Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or anything other than my OCs.

"I think I've done a good job." Asahina grinned, dusting her hands off as if she had done all the work here, "Sakura, fix him up! You guys are ready to go."

Sakura had arrived at the end of their time limit for training. This was their final opportunity to become Kakashi's backup team and they had just made it. Naruto's technique was now ready to be used but it was far from being perfect. Asahina would have liked to see it perfected but there was no time left to do so.

This was the first time in a long time that she felt the satisfaction of training a young shinobi and she realized that Naruto was the fastest learner she had ever met. He had overtaken his limits and jumped to a whole new level within a single day. He would surely leave all of her students in the dust if they were not careful.

Speaking of which, Asahina glanced back at the exhausted Hyuga. Kori had been Naruto's training partner nearly the whole time. Their immense difference in chakra level was clear by now. Although the jonin clearly had higher control over her chakra reserves, Naruto had more of it to waste. The poor girl was spent and there was no room for anyone to complain that she hadn't been an adequate sparring partner.

"You did well. I see why Kakashi-senpai likes you so much." Yamato praised the young jonin generously.

Breathless, the young girl muttered, "Was nothing."

"It was certainly uncommon." Sai assured her, a smile on his pale features, "With such a big difference in chakra levels, you had to fairly distribute what little you have amongst so many rounds of sparring. It was like watching a child go at it with a grown man. It probably would have been better if you had asked for help but I'm sure you tried your best with what little you have."

"Uhh…" Speechless, she stared back at him.

Asahina didn't know what to think with this strange boy. The words were clearly like an indirect insult but the tone of voice he used made it seem like he was attempting to praise her. Attempting is the key word there because he was failing miserably.

Finally, Kori seemed to realize what was going on and she smiled, "Thanks."

Sai smiled back cluelessly because she hadn't called him out on the words that would have been insulting if he had said them to anyone else, "You're welcome."

"Hn." Asahina hummed in displeasure, giving her student a narrow look that asked why she didn't call him out on his rudeness. Asahina had a bad first impression of Sai and she had never gotten over it. To her, Sai was a boy who was reading the wrong kind of books. In other words, he was a bigger pervert than Kakashi.

Kori simply smiled and shrugged, "Good luck on your mission. Return safely."

Sai was thrown off by the new set of parting words. He had only read about 'see you later' and 'goodbye' and the like. He knew that he was to return 'see you later' with 'okay, see you later' or something of the sort but he was at a loss for how to reciprocate her words. No one had wished him a safe return on a mission before.

Flustered, he asked, "I haven't quite learned what I'm supposed to say in return to that one."

She blinked at him with her white eyes and he was further thrown off. Was he not supposed to say that out loud?

The Hyuga simply smiled at him for a brief moment and said, "You could just say that you'll return safely."

"But how do I know that I'll return safely?" He asked, confused, "I do not wish to lie to you."

"Then you could say that you'll try."

"Oh. I'll try." He repeated, "Is that all? That sounds rather short for such kind words."

"Uhh… If you absolutely must say something else then you could just say thank you?" She suggested.

"Thank you?"

"Thank you." She repeated.

"Err… No. I was saying 'thank you' belatedly."

"Oh." She laughed quietly, "Sure. No problem. … Belatedly."

…

"And what am I supposed to say to that?" He murmured with a troubled expression.

"That could be the end of the conversation."

"Oh. Were you ending it?"

"No but I'm saying that you have to go now." She gestured to his teammates that were watching him with pitying looks, "They're waiting for you."

"Oh!" He turned and was prepared to hurry away.

"Sai!" A sharp call drew his attention one last time, "Return safely."

He smiled now that he knew what the response was supposed to be, "I'll try. Thank you."

"No problem." She laughed quietly as he continued on his way.

"He's a freak." Asahina pointed out rudely.

"He's just uncertain." Kori corrected, "He reminds me of Gaara-sama."

In Asahina's head she confirmed it, Yeah. He reminds you of a freak.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

The dawn of a new day brings about the light of the sun and the smell of food. Kai loved the mornings. Or at least he used to long ago.

"Would you just shut up already?" Kai grumbled as he fiance went on and on about how she was knitting him a scarf with multiple colors and all her love and whatnot, "I don't want it."

Kai's father chuckled to himself more than anything, "She tries hard for you, Kai. Do not be so ungrateful."

"Yes, sir." He groaned reluctantly, a scowl taking its place on his face immediately. He was starting to hate mornings with his family. The mornings he used to love were now the most dreaded part of the day. It never failed to put him in a bad mood, "Thanks for the food."

Kai's mother called out with worry as she did every morning when he stood up and left the table without looking back. He used to eat endlessly. His stomach was a bottomless pit and now he would only eat on the days he came home late from a mission while everyone else was asleep. It was unhealthy. She frowned as the men around the table continued to eat without so much as a glance in the direction of their family's youngest shinobi.

Kai treaded lightly until he was out of the house and then he was a storm of anger. He pushed through the crowd of people on the busy morning streets with hatred flowing off every inch of his body. People naturally avoided him, all but one.

"Saizo?" A soft voice called out to him.

