Shibi Aburame was sent on a mission to the Magical World on the orders of his Hokage. For only certain Shinobi are allowed to venture that far from the Elemental Countries. What happens on one chilly October night he comes across the one and only three year old battered and abused Harriet Lily Potter...rest inside. I now have a Beta! Cheers for MM995!

Updates might be even slower considering I have already started school and MM995's University starts soon enough. Sorry if this disappoints a lot of you but School is highly important

Chapter Six

Emiko kept her face carefully and completely blank. She was relying on all her years of training from her father to do so. It was needed now more than ever. Her fingers, though, twitched as she had just watched the male dressed in green spandex jump through the window with god-awful cheer that was sorely reminiscent of Naruto when he ate sugar first thing in the morning.

"Good morning, my fabulous genin! I am Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey, Might Gai!" he shouted, grinning widely at all three of them. He received a confused look from Lee, a deadpan glare from Neji and the Aburame's famous neutrality from Emiko.

He looked them all over with approval, knowing they all had the capacity to become deadly shinobi one day. However, building up their teamwork was as important as individual skill, and from what he knew, these three had never hung out together during their time in the Academy. With two stoic geniuses and a talentless but diligent ball of fire, he really had his work cut out for him.

"Gai-sensei, please don't yell while in the room. If necessary, then it might be better if we take this somewhere outside," the clan heiress spoke up, an undertone of annoyance audible to the taijutsu expert's trained ears. He chuckled, amused at the somewhat brusque reply, and mentally patting himself on the back for her minor breach in self-control.

She might be as cool as a cucumber, but she was nowhere near to Kakashi's level of coolness.

"No worries, I was planning on it either way. Head for the western balcony on the third floor, I'll be waiting for you there." With a final salute, the man blitzed out of the classroom with speed none of their eyes could follow. The three looked at each other before getting up.

As they walked, a rather tense silence permeated around them, none of them either willing or knowing how to diffuse it. Rock Lee rubbed his arm as he looked away from them, the awkwardness getting to him. Neither of the other two graduates seemed particularly eager to start a conversation, just staring ahead quietly.

While Neji had never given him a second glance, and the rare times their gazes did lock, the Hyuga always gave him this look that made him feel like a peasant in the presence of a king; a large shadow whose mere flick of the wrist would decide Lee's fate. Emiko, on the other hand, had always been polite and respectful. Not open or truly welcoming, mind you, but she had never treated him differently than she treated the other students. That gave him a little hope that this could all turn out well.

"My fellow teammates, what do you think of Gai-san?" Lee finally plucked up the courage to ask. After a few short moments, Neji's face contorted slightly in disgust.

"Hn. He is a-"

"Please don't do that again. You're not an Uchiha."

The white-eyed boy had almost jumped at Emiko's unexpected interruption. Though startled, to his shame, by her unusual comment, he believed he understood what the girl meant. He took a second to compose himself before resuming, "Yes, well, Gai-sensei is loud and obnoxious. I fail to understand why they hired such a man to be our superior."

"Intelligence and mindset, while not mutually exclusive, are not the same thing. His... energetic demeanor is not an indication of his intellect or his abilities as a ninja. I am aware that he is Konoha's foremost expert on taijutsu, the area in which you and Lee-san happen to specialize. The way he left the classroom is clue to his skills," Emiko remarked.

The statement confused the two males. "How so, Emiko-sama?" Lee inquired confusedly.

"Emiko-san is fine," she insisted gently, amused. "Fact is, most chunin-level shinobi and above, when not in fear of being discovered by enemy sensors, prefer to use a jutsu called Shunshin to cross small distances in short periods of time. I myself have mild sensing skills, but Gai-sensei's chakra didn't spike at all as he left the room; it was pure, physical speed that he employed."

Neji's look softened somewhat, though, in the Aburame's opinion, he still appeared as if he'd just bitten a sour lemon. "I suppose the Hokage wouldn't give the team with the top two of the class an inefficient instructor. Even so, I fail to understand for what purpose this team was assembled. While putting the top male and top female student with the dead-last sounds good in theory, it's pointless if the squad-mates' abilities don't match up."

