dangerous even without the complement of the Nara and Akimichi clans.

She smiled back at him, still shaky and uncertain, but the anxiety had faded from the sharp curve of her shoulders. "You're right. Thanks, daddy." She sat up and looped her arms around his neck, hugging him warmly until he finally pushed her away.

"Better get ready to go, huh? Sounds like Ino's impatient." His smile turned impish at the pout on Isa's face. "Chin up, just have faith in yourself and you'll be alright."

They stood up and Isa lead the way back inside. Hanako was busily packing bentos, listening absently as Ino chattered. Ino glanced over as they stepped into the kitchen and her face split into a sunny smile.

"Are you ready, sis?" She asked, slinging an arm around Isa's shoulders and pulling her in close. "Aww, it's gonna be fun, don't make that sad face!"

Isa smiled despite herself, her sister's cheer infectious. "Are you ready? What if you get stuck with Shikamaru for the rest of your life?"

Ino made an exaggerated expression of disgust, sticking her tongue out and shaking her head madly, long ponytail bouncing behind her. "Please, you can have Ino-Shika-Cho, I don't wanna be on a team with those losers forever! I'd rather get Sasuke anyway," She said, giggling and waggling her eyebrows at her sister.

"Sasuke? The Uchiha boy?" Inoichi asked, frowning slightly as he sipped his tea.

Ino turned to him. "Dad, please be nice to him, we could be married some day."

Inoichi met Isa's eyes and he grinned. "Okay, Ino, I'll be nice. I promise." He held a hand up in a mock salute. Ino narrowed her eyes at her father and pursed her lips.

With a huff, she apparently decided to trust her father's word and turned back to Isa. "Can we go now? Pleeeeeeease?" She drew the word out long, hanging off of her sister and smiling until Isa too broke into a smile.

"Okay, okay, let's go. Get off me, you crazy person." She wriggled out of Ino's grasp, laughing. "Bye, mom. Bye, dad. See you later!" She gave her both of her parents a hug before taking the bento Hanako had made, waving goodbye over her shoulder as Ino joined her.

Ino grabbed Isa's hand and skipped out of the front door, weaving along the wide cobblestone street. She was talking again, animated and bright, a creature of constant motion. Isa allowed herself to be tugged along, giggling at her sister's antics. The street that the Yamanaka's lived on was a quiet one, lined with tall, spreading trees. There was jasmine growing along fences and ivy trailed up walls and trees. Around them, everything was green. It was a peaceful morning, sunlight filtering through the canopy of trees overhead, the birdsong broken only by Ino's bright voice. Ahead, at the corner of the street, Shikamaru and Choji were waiting.

Isa waved at them, smiling brightly at their friends. Choji waved back, smiling around the bagel he was eating. He was a large boy, taller and broader than most of the Academy students their age, and his habit of eating constantly did little to help him fit in with his classmates. He had always been cheerfully unconcerned with it, though, munching his way through a shining result in the Academy graduation test. Shikamaru was beside him, leaning against a wall. He could have been asleep if not for the way he squinted into the sun as the girls approached.

"Took you long enough," He grumbled once they were close enough to hear. He was quiet, like Isa, but in a decidedly different way. "Let's get this over with."

"He's been in a bad mood all morning," Choji said, shrugging. "I think it's too early for him."

Shikamaru glowered as Ino jabbed him in the ribs. "Wake up, stupid! We're getting our team assignments today! It's exciting!"

He rolled his eyes at her, but pushed away from the wall, falling into step behind the other three. "It's a drag is what it is. I could be sleeping right now."

"You'd sleep through your entire life if you could," Isa pointed out, grinning at him. "At least you already know who you'll be teamed up with."

Choji nodded. "Yeah, we're all friends already. That makes it easier, doesn't it?"

"If we already know who's on our team then why even bother going to the announcement?" Shikamaru mumbled half-heartedly, grinning when Ino sighed loudly.

"You're so boring, Shikamaru! Be happy!" She said.

"I am happy. Can't you tell?" He deadpanned, face utterly expressionless.