All the anger he felt was suddenly dissipated and his scowl slipped off his face as he caught the first glimpse of the kunoichi coming towards him from the opposite flow of the crowd, "K-Kori!"

"Good morning." She murmured the first greeting, "It's rare to see you walking around so early."

His mind cranked out broken sentences but he was unable to form any thoughts save for one, It's a good morning now that I've seen you.

The growling of his stomach broke the silence that was created from his lack of decent thoughts. A dark blush spread across his face as she stared at him with those pure white eyes of hers.

"A-Ah. It's not like I'm hungry or anything." He said in a belated rush, "Good morning, by the way."

Her confused expression broke into a small smile and a quiet laugh, "Want to have breakfast with me?"

For the first time he noticed the brown paper bag of groceries in her slender arms. He hesitated.

She knew him too well, "I'll just go and drop this stuff off at home and we can go find a restaurant. Either that or we can go back to the grocery store and buy more."

"Let's just go to a restaurant." He murmured in embarrassment. Sure he would like to eat her homemade food but that would be too much trouble. He ate too much, too fast to request such a thing.

"I'll just run home and drop this off and then I'll meet you there." She suggested.

"I'll walk with you." He grumbled, treading after her with much lighter steps than when he had been practically stomping down the street a moment ago, "Your brother's not home is he?"

"He left early saying that Gai-sensei was going to come and find him if he was late." She grinned, "He said that Gai-sensei would scream at the top of his lungs right outside the gate."

"Good." He grunted, his mood was already the complete opposite from the stormy morning anger.

Just a few moments later, they had dropped the groceries off at her home and had taken to the streets once more. His joyous mood dropped into the sewers when he saw Toshizo's familiar mop of black hair coming towards them. He internally groaned and prayed for Kori to miss their approaching companion in the crowd but as sharp as a Hyuga should be, her eyes had already settled on their teammate before he had even gotten to wish for a quiet morning between the two of them.

"Toshizo." She called out softly and the chunin's smile grew wide in return, "Good morning."

"Kori-san!" The wannabe puppet master grinned, "Good morning. Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Saizo and I were just about to go get something to eat. Want to go together?" She offered and Kai mentally murdered the dark-haired teen.

"Uhh… Actually, I have some place to be." Toshizo laughed awkwardly, obviously catching onto the blond's deadly warning, "Err… I have to go to do… some… err…"

"Kori?" Another familiar voice and a familiar scent.

Kai's nose crinkled, "Wet dog."

"Kiba." Kori greeted the newcomer quickly, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Nah." The dog-ninja grumbled, "Mom kicked me out for forgetting to put the pills into Kuromaru's food. That's just not fair. But hey, this is great! Let's have breakfast together!"

"Perfect." The Hyuga clapped her hands together, pleased. She turned for a final confirmation from Toshizo, "Would you like to have breakfast together after all?"

"Err… Sure." The dark-haired teen relented, an apologetic smile was the only compensation he could offer Kai.

The blond's sour expression had returned. His morning had been ruined twice now. It just couldn't get any worse.

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

"IBIKI!" Aya screamed at the top of her lungs in pure joy, "I did it! He's alive! He didn't disappear!"

"Yes. Yes." Ibiki acknowledged his apprentice's success, "You did well."

"Does that mean that I can torture real people now?" She grinned as if she expected a positive response.

"If you can do it one more time." Ibiki said sternly.

"Piece of cake!" Or so it should have been.

When the clone appeared, she activated her technique. The room began to shroud itself in mist, the temperature dropped harshly. From his viewpoint, Ibiki could only see two silhouettes in the thick fog. An icy pulse cut through the air once, twice, three times. A mirror of ice began to form between the two dark shadows hidden in the mist.

He heard her soft voice beckoning to her victim like the Sirens of Greek myths that called sailors to their deaths on the rocky coasts of their island. The clone struggled in vain as she commanded, "Look deep into the mirror. Tell me what you see there."

The clones murmured deep professions of love towards the person in the mirror.

"That's not it." Aya's voice did not give away her appearance. That was not the same voice she used in her day to day life. "Don't you see the knife?"

"What knife?" The clone's voice was shaking, a distortion of the mist that signalled to her a victory over his sense of sight.

"That knife dangling above your hand but don't be afraid." Her voice was gentle and yet it sounded so eerie, "I can see it."

"Will you get rid of it for me?" A fearful plea.

"No. I only meant that I can see how it is positioned." The sweet voice turned to one of pure evil, "It will only take one of your fingers."

A curling scream from the clone's throat and then it was gone. The mist vanished all at once and the ice of the mirror shattered and fell to the floor before disappearing. Aya stood in the now-empty room and blinked at the bare floor before her as if she couldn't understand what had just happened.

"Heh." Ibiki snickered, "It seems to me like you need more practice. Taking off a finger from a clone? Come now. Even I can see that you've inflicted too much damage."

Aya let out a childish shriek, her voice had returned to it's normal almost obnoxious pitch, "NO! It's not fair! If it was a real person I could probably take off a finger!"

"Yes, well this isn't a real person." Ibiki said cruelly, leaving her to throw another tantrum in the room as he stepped out, "Better luck next time."