In essence, why were geniuses like him and Emiko, blessed with natural skill by Fate, stuck with a talentless dud like Rock Lee. Here were two graduates with the potential and resources to go far, further than anybody else in their generation, being saddled with picking up the slack of the class dead-last. Although, the cursed one screwing up and dragging his gifted teammates down with him, robbing them of their propitious future, was merely Fate at its best and worst.

For that is often the fate of both sorts of people, and he learned long ago that Fate was cruel. That didn't mean Neji had to like it. In fact, he hated it with a fierce passion. For a while, he had held on to the hope that...

It didn't matter. It was a pipe dream and nothing more, one born of arrogance.

"Yes, why indeed! That is a good question, Neji-san." He nearly yelped when Gai's exclamation seemed to come out of nowhere. So submerged in his thoughts, he'd failed to notice that they had arrived at the entrance of the balcony, where the man had been waiting for them. "But one for later. For now, why don't we all take a seat outside?"

Walking onto the balcony, the Sun's rays were blocked from reaching them due to the overhead canopy. A fact they all were grateful for, as it was a pretty hot day today. The genin sat down on the seats at the very edge, with Gai standing across them while leaning against one of the canopy's support beams.

"Let's start this off by introducing ourselves," Gai said, calmer than before. "I'll go first. As I mentioned earlier, my name is Might Gai, and I'll be your sensei from here on out. I like training and engaging in youthful contests with my eternal rival. For the time being, my main goal is to turn you three into highly capable shinobi, so that our dangerous career doesn't cut off your youth too early in the game."

Well, that was... unexpected. Talk about morbid, Emiko thought. That big smile of his seemed only to strike home the point he was trying to make, as if conveying that the expression was nothing more than a mask for the cynicism and weariness that lied underneath. She didn't know how much of that was true, but the heiress assumed that their sensei was also trying to remind them of the dangers of their profession, which usually turned out to be more like pitfalls to young, cocky and inexperienced rookies.

Rookies like her and the two males by her side.

"You, in the middle, your turn."

"My name is Emiko Akemi Aburame. I like training too, along with my family. I suppose observing and getting a read on the people around me could be considered a hobby, since most of them tend to make it so easy to do." She ignored her sensei's chuckles and the weird looks from her teammates. "My current goal is to grow as powerful a ninja as possible."

The jonin nodded, "A fine goal. A mark of youth is doing what you like doing, however idiosyncratic it may be, so long as it's harmless to others. Now, you on my left, why don't you go next?"

Neji looked away, staring at the unoccupied seat next to him. Emiko would've reprimanded him lightly for the rude gesture, had that action not been rude itself. "My name is Neji Hyuga. As for my goal... well, I'd rather not say."

Emiko never thought she'd ever meet someone more borderline emo than Sasuke, but, lo and behold, living proof was sitting right next to her. Today's generation of preteens and teenagers just seemed to be a big mess of angst and brood. Granted, her early childhood wasn't anything to brag about, so she, of all people, ought to be able to sympathize.

Nonetheless, something was fundamentally wrong with today's society if it kept spawning children with such dispositions; her new teammate, her former Uchiha classmate and the murdering traitor that was his older brother just to name a few.

Still, she couldn't help feeling that the Hyuga boy and Sasuke could learn a thing or two from Naruto. He experienced just as much pain as them, if not more so, but he didn't wallow in bad memories. Sure, he used to be much louder than now, and his desire for recognition had at times bordered on unhealthy, but there was a strong sense of productiveness in his actions.

She failed to see it in Neji's.

"Oh, my turn!" Lee's sudden shout interrupted her thought process. "My name is Rock Lee, and I want to become a splendid ninja, even if I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. I want to prove it to the whole world!"

He had a lot of moxie if little else, and he was an exceptionally polite person, certainly, but Emiko wasn't keen on developing the habit of picking her ears to massage away the pain due to his perpetual loudness. One was bad enough, and she went through a lot of trouble to train Naruto out of that quirk. Even then she hadn't been one hundred percent successful, though she did admit that it added a unique charm to the blonde, and Naruto was anything but boring.