Isa laughed. "She's going to kill you if you're put on a team together," She said to Shikamaru.

"You'll be dead before today is over," Choji agreed. "It'll be the record for fastest team murder ever."

Ino sniffed, tossing her long hair behind her as she lead the way to the Academy. "I won't murder him," She said, "I'll just tell Chika that he's in love with her." Chika, Ino and Isa's older cousin, occasionally worked at the Yamanaka Flower Shop, where they spent much of their time. Shikamaru had harbored a quiet crush on her since they'd been very young.

His eyebrows drew together in consternation, but besides that he remained expressionless. "Girls are too much trouble," He mumbled, gazing up at the sky with cheeks that were only very slightly pink. He was quiet for the rest of the walk and Isa fell into step beside him, a companionable silence between them.

The Academy wasn't far, a straight shot down the main street of Konoha. It was busy, even this early in the morning. Shops were beginning to open, the smell of cooking foods filtering out of restaurants as the owners opened the heavy shutters that protected their stores. They passed the Yamanaka Flower Shop, still dark inside, the door locked. Hanako often tended the shop, aided by her daughters or other members of the Yamanaka clan, and even now there were flowers sitting in the large front windows, waiting to catch the eye of passerby.

As they neared the Academy, the crowd began to fade. Here, there were ninja everywhere, passing on their way to their posts or leaving on assignments. It was quieter, but there was an undercurrent of excitement, a kind of promise of danger, that wasn't present elsewhere.

The Academy rose before them, a collection of tall, wide buildings surrounded by trees. It backed up against the face of a cliff, the faces of past Hokage carved into the stone far above.

"I never liked those," Isa said absently, looking up at the faces of Konoha's past leaders, "they all look so angry."

"I've never met the Third Hokage, but my dad says he's alright," Choji said.

"They just carved them like that to make them look intimidating to ninja from other villages," Ino stated, edging toward the Academy doors impatiently. "You know, we can talk all about the Hokage Monument after we get our team assignments, right? Let's go!"

"We're still ten minutes early, Iruka-sensei isn't going to give us our teams any faster just because we showed up early," Choji said. He looked dejected now that he'd finished his bagel, and he glanced around hopefully, as if a bagel vendor might appear from the shrubbery.

Isa took a deep breath, gazing at the Academy, the kanji for 'fire' stamped across the front of the building. Her fingers were tingling, nerves making her fidget restlessly. "Let's just go," She said. "I don't want to wait any more."

Ino nodded, reaching out and grabbing Isa's hand. She twined their fingers together and turned toward the Academy doors. They marched forward together, Choji and Shikamaru trailing along behind them. The doors swung open, and they walked the familiar hallways, turning into their classroom. Most of the class was already there, talking loudly and lounging in their seats. Ino lead the way up the row of desks, sliding into one near the back of the room. Isa joined her, slumping against the hard wooden seat. Shikamaru made to sit next to her, but was abruptly stopped when Sakura Haruno launched herself into the seat instead.

"Are you guys scared?" She asked by way of greeting. Shikamaru grumbled something under his breath and took a seat in the row behind them, promptly putting his head down on the desk and closing his eyes. Choji followed, knowing better than to get in the way of Ino, Isa, and Sakura when they were together.

"Nope," Ino said cheerfully. "Even if I don't end up with those two, how bad could it be?" She asked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder at Shikamaru and Choji.

Sakura ran a hand through her pink hair, shrugging. "I don't know, you could get stuck with someone awful?" She glanced at the door as it opened and Naruto Uzumaki strolled into the room, followed by Kiba Inuzuka. "Like them," Sakura said, rolling her eyes as they sat down near the front of the classroom.

"They're not that bad," Isa said, watching the two boys slouch in their seats. Both Naruto and Kiba were infamous troublemakers, though Kiba was generally more restrained about it. Naruto was wild, and even as he sat at the desk, his arms folded behind his head and a grin on his face, there was still an edge to him.

