Chapter 4: Tabi no hajimari.

Tabi no hajimari means The Beginning of a Journey.

A.N: Wow! Longest chapter so far! This took me a little while. I just couldn't seem to get the characters personalities right in this chapter. So this is the third version of this chapter and, while I am still not 100% happy with it, it is a lot better than the other attempts. I also apologise for the crappy mini fight scene near the end of the chapter. To be honest, it is the first time I have ever attempted to write something that even vaguely resembles an action sequence but I hope to be better at them before I get anywhere near the Kakashi Gaiden.

On another Naruto related note, I got Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. I really like the game and the controls are a lot better than UNS 1. Lots of people have problems with the English Dub. The only problem I have with it is the lip-syncing. Apart from that I think the ED is quite funny.

Big shout-out to summers revenge, Ookami-no-Seirei, I'm-So-Loveable and lizifang who, at the time I wrote this, reviewed/faved/alerted. As always reviews are appreciated (especially if you have any thoughts or improvements that could be made about the story)

Just in case anyone is confused. Tora was brought to Konoha nine months after her birthday, so sometime in June. She has been in Konoha for 1 year and 6 months at the time she takes the Academy graduation exams. This means that it has been 3 months since she met Kakashi at the training grounds. Just thought I would specify because I read it back and saw that the time frame was a bit confusing with the time skips and all.

Just one more note. The next update will probably not be until Sunday because on Friday my step-sister and I are going to see Pendulum live at Wembley Arena in London as a early x-mas prezzie to the two of us. Standing tickets baby! Anyway, on with the chapter!

Listening to: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk (Can't wait. They've done the soundtrack for the new Tron movie. One word. EPIC!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but if I did I would finally answer the most pressing question that faces the Naruto community today. Why are there wireless radios but yet nobody has a car?

Tora rushed around the house trying to gather up all the things that she would need for the Academy graduation exams and to get rid of all the nervous energy that had built up in the pit of her stomach since she had woken up that morning. In her mind she was going over all the different things that she had learnt. It was in this state of mild panic that she was found by Kushina, pacing from one end of the hallway to the other. Kushina sighed. She honestly didn't understand why Tora was so worried. The girl was on par with Kakashi when it came to her skills and she had heard that Kakashi was the best student at the Academy, even if he was a few years younger than his peer. They had even managed to get Tora's strangely unstable chakra mostly under control with a series of meditative exercises. Shaking her head, Kushina pulled Tora into the kitchen so that she could eat some breakfast before going to the exam.

Tora's face turned a subdued shade of green when she spotted the toast sitting on the kitchen table. She was hungry but she was also pretty sure that if she ate anything it would very quickly find its way up and out of her stomach. Kushina noticed Tora's green pallor and the way she was glaring at the toast.

"You're going to pass with flying colours Tora-chan. After all, you do have two of the best sensei's in all of Konoha. 'ttebane!"

At this Tora felt her nervousness decrease a little. It made her stomach feel less like it was doing back flips, however, looking at the food on the plate, she realised that she still wouldn't be able to eat anything. Luckily she was saved from Kushina shoving the food down her throat by the doorbell ringing. Tora ran to the front door and opened it. Outside the front door, dressed in dark grey shorts and a t-shirt was Kakashi, head down and one of his feet scuffing the floor. Tora smiled at the sight of her silver-haired friend.

"Kashi-kun, you're here!"

At this moment Kushina came up behind Tora and also greeted the young boy.

"Hello Kakashi-kun. Are you and Tora-chan going to the exam together?"

Kakashi sent Tora a small smile and bowed to Kushina.

"Yes Kushina-san. We planned to go together because our exam's are one after the other and Tora doesn't know anyone else there."

Kushina smiled at how thoughtful Kakashi was. "Thank you Kakashi-kun. By the way, I expect to see you both back here at tea-time for a celebratory meal together."

Seeing the he was about to object, she fixed a large smile on her face and her voice became almost deathly sweet. "I simply must insist that you come 'ttebane. Your father is out of the village on a mission and it just wouldn't do for you to be by yourself now would it?"