Maybe Lee could add a bit of spirit where she and Neji provided the cold, blunt rationale.

Her other teammate seemed to strongly disagree, however, if his disgusted snort that he was any indication. Worse, he didn't even try to hide it, making the Aburame actually feel a slight urge to slap him silly.

Lee promptly shot up from his seat, pointing a finger directly at the Hyuga, "What is so funny!? You think I'm joking? I mean it; I'll prove it to everybody!"

"Don't make me laugh," Neji retorted smugly, a superior smirk on his face. "Do you actually think you graduated thanks to your skills? That you have what it takes to be a ninja? No, Lee. They felt sorry for you, and they stuck you on the team with two of the best in the hopes of prolonging your pitiful life as much as possible. A loser stays a loser. That is Fate, and there is no force more influential on a human being's life."

His smirk then turned into an ugly scowl. "Whatever painful existence you might be living, fighting Fate will only make the pain worse. In this case, there is no dishonor in choosing the path of least resistance."

"Alright, that's quite enough!" While letting them air out their personal thoughts and talk it out among themselves had sounded like a good way to build team trust at first, Gai decided that things were getting a little out of hand. "Whatever your opinions of each other are, you're a team now. The people sitting next to you are the ones you'll be trusting to watch your back while out there in the field. As danger closes in from all directions, with no other choice but to fight for survival, how well you three function together will make the biggest difference between life and death."

Emiko had to admit, she was hooked; she couldn't help but perk up her ears, not wanting to miss anything. For all his eccentricities, the man knew how to make a convincing speech, and for all his gregariousness, he knew how to be stern.

"So show some youthful spirit and try to find a common ground. I don't expect you to agree on everything, or even on most things, but I have little tolerance for letting petty disagreements cloud your judgment and getting in the way of your coherence as a team. Am I understood?"

Basically, he was telling them "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".

Sort of. The idea was close enough.

When the heiress and the two males nodded, Gai sighed before plastering a smile on his face, "Good. Now that introductions are out of the way, I think we should get back to the question you've asked yourselves earlier. What kind of team are we? What'll be our main purpose? How does each of your abilities play a part in making this entity a functional unit? If any of you have thoughts on it, feel free to share 'em with us."

He watched as his students took their own pensive poses, which pretty much consisted of each of them staying in the exact same position they've held so far. It was a rudimentary but not ineffective way to glimpse in what directions each of them thought; mental discipline was very important in a shinobi, after all. There was the possibility that they'd all opt to remain silent and wait for him to break it down for them, but he'd prefer to discourage such a mindset early on. Nipping things in the bud would save a lot of hassle in the future.

Still, Gai was sure that if just one spoke out and gave an answer, the other two would feel emboldened enough to follow. He'd bet his bottom ryo that the Aburame girl was going to be the first to respond. She was easily the most analytical of the three, both in capability and readiness.

He was understandably surprised when Rock Lee gave his answer first, "Are we a tracking unit? Neji-san's Byakugan and Emiko-san's kikaichu are well-suited for such a purpose, but I don't see how I could help there."

"Most likely to avoid overspecialization," Emiko reasoned. "We're not of much use if we can't adapt to fluctuating circumstances, or if engaging in combat with any enemy spells death for us. Your taijutsu prowess would come in handy in such situations." It would also explain why Might Gai was placed as their sensei, as he could tutor the preteen exclusively in his hand-to-hand combat style without fear of neglecting his other two charges, both of whom had their clan training to fall back on.

Lee perked up at that, obviously glad to hear an argument in favor of his inclusion to the team.

"Yes, that would be plausible... if you and I had no combat skill to speak of, Emiko-san," Neji commented, calm and yet still sounding smug somehow. "My taijutsu prowess is the best of our year, and my Gentle Fist makes blocking or even using heavy musculature as a defense ineffective. Your kikaichu have the ability to drain the chakra of other ninjas, rendering them incapable of using their jutsu. That is, if it doesn't immobilize them first. So why add Lee specifically?"

