Hello. For those of you who are coming from my other story, don't worry, I'm not going to abandon it. I'm just going to do this one alongside it.
Warning: OC centric
-x-X-x-X-x-
She awoke to the sound of the alarm clock, but she refused to open her eyes.
Kyoko would have been a wallflower, if it wasn't for her looks, despite the fact that she constantly tried to be a wallflower anyways. The problems it led to eventually got bad enough that she almost wished for the old academy graduation age: age twelve. After the Third Shinobi World War, the requirements to graduate had changed. The average age for graduation was fifteen, sometimes sixteen, depending on the student's birthday.
Supposedly, it was to create more responsible, more mature, and more intelligent shinobi and kunoichi. The new program was tougher, too. It required basic mastery of the tree climbing chakra exercise and at least one additional technique aside from the trio of academy techniques.
However, Kyoko didn't like it that much. She appreciated it, but at the same time, she didn't. The additional three years allowed students to go through physical changes while surrounded by a class of twenty six other students instead of a team that had three other people on it. Not to mention that the bulk of the class were hormonal and a little crazy. That wasn't a good combination in Kyoko's opinion.
Finally, she opened her eyes to turn off the alarm clock, which had been blaring for the last few minutes. Sitting up and pushing the blanket off her, Kyoko stood up and crossed the room towards the alarm clock. Grabbing it, she crouched down and unplugged it from the wall, letting sweet, sweet silence rule over the room.
How she loved the silence. The quiet didn't hurt her ears.
Plugging the alarm clock back in and fixing the time, she realized that she only had half an hour until she had to be at the academy. Kyoko stood up, stretching, before walking over to the dresser. There was a full-sized mirror next to the dresser on the ground, leaning against the wall. It didn't take long for her to quickly get dressed. Taking a step back, she looked at herself in the mirror to see if she messed up. After all, she didn't want to look bad for team placements.
Staring back at her was a silvery white-haired girl with a pale complexion and bright blue eyes. She had her hair up in a loose ponytail, the tips of her hair reaching down to the middle of her back. On her head, instead of the normal band that she wore to cover … things that people weren't supposed to have, she wore her headband, much like how she had seen Sakura Haruno wear hers. The problem was that she was short and had the hourglass figure, which got her more cat calls and attention than she preferred.
But she wouldn't complain so long as nobody touched her.
Kyoko wore a navy blue and white striped tank top, which was a rather snug fit with her chest. She had loose navy blue arm warmers to go with it, which had hidden storage seals (gifted to her by her older brother) on the insides of the loose arm warmers. She wore a navy blue skirt that reached down to just above her knees and a pair of navy blue and white striped thigh-high socks. Finally, she had a pair of navy blue ninja shoes… not to be confused with sandals.
She knew better than to wear socks with sandals.
Then something sparked in her mind followed by her smacking her fist against her palm, "I forgot!"
She left the room, walking down the hallway of the apartment. She peaked into the living room and saw a man, who, like her, had silvery white hair. He wore the standard Jounin attire and a black facemask. Although, he did wear his headband in such a way that it covered his left eye. He was asleep on the couch, or so it seemed, but Kyoko knew better.
"Hi, Kakashi-nii-san," Kyoko briefly said, entering the living room and looking around. Kakashi sat up and yawned, blinking lazily at Kyoko.
"Looking for something, Neko?"
Turning around, Kyoko saw Kakashi holding something up. Her face lit up with happiness as she quickly grabbed the object in his hand and then hugged him, "Thank you!"
She quickly stood back up, hugging her staff, holding it in a way that was almost loving. It was a plain black metal staff with a few bandages wrapped around the middle.
He chuckled and stood up. Kyoko could tell he smirked beneath his mask. Before she could react, he pat her on the head. She leaned into the touch, letting out a soft and quiet purring noise. It wasn't something that she did because it was her older brother doing it, it was just that she couldn't help it. Almost anybody could get that reaction out of her by patting her on the head, much to her dismay.