"Kiba's cute," Ino remarked, shrugging carelessly when Isa and Sakura gaped at her. "What? It's true! Geez, guys, I know Sasuke and I are meant to be but I can still look at other boys." She grinned cheekily at them.

Sakura scoffed. "You've never even spoken to Sasuke, you'll never end up with him."

Ino's eyes narrowed. "Neither have you. Besides, Sasuke will never like you, your forehead's too big." She shrugged matter-of-factly.

Isa ignored them, leaning forward and resting her arms against the top of the desk. The classroom was mostly full now, clamoring with the sound of many people talking at once. The door opened and the dark-haired Sasuke Uchiha walked in, followed by Iruka Umino. Immediately, the class quieted, the sounds of conversation dying as a tense kind of impatience settled over them. Iruka was a young man with a kind face, a thin scar stretched across his nose. He waved cheerfully at the class, standing behind the podium at the front of the room.

"I gotta say, I'm a little sad to see you all go," He said, grinning ruefully. The class tittered in response.

"We'll miss you too, Iruka-sensei!" Kiba yelled from the front of the room.

Iruka chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, alright, I get it, you all just want to get your teams. Now, I could keep you here and make a big speech about how proud I am of you all, how far you've all come, how you'll always have a place here, but I guess I'll spare you." The class heaved a sigh of relief.

Iruka laughed again before straightening, brandishing a sheet of paper. "Let's get started, then, shall we?" He peered at the paper for a long moment. "Ryoichi, Yoshiko, and Ayumu, you're assigned to Team One with Hibiki Ito."

Ryoichi and Ayumu, two boys who'd been best friends for as long as Isa had known them high-fived triumphantly. Yoshiko, a small girl with large amber eyes, fiddled with her glasses and seemed to shrink in her seat as her name was called.

"How much you wanna bet they won't make it past their first year?" Ino muttered sidelong to Isa, watching the new team wave to each other.

"Yoshiko never even wanted to be a ninja," Isa murmured in reply. "I heard her say she wanted to work in her parent's bakery." She shrugged. "Too late now."

"Isamu, Kaito, and Riko, you're assigned to Team Two with Sumiko Ueda." Iruka said, slowly working his way down the list.

"Isamu's ninjutsu isn't very good, I don't know how he graduated," Isa remarked under her breath.

"Well, it's not exactly fair for you to judge them," Sakura said, just as quiet. "You two scored high in practically everything."

"So did you," Isa retorted. "It's not our fault we're the three smartest in the class. Besides Shika, but he doesn't count," She amended.

Shikamaru lifted his head from his arms and looked down at her. "I don't count, huh?"

She grinned at him. "You've never put effort into anything in your entire life." Ino giggled, turning to mouth the word "loser" at him. He rolled his eyes with a grin and settled his head back onto his arms.

Isa turned her gaze to the ceiling, counting the tiles that ran along the top of the room. Iruka's voice faded into the background, naming off new teams for what seemed like forever. The sun was buttery warm against her, lulling her into a hazy daydream state, the world before her eyes blurring and fading. Her nerves, so powerful before, were gone, forgotten in boredom. It felt like any other day of classes, until Iruka called her name.

"Isa," He said. She snapped to attention, and his eyes flicked up to meet hers, a barely perceptible pause before the next names followed. "Naruto, Sasuke, you're assigned to Team Seven with Kakashi Hatake."

She blinked. "What?"

It escaped her before she had time to think, an incredulous question, almost scathing. Iruka watched her, eyes that had always been soft were now sharp, evaluative. The rest of the class was still, holding a single breath of apprehension. Naruto was the first to speak up.

"You're telling me I'm on a team with this guy?" He asked, jerking a thumb at Sasuke, who was sitting several rows behind him. Sasuke glared at him, dark bangs obscuring his face.

"You're one to talk," He snapped. "It's not like I wanted to be put on a team with the stupidest person in the class."

"I passed the graduation test, didn't I? Can't be any stupider than you," Naruto snarled, grinning as Sasuke's expression darkened.

Isa glanced at Ino and found her twin watching her carefully, a thoughtful look in her eyes. "What do I do?" Isa asked, looking back at the two boys.