"To ensure greater chances of success via variety, perhaps? The Hyuga's Gentle Fist is known worldwide, and there is always a risk of someone being able to counteract it." The boy seemed to want to scoff at her response, but very wisely kept shut. "There is also the fact that there are many factors it relies on to work properly: having enough chakra, being able to control it and having the Byakugan being the most vital ones. If any of these were compromised, the Gentle Fist would be close to, if not completely useless. But all Lee-san needs is his stamina."

While Neji looked rather disgruntled at her argument, the other two males looked quite impressed. Logic and cold, hard reasoning had always been one of her clan's specialties. It wouldn't do for the heiress to fall short of the family's standards. If anything, she had to excel; to serve as an example to her fellow clanmates, and a true portrayal of the clan's values and abilities to those outside.

However, something the Hyuga boy said earlier picked at her brain, "You mentioned my ability to immobilize enemies by draining their chakra, Neji-san. That reminds me, you too can do the same using the Gentle Fist, and even Lee-san if he knew where exactly to land his blows. That would make us efficient for both immobilization and stalling, as well as front-line combat. Basically, we can fulfill all these roles."

And therein lied the heart of the problem; they had the ability to perform low-ranked missions of virtually any kind. In fact, the only task which their team couldn't be trusted to complete - that immediately came to mind in any case - was interrogation.

Still, that was only one among many. If the Hokage wanted, he could send them on almost any C-rank mission and expect positive results.

All options were available to her team, so for what specific purpose wou-

Emiko's eyes widened briefly as realization struck her. Of course! That was it!

"We're an all-purpose unit," she said in a breathy voice. They weren't meant to take on only a specific sort of mission, but almost any sort that the Hokage decided to throw at them. She was chiding herself for not seeing it sooner when it was so very obvious.

"Yes! Very good, Emiko-san!" laughed Might Gai, while her teammates appeared almost startled, whether by the revelation or their sensei's sudden exclamation, she didn't know. "That is correct, this squad was formed with the youthful goal in mind to be able to face any challenge presented to them. There are times when the village's forces will be spread thin, but that won't stop new missions from coming in. Sending a team whose skillset is unsuited for a particular mission can end in worse than failure."

Death.

A possibility that all shinobi have had ingrained into their mind since their earliest days of training, even rookies such as herself and her teammates. They needed to understand the risks involved and potential consequences if they were to be able to function to the best of their abilities when things went south.

Because things could always go south, as Emiko's father had told her many times.

"I won't lie to you. Genin teams are sometimes sent on missions that may be a rank above their skill level, but declining missions is a worse option for the village so it has to be done. In such times, we try to keep the rare all-purpose units from being deployed as long as possible, so long as the available missions have requirements that other genin squads have the proper abilities to fulfill. If that weren't the case, then an all-purpose unit would be sent out in order to keep both failures and casualties to a minimum. That is the purpose of a team like ours."

He let them stew on his words, they needed that much at least. As expected, Lee seemed the most shaken, not having a shinobi family to explain the dangers of their profession in more clarifying details; he only had the Academy training to help him understand. The other two appeared as cold and composed as usual, seemingly aware of the risks.

Heh, if only they knew. Experience was the best teacher but a harsh one too. Gai hoped that the day they learned this lesson, the consequences wouldn't be too grave for these children.

He gave them a reassuring smile, "But we're not in such times at the moment, nor are we expecting them anytime soon. Our forces are stable and the village has recuperated well from the Nine-tails' attack and the previous war. However, it's still given you a rare privilege. You see, Konoha has a maximum of thirty-five genin teams in circulation, and we had thirty-one when your class graduated. As you well know, there were twenty-four graduates this year, which equals eight new teams."

"What does that mean? Why such a limited number, Gai-sensei?" Rock Lee asked, his eyes fearful as he realized the problem.

"Calculations through the years have surmised that it's the number that has the best ratio of genin getting a steady supply of missions and off time to train and rest. In most cases, every year we have more graduates than our forces can accept, so each newly-formed squad is given an additional task by their sensei to complete in order to determine the ones who will pass, and the ones who'll be weeded out," he explained patiently.