Both Tora and Kakashi caught onto the threatening undercurrents of the message and grinned nervously.

"I'll make sure to bring Kashi-kun back with me. We've got to go now Kushina-sensei but we'll be back as soon as we can!"

With that, Tora grabbed Kakashi's hand and started dragging him away from the house, smiling and waving at Kushina as she went.

Kushina smiled as the two rounded the corner. It had been around the time that Tora met Kakashi that it seemed like she truly overcame the death of her clan. Even after a year of staying with Kushina and Minato her eyes had still retained an almost dull quality to them and even if she smiled and laughed it was almost detached. Kakashi changed that. Her eyes finally shone and her smiles and laughter was real. It was like he helped her connect to everybody without realising it. That was the true reason that Kushina wanted him to come over for a celebratory dinner. That way she could thank him even if he didn't realise that he had done anything. She closed the door and went to the kitchen to prepare pork ramen for Tora and some miso soup with eggplant for Kakashi.

As soon as they rounded the corner, Tora's smile fell and she let go of Kakashi's hand. Kakashi looked at her when he felt her drop his hand. He couldn't believe it. She was nervous! It was obvious even to people who didn't know her very well. Tora looked at him, she was biting her lip and her hands were wringing the long forest green t-shirt that she was wearing.

"Kashi-kun, what if I fail? I've never even been to the Academy. I bet everyone else is far better than me. What will I say to Kushina and Minato when they find out if I fail?"

Kakashi interrupted her before she could go any further. "You'll be fine Tora-chan and I'm not just saying that. It doesn't matter that you've never been the Academy. You are just as good as me and I'm the best in my year."

Tora felt her confidence return with Kakashi's words. "Thank you Kashi-kun!"

"No problem."

The two walked a little further in companionable silence when Tora asked Kakashi a question that had been on her mind for awhile now. "Kakashi-kun, why do you want to be shinobi?"

"That's easy," He replied, "I want to be a shinobi so that I can make my father proud of me and so I can help protect the village."

Tora smiled and nodded at his answer and then fell into silence.

Tora's fragile confidence fell once they got inside the Academy ground's. As soon as the other students who were taking the test saw her, loud whispers started circulating the courtyard.

"Look at that girl with that know-it-all Kakashi. Who do you think she is?"

"I don't know. I've never seen her here. Maybe she's one of those spoiled brat's who is trained privately."

"Oh my gosh look at her eyes!"

"Eww. They're different colours! And look at her odd shaped pupils, Freaky!"

"Look at the freak over there."

The comments carried on and with each comment she heard she lowered her head and felt the confidence from Kakashi's comment drain away, bit by bit. Suddenly all the comments stopped and Tora looked up to find Kakashi sending death glares at the people whispering. He then took her hand and dragged her over to the door.

"You're up next. Don't listen to those idiots. Remember what you learnt and you'll pass. I'll meet you by the swing set once my test is done. Good luck."

Tora smiled at Kakashi. Once again he had made her feel better. "Good luck to you too Kashi-kun. You better pass so that we can be on the same team."

"Whoever said I wasn't going to pass?"

Tora laughed at that and stepped into the room.

In front of her was a long table covered in headbands and two Chunins sitting behind it.

"You are Tora Hayashi correct?"

"Yes."

"Okay. First we want you to run through the katas taught to Academy students. Then you need to hit at least three out of four targets on the wall with a projectile of your choice. Do you think you can do that for us?"

Tora nodded her head and took a deep breath. In all honesty she was glad that they were testing her taijutsu first, it would help her relax which was key if she wanted to be successful when it came to the ninjutsu test. If she wasn't focused she wouldn't be able to regulate her chakra properly and the ninjutsu would completely backfire. Her body almost went on autopilot as she started to carefully flow through the katas and she felt herself smiling. They were so familiar to her that it was almost as easy as breathing. She finished the katas and reached down to her shuriken pouch on her hip. She would normally use kunai because she preferred the balance but shuriken would get her more points because they were harder to throw accurately. Placing them in between her fingers, she focused on the angle of her throw. When she was satisfied she swept her arm in front her, flicking her wrist, she watched with a sense of satisfaction as all four shuriken hit all of their targets. She turned round and caught the impressed looks of the two judges before their faces returned to a neutral mask.