"I hate you!"

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

"Welcome home, Kakashi-sensei!" The cheer from Asahina's students welcomed the copy ninja from the harsh battle to a warm and homely atmosphere.

"Oh?" A soft smile curved up behind the mask of the copy ninja, "It's been a while since I've seen you kids all gathered up in one place"

"Well it's the first time in a long time that you haven't been hospitalized after your mission." Kai snorted, getting an elbow in the gut from his dark-haired teammate.

"Is that how you kids see me now?" Kakashi sweatdropped.

"Kakashi says he has some news for you kids." Asahina reminded her lover sharply before he could wander onto a useless topic, "It sounded important."

"Hmm. Well, you're not going to like it." The copy ninja turned his single visible eye onto the group of young shinobi, "With the return of Naruto and the addition of Sai, my team is complete again. We're a solid team now so I won't be able to look after you any longer. The five of you have been randomly forming groups and that's been working for you up until now but it's been decided by the higher ups that you'll form an official three man team now."

"What?" Kai spat bitterly, "We've done just fine up until now. What three man team?"

"You're saying someone else is going to lead this team?" Kori concluded before the details could be said, "Who's being removed?"

"Yui." Kakashi said gravely, "Danzo has officially removed Yui from Team Asahina's roster… In fact, Team Asahina is officially disbanded."

"What?!" Kai slammed his palm on the table hard enough to crack it, "You can't do that to us! There's no way we can operate as well with another team! And you said three man! So who else is leaving this team?!"

"I'm getting there." The copy ninja moved towards the closed and locked window and pushed it open, "But first, I'll introduce the man who was chosen to lead your team from this moment on."

Sounds of annoyance and disdain came up from the young ninjas as a familiar masked figure stepped into the room through the window. Short hair the color of ash bristled in the wind, the hilt of a blade glinted in the sunlight, and the silent treading of the ANBU ops' footsteps were so familiar despite the short time that the young shinobi had known this man.

The masked slipped off to reveal the face of the man that would lead this team from this moment forward. His eyes were a deep dark brown, his skin a fair tone. A blank expression was the trademark of the ANBU ops of the Root.

"Kirishima… Yashiro?" Asahina stared wide-eyed at the man that had invaded her home. They stared at each other stiffly for a long moment in awkward silence.

"It's been a while, Asahina." Touga finally spoke, his dark brown eyes shining with an unidentifiable emotion.

"Yeah."

"Ahem." Kakashi cleared his throat as a sharp interruption, "Kirishima Touga will be taking on the role of your team's captain. Your three man cell will take on simple tasks at first as you get situated with each other's abilities and attitudes."

"You still haven't said who else is dropping out." Kai growled, "Aya hasn't been part of our missions since she's joined the Interrogation Squad and Yui's dropping out. Who else are you going to take?!"

Kai knew before he asked. He dreaded the answer but he needed to know it now. He couldn't take the suspense. He wanted to object right that very moment.

"Kori will be temporarily dropped from your team to do work in the village." The copy ninja said without softening the blow, "Your three man cell will consist of you, Kirishima Touga, and Toshizo until further notice. Kori has been selected to assist Iruka in the classroom."

"That's like demoting her!" The blond raised his fist before his voice, "This team has done just fine without an experienced leader until now so why are you doing this to us now?!"

"It's not like that. Kori is learning the inner workings of this village's training system." Kakashi's eye swiveled around to the white-eyed shinobi, "That's most likely because Tsunade-sama is assessing her ability to take on genin subordinates in the near future. It's a great honor to be selected at her age."

"That's not fair."

"Don't misunderstand the situation." Kakashi explained, "She's on temporary leave from field work but if you ever need backup, she'll be the first to be dispatched. There's always more for you to learn and do. Kori is just taking that next step."

Kai's heart lurched bitterly. There was nothing more he could say but his entire being protested being separated from the Hyuga that so kindly lead their team forward.

"Touga is an adequate leader so you'll learn a lot." The copy ninja understood their feelings on a higher level, "This is not goodbye. For you this in an opportunity to move forward, you will fight together again someday."

"B-But this is so sudden." Toshizo finally spoke up, realization settling in, "Why now?"

"It was inevitable. Every team splits up someday." Touga said as emotionlessly as ever, "Whether you get back together or not is up to fate."

"My team is back together now." Kakashi was not certain that Touga was speaking as emotionlessly as the others thought, "You'll be reunited someday."

"Some are never reunited. Do not give them false hope." The gray-haired ANBU op murmured, "We are one team now but tomorrow we may be split up. The future is in the hands of fate. We are shinobi. Do not let those goodbyes bother you."

The mood was harshly dampened. Kakashi's welcome home was long forgotten. No one moved. No one spoke. The sound of the clock on the opposite wall seemed deafening in the slow moments of nothingness where each individual was beginning to take in the reality of things. They would not be together any longer.

"No." The Hyuga who had been silent up until this very moment broke the heavy onset of silence, "We will be one team again. We'll fight together again soon."

"That's not for you to decide." Touga was the voice of pessimistic truth, "I lead this group now."