(A/N: This is just a one-shot on Kira's initial feelings in being a member of Team Seven. Just for warning… This will be more understandable to readers who have read my other Naruto fanfic 'Kira's Ninja Adventure'. Also takes place after the Land of Waves Arc. Enjoy! I don't own Naruto.)

Comrades

"Team Seven, huh?"

My eyes gazed solemnly across the picture of myself and my new teammates.

I was a member of a group of ninjas-in-training with a boy I befriended not too long ago and two strangers. They were my new teammates, my new comrades. Although, I have a hard time calling them such.

I knew what the term comrades meant. However, it isn't a term I associate with on the daily basis. I can call those three my teammates, but to identify them as my comrades would be juvenile. I don't know enough about them to actually consider them my friends.

Comrades… It's always a word I cherish with all my being. A term that's more than letters and static definitions. It's a word that saved me, that kept me breathing, that kept my heart pounding. The simply phrase taught me the importance of life and to live doing as many good deeds as I can, albeit in my own way. Comrades are people I could entrust my life to. To have my back when needed. To pick me up when I'm down. To know what I'm feeling without me having to say it.

It… It gave me a purpose, no matter what flaws I had.

Naruto… He was someone I could probably consider a friend, the only one I could trust out of the three. The only one in this new landscape that an outsider like me could trust.

The other two, I'm not so sure about. One is an antisocial, broody boy, and the other is a hopeless, love-struck girl. I'm not really pleased nor disappointed with the fellow ninjas I'd have to call my teammates from now on. I passively accept them as people I'm going to associate myself with as long as this new career forcibly compels me to.

Although, I can vaguely see the purpose of putting three orphans on the same team. To form a bond through our similar loneliness. To rely on each other because we're the only ones can understand each other's pain. To connect through our past experiences.

That's something... I can't do so easily. Not with people I would only call strangers.

However, after our first official mission, my opinion of them changed, though I made the choice to do as little interference as possible. To let them take the shot. After all, I still have a secrecy to keep.

Sasuke… Almost sacrificed his life for me and Naruto, despite only being teammates for short while. Not many that I know of are willing to do that. And Sakura bravely faced her fears without a moment's hesitation, even when knowing her lack of talent, something I gradually respected. They both...made me see them in a new light. Perhaps, there is more to them than I initially thought.

I could feel my lips twitch upwards into a small smile.

Maybe… Just maybe… I can truly start calling them my comrades, my precious people.

(A/N: That's the end of the one-shot! Tell me what you think and comment! I hope I gave more of an insight on Kira's thoughts about being a member of Team Seven.)