"Alright now we need to test you on your ninjutsu. If you're successful with that then you will become a Konoha genin. You will need to produce three Bushins and then an accurate Henge."

Tora concentrated on the the warm chakra that flowed through her body. Forming the appropriate hand seals, she concentrated on forming three clones. Releasing the chakra, she opened her eyes and looked either side of her. The sight of three healthy looking Bushin caused her to release a breath that she didn't notice she held. After awhile, the examiners nodded and she dispersed the clones and formed another hand seal. In her mind Tora focused on the image of her chosen Henge. When Tora released her chakra, the two examiners found themselves faced with a very accurate Henge of Minato Namikaze. Minato's image smiled. Tora knew that it was accurate down to the last spike in his ridiculously spiky hair. The chunin once again nodded to show that she could cancel the jutsu. They then looked at each other, nodded and looked back at Tora, smiling.

"Well done Tora Hayashi. You are now officially a Konoha genin. Please come and choose your hitai-ate."

A huge grin broke out on Tora's face and she approached the table. Looking over all the hitai-ates on the table, she decided to go for one with black cloth, that way the colour would stand out from with her midnight blue hair. Bowing to the two chunin, she tied the hitai-ate round her head and rushed outside to meet up with Kakashi, all previous negative thoughts forgotten. Plopping down on the one of swings; she waited, head tilted back, watching the clouds. She really hoped that Kakashi made it. Then again, she passed so Kakashi would definitely be find. Ten minutes passed and Tora had moved from the swing and was now leaning against the tree trunk, relaxing with her eyes closed. Then a quiet set of footsteps approached her, Tora opened her eyes and stood up. Kakashi stood in front of her a small smirk on his face.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about."

A large smile worked its way onto Tora's face and she jumped up and down, whooping.

"We did it! We did it! I can't believe that we are both genin!"

Kakashi just smiled in return and grabbed Tora's arm. "Come on. We have awhile before Kushina-san wants us back for dinner."

The two of them found themselves sitting on part of a river bank in the empty Training Ground Seven, watching as the sun set slowly over the trees. Tora smiled and turned to Kakashi.

"Hey Kashi-kun."

"Yes?"

"We're best friends right?"

Kakashi turned and looked at her, one eyebrow raised at the absurdity of the question.

"Of course we're best friends. You're my only friend."

Tora smiled at this. "Same here. How that we're genin, I think we should make a promise to each other."

Kakashi was intrigued with the idea. "What do you have in mind?"

"I think we should promise that we will always be friends and that we will always help and look out for each other."

Kakashi smiled at the idea and nodded at his consent.

"All right! We promise on our newly earned hitai-ates and our pride as shinobi of Konoha, that we will always be friends and that we will always support and encourage each other!"

When she finished stating the promise, Kakashi repeated it and Tora held her fist out, Kakashi paused for a short moment before raising his own arm and bumping his fist against Tora's. A comfortable silence descended over the two friends as they continued to watch the sunset.

"I'm glad we became friends Kashi-kun."

"Yeh. Me too Tora-chan."

It didn't take the two long to reach Tora's house and so they entered the house, matching grins on their faces. Tora entered through the front door and called out to Kushina.

"Kushina! We're home!"

When neither of them heard a reply, they cast wary looks at each other. Stealthily making their way through the house they started checking all the rooms on the ground floor. Finally the only room left to check before going upstairs was the kitchen. They paused outside the closed door and nodded at each other, wordlessly agreeing to enter the room at the same time. As one they opened the door and stepped inside and ended up opened mouthed and speechless at the sight inside the kitchen. Inside the room were coloured banners draped around the room. The large table in the middle of the room was covered in a multitude of dishes and standing behind the table was Kushina, Minato and Sakumo. The three adults grinned at the two gob-smacked children by the door and as one they all shouted the same thing.

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

This was swiftly followed by the flash of a camera and this served to snap Tora and Kakashi out of their daze. Tora grinned at Kakashi and rushed forward towards Minato and Kushina and started talking animatedly to them about her performance in the exam. Sakumo walked over to Kakashi and ruffled his hair and smiled down at him.