"What does that mean for us?" Neji asked, his eyes narrowed.

The man smirked at them, "As I said, you three get a rare privilege. Due to the importance of your team, you won't get this bonus task but pass immediately instead." Just as Lee seemed ready to jump for joy, he continued speaking, "This doesn't mean you get off scot-free. Greater things will be expected of you than of the other genin teams. There will be more pressure from your superiors, harder missions will be thrown at you sooner, and growth will be expected at a rate the others can't hope to match. The most important question is... do you think you have the guts to face this hurdle head-on?"

The three seemed to freeze in their spots for a moment before glancing at each other, as if seeking reassurance or permission. Not long after, they turned to him with determined, no-nonsense expressions that made him grin like a loon.

"Yes, sir!"

Evening

"Hey, Emiko-chan?"

She looked up from her book as Naruto entered through the gardens and walked over to her. She closed it as he sat down beside her.

"How'd the meeting with your team go?" he asked, grinning, though something flashed in his eyes that caused her to frown.

"It could've been worse. We've managed to establish an understanding at least, if a rather shaky one. Although, Neji Hyuga's attitude towards Lee is worrying, and I don't know how willing he is to cooperate with him," the heiress patiently said. Thankfully, her team probably wouldn't be sent outside of Konoha's borders anytime soon. Plenty of time to get the teamwork ball rolling.

But people could be infuriatingly stubborn more often than not, and her Hyuga teammate seemed as tough a nut as any.

The boy cringed lightly, "Sounds rough."

"Agreed."

"What about your sensei?"

"Our sensei, Might Gai, is a capable and experienced jonin, but he is..." she trailed off for a moment, trying to find a good word to describe her sensei's unique disposition, "weird." She grimaced a bit at the utter lack of originality.

Naruto's eyebrow rose, "How weird?"

"Weirder than you."

"Oh, ouch. Gonna need a Mystic Palm for that one. I swear to God, you're worse than Shino at times." He pouted while she graced him with a teasing smile, though his expression quickly changed back to the one of thinly-veiled anxiety. He piped up again just as she was about to ask him, "So... the two taijutsu nuts are your teammates, huh? That's great! They'll surely keep your skinny ass in shape while running circles aro-"

"Naruto." Her sharp declaration succeeded in shutting up, making him look at her like a kid that had just been admonished, as he ought to. That 'skinny ass' comment of his had earned him a nice, big, figurative spanking, but those were thoughts for after she had dealt with whatever was bothering the jinchuriki. "What did I tell you about beating around the bush?"

He squeezed his eyes shut while groaning in exasperation. "Definitely worse than Shino," he murmured before sighing resignedly. "You told me not to do that because it makes me sound like a troublemaker and it's really, really annoying," her best friend deadpanned. Kind of a moot point in his opinion, since he technically was a troublemaker, and the victims of his troublemaking ways usually found him really, really annoying.

"Correct, so talk. What's actually bothering you?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment before the anxiety took over full force, "It's just, ya know, with the team a-and the missions, you'll be pretty busy, and I... are we still gonna be best friends?"

Emiko cocked her head, confused but understanding at the same time, "What gave you idea to the contrary?"

"Well, you just graduated, and you're gonna be spending a lot of time with your team... bonding, making new friends. I'm scared that you'll have to spend way more time with them than with me, and, ya know, that..." the boy trailed off, unable to get past the lump in his throat.

The bug-wielder sighed, sad that her best friend still struggled with such issues. Maybe they should've curbed his pranking impulse earlier on, having known it was merely a front for his desire for attention, but as they said, hindsight was 20/20. "That my team will take me away from you?" The somewhat mocking tone made him wince. "Banish those thoughts, Naruto; we're still going to be best friends. Although, I must admit to feeling a little offended for thinking so low of me and our friendship."

The consternation came back twice as strong. "W-What?! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-I just-"

His stuttering came to an end when she dropped her hand onto his shoulder, hard enough to jolt him but not to hurt. "Easy there, Naruto." She chuckled, feeling a bit bad for worrying him. "Seriously though, I am a bit offended on Shino's part. True, I won't be around as much, but you will have Shino to keep you company, and I imagine he'd be rather hurt at hearing you distress so much over my new schedule. My absence doesn't mean you'll be all alone in this world, Naruto."