Kakashi pulled her headband back a little and pet… that area with his gloved hand, quickly breaking Kyoko from her trance. She backed up and pulled the headband back into place, frowning.
He shrugged, "I still have no clue why you were born with cat ears."
She puffed her cheeks and looked down, pouting. "Nii-san, you know I don't like them. Why do you keep doing that?"
Chuckling, he stretched and walked towards the window in the hallway, "It's my job to tease you. That's what big brothers do, ne? Anyways, I better get going. But so should you: don't you have team placements to attend?"
With that, he vanished out the window. She sighed and left the apartment through use of the door, like a normal and sane person. After all, she didn't have time to get breakfast. Kyoko figured she could get something to eat later.
-x-X-x-X-x-
Kyoko arrived a few minutes early, taking her seat in the middle of the second to last row. She couldn't stop fidgeting with the hem of her skirt ever so slightly – something she did when she was nervous. Two people walked up to her and sat down on either side. One of them faceplanted against the table while the other was eating from a bag of potato chips.
"You ready for team placements?" The one to her left spoke. She turned to him, briefly noting that, despite having a pineapple head with a spiky bun, his hair looked soft. Kyoko resisted the urge to reach out and touch it.
She nodded, "I'm a little nervous though. I don't really want to be put into a team with anybody other than you and Choji. Hinata and Shino are fine too, but I might not be put onto a team with any of you guys on it."
He yawned and faceplanted against the table again, using his arms as a pillow. "While it's troublesome, you have a point."
The one to her right, Choji, spoke up between mouthfuls, "Ne, Shikamaru, Kyoko, I think we'll be fine. Maybe they're arranging teams in a different way this year, so who knows."
Kyoko nodded and turned to the table, beginning to draw on a notepad she pulled out from a drawer underneath the table. She hoped that, just maybe, so long as she wasn't looking up, that person wouldn't approach-
"Hey, Kyoko, Kiba's coming," Shikamaru drawled out, yawning. "Troublesome."
She couldn't help but glance up, only to wince immediately. Unfortunately, Shikamaru was right. Kiba stopped in front of the table, directly in front of Kyoko's spot, and leaned against it with his elbow. His dog, which used to be a tiny and cute puppy that could sit on the top of his head, was fully grown and standing next to him. Kyoko could've sworn that if the dog stood up on two paws, it would've been taller than her with ease.
Kiba flashed a grin at the trio, but anybody could see that it was directed at Kyoko.
"Hello Kyoko-chan. After team placements, want to go get some lunch together?" Kiba asked. Kyoko knew what that meant. But she also knew how to dodge it.
She tilted her head to the side slightly and looked at him thoughtfully, "Well, since you are one of my friends, and since Shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun are my friends too, can they come?"
The boy sitting in front of where Kiba was standing winced when he heard Kyoko's reply. Kiba's grin faltered slightly, not quite expecting that answer. He glanced down to his dog, Akamaru, who yipped at him. Then he glanced back up to Kyoko.
"That is true, but what if it's just you and me? I'll pay."
Kyoko smiled nervously, "Um… does that mean that Shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun can come too?"
At that point, Kyoko knew she was grasping desperately for a chance to escape. She knew full well what Kiba wanted, and it made her very uncomfortable. After all, Kiba was one of the first ones to start giving her cat calls. Not to mention the occasional inappropriate comment. She wasn't stupid – she knew what it meant.
Sadly, Kiba also knew she was grasping for straws and had run out of excuses. Most people knew that Kyoko was horrible with coming up with excuses. Kiba was among the people that knew it, too.
"Maybe if they're your teammates."
Oh she was so screwed. Kyoko internally panicked. There was a very high chance that neither Shikamaru nor Choji would be placed on the same team she was placed on. That meant she'd have to deal with other hormonal teens… and her only friends were Shikamaru and Choji. Both her friends were her friends for a good reason: they only saw her as a friend, just how she only saw them as friends.