Ino's eyes flickered over them before returning to Isa. "Nothing. Not much you can do right now, anyway. I guess you can sort it out while you wait for your sensei to show up."

Isa sunk back into her seat, nodding slowly. Iruka waited a moment longer, frowning at Naruto until he sat down, before returning to the sheet. "Okay, Shino, Kiba, and Hinata, you're assigned to Team Eight with Kurenai Yuhi."

Kiba's cheerful whoop barely registered. The fact that Isa was sandwiched between Ino and Sakura had never been more noticeable, their presences solid walls of ice on either side. Ino didn't seem to be angry, at least not very much, Isa thought. Ino could be petty sometimes, yes, and she wouldn't be happy that Isa was going to spend so much time with Sasuke, but Isa knew her sister well enough to know she'd find the advantage in any situation. Sakura was quiet, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. She didn't seem to be paying any mind to Isa, for which she was infinitely grateful. But she was just as obsessed with Sasuke as Ino was, and just as voracious about it.

"Itsuki, Kouta, Sakura, you're assigned to Team Nine with Ayume Yamada."

Sakura's head jerked up, mouth parted in surprise. "Oh. Uh, okay," She said, waving half-heartedly at her new teammates. She turned to Isa. "I don't think I've ever spoken to them in my entire life," She whispered.

"That makes two of us," Isa replied. "I've never talked to Naruto or Sasuke before."

"Maybe it won't be so bad?" Sakura offered somewhat lamely, grimacing at Isa's skeptical look.

"Maybe," Isa said. She turned to Ino, who was watching Iruka intently. "Only three left now."

Iruka had indeed reached the end of the list. "Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, you're assigned to Team Ten with Asuma Sarutobi." Ino nodded, the gesture bearing a strange sort of finality. Iruka placed the paper on the podium and surveyed the class with a smile, only a little bittersweet.

"That's it, then, we're all done," He said. "Just remember, you've all gotten farther than most hopefuls ever get. Don't forget how much you've already accomplished. Now, your new sensei's will be here to collect you all soon. After that, your training is up to them. So if you show up here tomorrow, you're probably in the wrong place." He grinned before raising a hand in farewell. "Good luck, all of you."

A chorus of goodbyes followed him out the door, and then an uncertain silence settled over the room. "So, uh, what now?" Kouta Oshiro, one of Sakura's new teammates, asked. He was a short boy, with a shock of auburn hair and light gold-brown eyes. Sakura was watching him, chewing on her lip again.

"He literally just told us to wait here," Ino said, lifting an eyebrow at the boy, who flushed slightly under her gaze.

"Yeah, but like, do we sit together in our teams or what?" He spluttered, looking to his friends for support.

"I think we're okay," Sakura said, shooting a sympathetic smile at her teammate. "If he wanted us to sit with our teams, he probably would have told us."

Kouta's eyes moved between Ino and Sakura, but he nodded. "Yeah, okay. Cool." He returned Sakura's smile and turned back to his friends. The din of conversation rose once more, falling only when the classroom door opened. A pretty brown-haired woman stood in the doorway; she was tall, clad in a sleeveless haori, her hair curly, tumbling out of the bun she'd wrestled it into. She smiled brightly at the class and waved, leaning further into the room.

"I'm Ayume Yamada, I'm here to pick up Team Nine?"

Sakura raised her hand slowly. "I'm on Team Nine."

Ayume looked at her, green eyes sizing her up, her smile never wavering. "Well, come on down, then. What's your name?"

Sakura stood, hesitantly walking to the front of the room. "I'm Sakura Haruno," She said, bowing slightly.

Ayume straightened up, offering her hand to Sakura. "Nice to meet you, Sakura!"

Sakura took her hand and shook it, the beginning of a smile creeping across her face. She turned, waving Kouta and Itsuki forward. They joined her after a moment, and Ayume shuffled them out the door, her enthusiastic voice audible even after the door had closed behind them.