He looked down, ashamed of himself for reacting so strongly and neglecting his bond with her brother. Shino probably would've been hurt and would've given a long-winding explanation on exactly why it hurt him. Great guy, he was, but nit-picky as hell too.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Of course I am," she said bluntly. "And besides, you need to branch out a little, find other friends. We both might believe in quality over quantity, but you need to have more people you can trust. Our job is dangerous, and you won't get to choose who you'll be teamed up with. Shikamaru and Choji, for example, are as good a start as any."

"I get it, I get it, smarty-pants. I don't need a textbook analysis, okay?" Naruto grumbled peevishly. "Geez, you and that brother of yours just love to rub my nose in your superior intellect."

"No, we love to rub your nose in your inferior one. There's a difference, ya know."

Shibi watched the exchange from the doorway and tilted his head. Normally, he would disapprove, but he guessed it was fine as long as it only happened in the confines of their home. Furthermore, the two shared a special bond that was different from her other relationships.

Both he and Shino had noticed that she tended to be more, while not necessarily open, expressive of her feelings with the boy. He surmised it was because their family was in the habit of keeping their composure at all times, even among themselves. He didn't think it made Emiko in any way uncomfortable, but Naruto was basically an anomaly in their compound, and his divergent behavior stipulated an atypical response from her.

No matter what other people might say, establishing strong rapports demanded compromise from all parties involved. There was no such thing as an unconditional relationship.

Otherwise, the concept of 'breaking up' or 'falling apart' wouldn't exist.

Unsurprisingly, their closeness had been noticed by everyone in the clan, including the council members. There had been questions from them of whether they would make a good match, but he'd put his foot down harshly on that one. No one could deny the fact that he and his daughter were willing to make great sacrifices for the village, but an arranged marriage was something he would not let her go through with, especially since it was illogical in the first place.

Even a blind bat could see that both children cared for one another in the purely platonic sense. Forcing them into an arranged marriage could destroy whatever kinship they had. He was lucky, though, that the council members of his clan thought logically first and foremost, quickly coming to realize that his argument held weight. They never asked again after that.

His daughter's sensei, though? When he'd heard just who it was, he was almost afflicted with a case of ocular myokymia. He had nothing against Might Gai per se - he was more than strong enough to protect and teach his daughter - but the man had an annoying habit of getting the rare emotional reactions out of an Aburame. He didn't know if the fool had made it his personal mission or something, or if he just did it for giggles. He did constantly set up all sorts of challenges for himself, from unorthodox to the nigh-impossible.

He worried a little that he would succedd with Emiko as well. Few could outdo her when it came to self-control, but Gai was a special case. At first, his daughter had learned emotional composure out of need, which quickly transformed into a mere fact of everyday life, and then to pride in her ability to keep herself calm.

However, it wasn't her he worried for, but her sensei.

Turning away from the gardens, he almost snorted; her team had no clue of the amount of damage his daughter could cause without actually harming them physically. She had a mind that had an innate ability to understand the human psyche and a way with words that could either break someone or build them up. A dangerous combination, that was for certain. If Gai were to successfully cause a lapse in her self-control, she might retaliate in, what could very well be described as, a childish manner.

Because for all her maturity and desire to be professional at virtually times, Emiko was still a child.

He wondered what she'd do. Maybe she'd make him renege on his 'youth' mantra, or convince him that he was getting old and past his prime, causing him to shout and cry in despondency over his 'youthful days' being gone. It'd definitely be amusing, but also bad for the village if they lost one of their most powerful jonin. Perhaps he ought to schedule a chat with his daughter to make sure that didn't happen.

On a different note, it was one of the reasons why Ibiki Morino had made an offer to take her on as his part-time apprentice when she was not training or on a mission with her team. The interrogator had gained an interest after hearing from Inoichi on how she skillfully convinced his daughter and Sakura to take their training seriously, though both he and Shibi had found the word 'manipulate' more correct. Ibiki was sold after having observed her interactions with Sasuke, and how she managed to establish a healthy, semi-positive rapport with him.