"Well done Kakashi. I'm proud of you."

Kakashi felt his heart swell. His father had praised him. He couldn't believe it. With a large smile on his face he hurried over to Tora and they started talking. After Tora and Kakashi had calmed down, everyone sat down to tuck into the miniature feast that Kushina had prepared. There was a large collection of dishes and much to Tora's and Kakashi's joy there were large bowls filled with their favourite dishes. All parties quickly devoured the food and as the evening drew to a close Kakashi and Tora opened some presents from the adults. Tora received a black bladed and white handled kodachi from Minato called Kuroi Inazuma, this caused Tora to launch herself at Minato and grip him in vice like hug. From Kushina she received a photo album and a locket to "keep future memories in." Finally, from Sakumo and Kakashi, she received a brand new set of kunai and shuriken that were made from the same black metal as her new kodachi.

Kakashi received new shuriken and kunai from Minato and Kushina, a chakra absorbing knife from Sakumo which caused Kakashi to smile widely and, much to his annoyance, a tub of hair gel from Tora. When he saw this he sent her a weak glare.

"What use will this be in my day to day activities as a genin?"

Tora pretended to think for a little while and smiled.

"Weeeellllllll...Your hair is always spiky and so I thought that you must use up a lot of hair gel to get it to stay like that."

Kakashi was pouting now. "You know as well as I do that my hair is naturally spiky and that there is nothing that I can do about it."

Tora giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "Of course I remember Kashi-kun. It was one of the first things I asked you when we became friends after all."

Kakashi finally stopped pouting when Kushina started to usher them into the middle of the room along with Sakumo and Minato. She got them all standing together; Sakumo and Minato towards the back and room on the end for Kushina, Tora and Kakashi on the front row, hands entwined and smiles on their faces. Kushina quickly set the timer and ran around Tora to stand next to Minato. Together they counted down the ten seconds before the camera flashed, preserving the moment and freezing it in time. Finally the evening drew to a close and Sakumo left with a tired looking Kakashi trailing after him. Tora gave him a sleepy wave as Kushina closed the door and Minato carried her up the stairs.

"It's time to go to bed Tora-chan."

Tora lifted her head of his shoulder and yawned. "But I'm not tired yet 'Nato."

Minato laughed quietly as he set her down on her bed. "Of course not! However, don't you have to go and meet your team tomorrow?"

Tora yawned again. "I s'pose you're right. Night night otou-san."

Minato froze for a brief moment when he heard the murmured ending of Tora's half asleep sentence. He finally unfroze and a small smile spread across his face. He supposed that he could get use to being called that.

Tora shuffled nervously outside the door to the classroom as she listened to the excited chatter of the newly appointed genin inside. She ducked her head down and looked at the clothes that she had picked out. Black ninja sandals encased her feet, a baggy purple t-shirt hung of her shoulders and was secured around her waist by a belt with a pouch containing kunai and empty scrolls. She then wore a pair of knee length black shorts. Kushina had tried to get her to change the black coloured clothes to blue but Tora had flat out refused. She hated wearing the colour blue. It clashed with her hair and made her look like a blueberry. Taking a deep breath, Tora opened the door and stepped into the classroom. As soon as she set foot in the room all the chatter stopped and Tora started to blush when all eyes turned to her and the whispering started up again. The sounds of some of the more hurtful comments that centred around her odd eyes. This caused Tora's cheeks to burn even more in embarrassment and started to almost frantically search the room for Kakashi. She finally spotted him and dashed over.

"Thanks for saving me a seat Kashi-kun."

"No problem."

"Kashi-kun...do you think my eyes are weird?"

He groaned and looked over her. "You're letting this bother you again? I personally think your eyes are cool. They look like cat's eyes and its different. Anyway," He tapped her brand new headband, its already familiar weight shifting slightly as he did so. "Your a genin of Konoha and that means that you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Tora gave Kakashi a beaming smile."Thank you Kashi-kun. You always know how to make me feel better."