Other teams began filtering out, too, their sensei's appearing to guide their new students away with varying degrees of excitement. Asuma Sarutobi had hopped into the room through a window, a cigarette dangling between his teeth. He'd flashed a grin at the wide-eyed genin before him, winking conspiratorially as he stamped out the cigarette on the windowsill.

"Team Ten?" He asked, scanning the room for signs of recognition. "I'm in the right room, right? It'd probably help if I'd used the door, huh?" He scratched at the back of his head sheepishly, laughing.

Ino was surveying him with slight disbelief. "This is the Hokage's son?" She whispered, looking to Isa for confirmation.

She just shrugged. "I guess? He seems nice."

Ino snorted quietly. "Seems like a bit of a joke to me." She shrugged and stood up, planting her hands on her hips. "I'm Ino Yamanaka, I'm in Team Ten."

Asuma nodded, grin widening lazily. "Yamanaka, huh? Guess I'm getting a Nara and an Akimichi, too?" Choji and Shikamaru – Shikamaru rather reluctantly – stood up at that. Asuma nodded again, a pleased glint in his dark eyes. "Let's head out, then, team. We've got all sorts of training to do."

Shikamaru followed Ino and Choji down to the front of the room, a mumbled "noooo" trailing behind him. They followed Asuma back out the window and vanished, leaving Isa alone. Most of the other teams had already been claimed, and the number of genin continued to dwindle until it was only Naruto, Sasuke, and Isa left.

"Do you think our sensei forgot about us?" Isa asked. She was sitting on top of a desk now, closer to the center of the room, idly trying to find patterns in the wood grain.

Naruto huffed. "Probably. Who was it again?" He asked, voice slightly muffled. He was sprawled across the top of his desk, attempting to fashion a miniature slingshot out of stick and paper.

Isa's brow furrowed in thought. "Kakashi Hatake, I think." She shrugged. "I've never heard of him."

"D'you think he's strong? Like, do you think he knows all kinds of cool jutsus?" Naruto wondered, grinning at the thought.

"Well, he's a jonin, isn't he? You have to be really good to become a jonin," Isa replied. She looked over at Sasuke, who was staring resolutely out a window, ignoring his teammates. "Have you heard of him, Sasuke?" She asked.

He stiffened slightly when she addressed him, but he glanced over at her after a moment. "No."

She faltered slightly at that, her friendly smile – the best she could muster at the moment – fading slightly. He turned back to the window, and Isa shook her head, hopping to her feet. Jumping from one desk to the next, she made her way to the back of the room, grabbing the bento that was sitting on top of the desk she'd been at earlier.

Naruto was watching her quizzically. "If he's going to take forever to show up, I'm going to eat," She reasoned, jumping back across the desks. Normally she'd never have done that, but she figured she was experiencing some kind of adrenaline rush that was lowering her inhibitions. She'd been so nervous, maybe this was some kind of emotional backlash where she stopped caring? Besides, it was the last day she'd ever be in an Academy classroom, might as well make the most of it.

She sat on top of the desk again, opening the bento slowly. Cracking open a fresh pair of chopsticks, she started eating, munching cheerfully and paying no mind to her new teammates.

A moment later, Naruto's stomach growled loudly. He flushed, sinking low in his seat. "Sorry," He said, grinning apologetically at her. "It just smells really good."

"Oh! You didn't bring anything? I'm sorry, I wouldn't have started eating if I'd known!" Isa exclaimed, cheeks pink in embarrassment. She started carefully separating a portion of the food in her bento. "Here, you can have some!"

Naruto's smile turned shy as he approached, hopping up to sit next to her on top of the desk. "Are you sure?" He asked, fingers hovering before the chopsticks she was offering him.

Isa giggled, nodding. "Yeah, go ahead. My mom always makes too much for me, anyway." He needed no more encouragement, taking the chopsticks with a bright smile. He cracked them open and started eating, humming a note of satisfaction.

"This is really good!" He said, mouth full and voice muffled. "Thanks!"