Though it held a lot of merit, he would not consent 'til after she spent a certain amount of time with her squad. She needed to focus on working with her team and adjusting to the new arrangements first before apprenticing under that sadist.

Even his genius daughter was capable of getting ahead of herself.

One Month Later

Emiko was not a happy camper, not one bit. Her hive buzzed louder than usual as she sent a slightly cold look at Tora; she hated cats ever since she was little and barely tolerated dogs, except for the highly intelligent ninken. She didn't fully understand why but had a faint recollection of an old woman showing her pictures of cross-bred cats in a mind-numbingly boring fashion, effectively ruining the animal's appeal forever.

"Good job, my youthful student!" Gai cheered loudly with Lee joining him. It was her use of warrior beetles that led to them catching the demon spawn in record time, making the normally despised mission a cakewalk for Team 9.

Their vociferousness caused Neji to scowl in irritation, and also seemed to be the reason why Tora was most attached to him, his quiet poise being much more preferable to her sensitive ears than the other two males' raucous form of articulation. Emiko speculated that her hive's and Chomei's presence made the feline avoid the kunoichi, which was perfectly fine by her.

"And fine by me too," the tailed beast grumbled, rather immaturely in her opinion. "Like I give a crap about what some dumb, hirsute mammal thinks of the Lucky Seven."

"Let's go." Neji sighed, casting an aloof glance at the two bakas as Emiko inclined her head in his direction. At least he had her to keep him from losing his sanity. While the princess was standoffish - though he knew he really wasn't one to talk - she was still a highly capable kunoichi and worthy of his acknowledgment, especially after she had commented on their second day that she had no need nor want for his acceptance as long as he didn't let his feelings get in the way of a mission.

He'd been a bit miffed, admittedly, but it also made a swell of respect rise within him. Hard not to respect such a professional, no-nonsense attitude with his other two teammates being as they were.

It took them less than half an hour to reach the Mission Assignment office, where the three genin entered before their sensei.

"Kakashi! My rival!" Gai exclaimed merrily when they nearly ran into the jonin. The taijutsu expert grinned wider as the man barely glanced up from his book, "This is my youthful team: Rock Lee, Neji Hyuuga and Emiko Aburame!" He pointed each of them out, respectively. Kakashi perked up at the last name and peered down at her.

Emiko's face went emotionless as she looked at the male before her. She remembered him well and was grateful she no longer had the urge to sick her hive on him for what he had done. She could have all the forgiveness in the world, except for those who harmed those she cared about. However, even though the man had let those drunk civilians have their way with Naruto, her father had had a conversation with her that caused a lot of her anger to quell over time.

"I don't condone what he did, and neither should you, but don't be so quick to cast judgment on him. We ninja may be taught to rule our emotions, but we're human still, and we feel pain and sorrow as much as we feel joy and happiness. What Kakashi went through... well, it's safe to say it's a miracle he functions as well as he does. Very few can claim they know what it feels like to lose both their family and their closest friends... and all on separate occasions before they even reached adulthood."

He then gave her a meaningful look, so strong she sat up even straighter on her bed.

"Even the best of us can be overwhelmed by our emotions. If that weren't the case, you wouldn't be here right now."

That sort of pain was beyond anything she, Sasuke, Neji and Naruto had gone through, she had come to terms with that. Still, she could do without him reading those books written by Lord Jiraiya, the ones her father deprecated.

Smut was the word Naruto liked to use.

Kakashi found he wanted to twitch as the young Aburame gave him a neutral stare, neither angry nor happy. He remembered this one, alright. From what he'd heard, she was very strong for her age, enough that she could put some green chunin flat on their asses. While he sensed that there didn't seem to be any hard feelings anymore, that didn't really equate forgiveness. Not that he blamed her. He knew how deplorable he had acted; he still prayed for his parents to forgive him.