It was at that moment that a Chunin walked into the room. Tora listened intently for her and Kakashi's names and she secretly preyed to Kami that they would be on the same team. Finally, after what seemed like an age, her name was called out.

"Team 2. Hayashi, Tora. Hatake, Kakashi and Sutāringu, Ken."

She smiled at Kakashi. She got to be on the same team as her best friend! She didn't know who this Ken person was but she hoped that he was nice. It was only then that she realised something. Leaning over so that she was nearer Kakashi, she whispered in his ear.

"Hey Kashi-kun. Why do you think that guy didn't mention who our sensei was going to be? I mean, he did it for all the other teams."

Kakashi whispered back. "I don't know Tora-chan. It is a little strange. We'll find out soon enough I suppose."

Soon all the sensei's had come to collect their teams apart from Team 2's. Tora looked over at the other member of their team. He was a lot taller than Kakashi so Tora figured that he was one of the older students to graduate from the Academy. She had never heard of any shinobi with the surname Sutāringu before so that meant that he came from a civilian family. Tora next studied his appearance. He had very short cut brown hair and slightly tanned skin. He was wearing a red long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of red shorts and fixed to his waist was what looked like a hunting knife with a serrated edge. From the disgruntled look on his face Tora could see that he wasn't very happy. Because of this he walked over to him and decided to introduce herself.

"Hello, my name is Tora..."

As soon as she started speaking the boy's head whipped round towards her and he scowled at her. "I don't care who you are freak eyes. Just because you passed the exam with higher scores than me doesn't mean that I will admire you." He turned his head and glared at Kakashi who was staring out the window. "Same goes for you Hatake. Just because you look like your old man doesn't mean that you will ever be as good as him."

To Ken it looked like Kakashi didn't hear him at all but Tora caught a flash of hurt pass through his eyes. It was Kakashi's dream to live up to his father's legacy and this older boy had just trampled all over it. Tora poked Ken hard in his ribs. This caused the boy to jump and let out a small exclamation of shock.

"I don't care what you say to me but I don't care for baka's who insult my friends."

Ken glared at her. "You want to start something freak?"

"Why yes, I think I do."

Both of them got into their fighting stances and Ken smirked at Tora, feeling safe in his notion of victory. "Bring it."

Tora swiftly moved forward at a faster speed than Ken expected. Seeing this, he threw a punch aimed at Tora's face. Going with her instincts, Tora ducked under the punch and kept moving forward. Seeing that Ken was still regaining balance from the punch, she dropped to the ground and tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him. Ken tried to jump over her leg but didn't get high enough and he tumbled to the floor. Righting himself as soon as possible, he drew his knife from his belt. Tora withdrew a kunai from her pouch and the two genin started to circle each other. Glancing around Tora tried to look for anything that would give her an advantage. Ken was bigger than her and so she would most defiantly lose if it came to close combat. It was then that Tora noticed the loose sleeves of the top he was wearing. A plan decided on, she continued circling him until he was closest to the wall and, with a deep breath, she flicked her wrist and let the kunai fly. Before Ken could react, the kunai had gone through the sleeve of the arm holding the knife and embedded itself into the wall, effectively pinning him in position.

"I win."

As soon as that statement was made, the door opened and a smile found its way to Tora's face.

"You are our sensei?"

Kakashi looked over at the door to see who it was and a smile also graced his face.

"Hello Minato-san."

Minato took in the sight of the room and raised an eyebrow at Ken, who was trying to dislodge the kunai from the wall. He had been watching what went on from outside the window and had been quite surprised by Tora's actions. Then again, so had Kakashi it the look on his face was anything to go by.

"Now that we are all friends," This earned him a glare from all three genin, "meet at Training Ground 2 tomorrow for some light sparring and a mission in the afternoon. Dismissed."

No sooner had he finished his sentence when Ken stormed out of the room, he had given up trying to get the kunai loose and had torn his shirt to get free. Minato looked at Kakashi and Tora and sighed.

"What ever will I do with the two of you?"

Chapter 4 End.

In terms of the next chapter, all I'm going to say is this:

Ladies, stay away from the hot springs :3

Please Review!