"I'll tell my mom you liked it, she'll be happy," Isa said, laughing at his enthusiasm. She blinked, suddenly remembering the third member of their team. She turned to Sasuke hesitantly. "Would you like some, Sasuke?"

He glanced at her, dark eyes inscrutable. "No."

"You're not hungry? There's plenty here," She said, trying for another smile, hoping to ease the surly boy's mood. He was leaning against the windowsill, arms crossed against his chest. He'd never been a social person, not in all the time that she'd known him. Their entire class had practically grown up together, but Isa couldn't remember a single time she'd seen Sasuke talking to the other children. He always sat alone, snapping at anyone who got too close. It was sad, she thought. She knew something terrible had happened to his family when he was very young, and he'd been on his own ever since.

Naruto too, she realized. He'd never had any family either, even though some people said that the Hokage paid special attention to him. She glanced at her teammates, smile fading as sadness rose in her chest. The thought of having her family ripped away from her was unimaginable, too painful to even consider. To have to grow up with no one, no family and no friends, she couldn't begin to imagine how alone they must have felt.

Isa took a deep breath and turned to Sasuke again, smile back in place. "Come on, I promise it's good," She said. He didn't respond, simply glaring more intensely at an undefined spot on the wall.

"Don't bother," Naruto said dismissively. "He's just an asshole."

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off when the classroom door opened. Their heads immediately swiveled to the door, waiting with bated breath. It cracked open, then opened fully, a tall, white-haired man walking in. He wore the standard uniform for Konoha ninja, but his forehead protector was pulled down over one eye. That, plus the mask that was pulled over the lower half of his face, obscured most of his features, leaving only a stretch of pale skin and one dark eye.

He looked at each of them, taking in Naruto with his mouth full of food, Sasuke, his mouth still open to snap at Naruto, and Isa, who was frowning intently at the newcomer. After a long moment, the silence stretching out into awkwardness, the man raised a hand, waving cheerily. He might have been smiling, but it was impossible to tell with the mask.

"I take it you three are Team Seven?" He asked. "I'm Kakashi Hatake."

Isa dropped her chopsticks into the empty bento box and jumped down from the desk, walking over to Kakashi and holding out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Kakashi-sensei. I'm Isa Yamanaka."

He took her hand, shaking it warmly. "Nice to meet you, too, Isa. What about you two?" He glanced up at Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto bounced over, grinning widely. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Uh-huh. Nice to meet you," Kakashi said. Isa couldn't decide if he was amused or bored; his voice was rather monotonous, whether by nature or intentionally, she couldn't tell.

Sasuke stood up, tucking his hands into his pockets as he joined them. "Sasuke Uchiha," He muttered.

"Uchiha? Huh. Interesting group we've got here," Kakashi remarked lightly. His lone eye curled up in cheer. "Should be fun. Let's head out, then."

He waved for them to follow, leading them out of the Academy and into Konoha. They followed him away from the Academy, striking north, into what Isa could only assume was more administrative buildings. She rarely spent time in this part of town, and the streets here were quite, mostly unfamiliar. The buildings were tall, packed close together, yet somehow trees still managed to grow, casting dappled shadows over the ground as they walked. They wound through a handful of side streets, the path seemingly random, until he finally started climbing a set of stairs on a building Isa had never seen before. At the top, the roof of the building was flat, shaded by a large awning. Kakashi walked over to the edge of the roof and leaned against the railing there, turning to face them.

Naruto was looking around, confused. "Is this gonna be like our base of operations or something?" He asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I just like the view." He braced his hands against the railing, surveying them silently for a moment. "Take a seat, then. This shouldn't take long. Let's start out by telling each other a little bit about ourselves. Who wants to start?" He looked at them expectantly.

Isa glanced at Naruto, who shrugged. "You just want us to tell you anything about ourselves?" She asked. Kakashi nodded. "Um, okay. My name is Isa, but you already know that." She frowned, thinking. "I'm a twin? That's something."

"What's your twin's name?" Kakashi asked.

"Ino."

"Who's the older twin?" His tone was light, conversational.

Isa frowned at him. "She is. By fifteen minutes."