That was the day the Hokage had forcibly had him reinstated back into the jonin roster. The old man had reasoned that the best way for him to heal was to catch up with the friends and comrades he had left, not to try and bury his issues with bloody, psychologically-damaging Anbu wetwork, using the porcelain masks to... well, mask his inner turmoil.

Needless to say, he unwillingly went back to doing regular missions, afraid that the pain would only worsen if he were to bond with his former classmates and then watch them die gruesomely on a mission. Though far from dandy, he was grateful for the choice now, feeling loads better after spending time with his friends.

He nodded to them as he stepped out, and the team turned their attention to the Hokage.

"Okay, among your available choices, we have a mission for babysitting my grandson, shopping for the Daimyo's wife and dog walking," Sarutobi spoke once they were in front of him.

"Well, you three? Which one shall we accept?" Gai asked, refraining from yelling the words as he remembered the request from his female genin. He figured out if he toned it down inside, both her and Neji were more inclined to tolerate his large amounts of youthful vigor outside when training.

"Babysitting," Neji answered sharply, Emiko nodding in agreement with more haste than usual. The last time they took a grocery shopping mission, their sensei and teammate turned it into a contest.

"Very well. You can pick him up from the daycare. They will be expecting you, and Emiko will show the way, considering she's babysat Konohamaru before." The Hokage waved them off as Emiko inclined her head with a bow of respect towards him. He had taken his grandson with him once to the Aburame compound to get better acquainted with one of Konoha's noble clans. The small bundle of energy had formed a surprisingly friendly bond with the stoic girl, not quite as close as the one with Naruto, but he would listen to Team 9 as long as she was there to hang out with him.

Daycare

"Emi! Emi!"

Emiko bent down to pick up the seven-year-old when he came stumbling into her arms, ignoring the weird and amused looks from her teammates. She adjusted her hold on him as the chunin on duty came over to them. "Nina-san," the heiress greeted with a bow of her head to her still nanny and protector, who returned the gesture

"Babysitting, I see. Well, here are Konohamaru's things. Have fun." Nina's collected visage softened a bit towards her charge before looking over at the girl's team. She fought the urge to smirk, having realized why Shibi was in a mood. Being initially a foreigner, Gai was more tolerable to her than the rest of the Aburame and could find amusement in his antics.

He'd even once asked her if she would help him make Lord Shibi lose his composure, but she had declined. Funny or not, the man was still her superior.

She watched as they walked away, her mouth forming a grim line. Like the typical Aburame, she didn't put too much stock on baseless hunches, but there was a part of her whispering like the passing wind, telling her that times were about to change soon. This peace had lasted for a fairly long while already, and they were lucky it did after the Nine-tails' attack and Orochimaru's defection.

But nothing lasted forever, especially peace in the ninja world. She just hoped that Emiko would live through it, though wishing she would manage that unscathed was too much to realistically hope for, despite her feelings for the heiress. She wanted to believe that if Emiko stuck with her team, if all four of them could fight in sync with each other, that all would be alright.

But she knew from experience, teams with better odds had left the borders of Konoha and never came back.

She tried to fight off the feeling of dread as she went back to work.

Elsewhere

"What do you mean she is gone?" Albus Dumbledore demanded of Moody, having sent the war veteran to go and check on Harriet Potter.

"Exactly what I said, Dumbledore. The Dursleys said she's been gone for the last eight years or so, like she ran away from them. Although, I can't really blame her, seeing how foul that poor excuse of a family was," Alastor growled out, not in the mood right now as he had wanted to curse the muggle family badly.

"She must be found and brought here. Hogwarts starts in less than a month, and she must be here to face the Dark Lord when he returns," Dumbledore spoke with a grave tone. "Otherwise, I fear for the Wizarding World."

While his tone was one of concern, the main emotion he felt was rage. He was right pissed! The weapon that would bring about the salvation of Magical Britain, as the prophecy had foretold, was missing. All that effort, all that planning and scheming to save the everybody and this happened.

...No.

It was unacceptable. He would not allow for all his hard work to go down the drain as the muggles liked to say. Abusive family or not, they would find her and bring her back to the Dursleys.

At all costs.