Kakashi nodded. "And what are your strengths?"

She relaxed slightly. This was territory she was more comfortable with. "I got the second highest score in genjutsu and the third highest score in ninjutsu, and I scored first in cooperation and class attitude in the Academy graduation tests."

"Who scored higher than you in ninjutsu and genjutsu?" Kakashi asked.

Isa glanced at Sasuke. "Sasuke did, in both of them. In ninjutsu, my sister scored higher than me, but only by a little."

"So you're good at ninjutsu and genjutsu, huh?" Kakashi turned his attention to Sasuke, who shifted under his gaze.

"And taijutsu," He said.

Kakashi's voice, when he spoke, was still light, but Isa saw the way his gaze sharpened as he watched Sasuke. "Oh? Well, that's good. How about those cooperation and attitude scores?"

Sasuke simply glowered at him and didn't reply.

"Hey, what about me?" Naruto piped up, frowning at Kakashi.

Kakashi considered him with a hint of mirth in his eye. "Yes, what about you? What are your strengths?"

Sasuke snorted quietly. "Nothing."

Naruto glared at him, a flush of red creeping up his neck. "I'm good at things! I'm strong! I'll show you, you jerk, I'll be the best ninja you've ever seen!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Whatever. You're still Dead-Last."

"Don't call me that!" Naruto's voice was rising now, his hands balling into fists.

Isa grabbed the sleeve of his orange jumpsuit, tugging until he looked down at her. "Ignore him, he's trying to get a rise out of you," She said. Naruto huffed, but reluctantly flopped down to sit beside her, making sure to angle himself away from Sasuke.

Kakashi waited for a moment, watching as the situation was defused. "Well, I'm sure you'll all enjoy the team exercise we have tomorrow."

"Team exercise?" Naruto asked. He perked up immediately, his anger already fading.

"All of the teams will be tested tomorrow by their jonin instructors. The nature of the tests vary, but they'll all be difficult."

"How difficult?" Isa asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "There's a sixty-six percent fail rate. Only three teams will be continuing after the test, everyone else either returns to the Academy for another year or will be dropped from the ninja program altogether."

Isa's eyes narrowed as she stared at Kakashi. "So what's our test?"

She could swear that he was grinning at her beneath his mask. "That'd be telling, wouldn't it? Just show up tomorrow at the Third Training Ground and you'll see."

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "What time tomorrow?"

Kakashi paused, running a hand through his hair. "Uh, good question. I don't know, what's a good time? Eight?" Isa glanced at Naruto, who shrugged. "Yeah, that'll work. Eight tomorrow morning, Third Training Ground. See you there."

Kakashi tossed a goodbye wave over his shoulder as he turned, clambering over the railing and vaulting away, vanishing over the edge of the roof.

"Is he for real?" Naruto asked. "What a weird dude."

Isa smiled despite herself. "Yeah, but remember, powerful jutsus," She said, waggling her fingers playfully. After a minute, she stood. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow, then."

Naruto nodded, grinning. "Yeah, we'll beat his test no problem!"

She waved goodbye, laughing. Her head was full of possibilities as she descended the stairs, plans already forming in her mind. She didn't feel the slightest bit nervous, compared to earlier that morning it was as if a bubble of confidence had swelled up in her chest. She turned onto the path toward home, smiling up at the sky.

Yeah. We got this.

AN: Alright, well you've just finished the official rewrite of Tempest. The first chapter, at least. I wrote the original version of Tempest a long time ago and I left it unfinished halfway through when life got too busy. I always felt like I'd never been able to do it justice, though; I'd never accomplished what I'd set out to when I'd started writing the story. So this is my second attempt. There will be canon divergence later on, pretty much as soon as we get through the slog that is the graduation/survival test bit. But my hope for this story is that I'll actually finish it(or get close) and maybe write the story the way I originally intended. It's not going to be the same as the original story, so I'm leaving that up for anyone who wants to revisit it, but if you're interested in the rewrite, it's here. Thank you to everyone who reads, I hope you enjoy it!