Kyoko thanked whatever god above saved her when Iruka chose that time to walk into the room.
It didn't take long for the class to settle down and listen to his lecture about teamwork. Many sighs of relief filled the room when he got around to listing off team placements. Every now and then, a few people would cheer while others would sigh in dismay.
"-Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hatake Kyoko will be Team Seven. Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Haruno Sakura will be Team Eight. Team Nine is still in use. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino will be Team Ten. That's all for now."
Kyoko couldn't stop the nasty twitch that developed in her eye the moment she heard what team she had been placed on. Shikamaru pat her on the back, trying to be at least somewhat comforting. Choji offered her a chip, which was his equivalent to what Shikamaru was doing.
But she noticed something.
A boy near the front row stood up. His black hair was spiky in the back, almost making his head look like a duck. She tried to muffle a giggle. It got her every time she saw him. Eventually, it got to the point where she just referred to him as "Ducky."
"You didn't say my name. Am I not going to be trained?" The boy said. And boy did he sound angry.
Iruka smacked himself, "I forgot, thanks for the reminder. Uchiha Sasuke, you are being placed in an apprenticeship under Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko. Now that I've gotten team placements out, I want you all to know: be back here in an hour. Your Jounin sensei will arrive in an hour to collect you, so you have until then to get lunch."
With that, Iruka left the room.
Kyoko let her face slam down against the table as she let out a groan. She wouldn't have minded being put onto the same team as two other boys, but those two…
Just… no.
Naruto was loud. Very loud. He was almost constantly shouting about something. He wore bright orange, had bright yellow hair, and had bright blue eyes… it was enough to make Kyoko wonder if he was colorblind. Not to mention that he had displayed an inability to differentiate between yellow and orange. He was also constantly pulling what Kiba did to her whenever he wasn't doing it to Sakura. A few years ago, Naruto used to have a pretty obvious crush on Sakura, often begging her for a date. It was around that time that he also developed one for Kyoko…
From then on, it all went downhill for Kyoko.
Kiba was also loud, almost as loud as Naruto, but he knew how to calm himself (most of the time) whenever Kyoko was near. He avoided being loud near her, generally, in an attempt to get her to go out with him. He was never found without Akamaru. If one was absent, so was the other. The two were obviously best friends, but Kyoko still wished that Akamaru was a tiny puppy.
She wouldn't admit that she had an extreme weakness against cute animals that were small enough for her to hold them in both hands.
Her new teammates and a blonde girl walked up to the table. The blonde girl started shouting at Shikamaru and Choji so fast that Kyoko couldn't understand a single thing she said. That was before the blonde girl dragged Kyoko's two friends away and out the door…
Leaving Kyoko alone with her teammates, who happened to be two guys who hit on her… a lot. She faceplanted against the table again, internally screaming and crying at her bad luck. Yes, many would ask her why she didn't like it.
Her answer was simple: lack of social skills.
She was very uncomfortable around most people and often didn't know how to handle situations. It was bad enough that, if she didn't know how to handle something, she would shut down and start using the same excuses over and over.
Kyoko heard her teammates sit next to her. She could almost sense them glaring at each other.
"Hey, Kyoko-chan, do you want to go out to get some lunch with me now?" Kiba asked. Kyoko lifted her head and gently rubbed her face. Surprisingly, she had no marks, not even a hint, that she had just faceplanted against a wooden table.
She slowly turned towards him, "Sure… after all, aren't friends supposed to get lunch together?"
Kiba's grin faltered slightly. Kyoko felt Naruto tap her on the shoulder before asking her the same thing that Kiba had asked. She gave him the same answer that she gave Kiba.
She hated herself right then and there.
Though she supposed it was better than reacting the way Sakura (or almost all of the rest of the class, for that matter) would have reacted. Sakura would have punched them into oblivion. Kyoko, however, tried to defuse or deflect the situation, even if she often struggled to do so.
In the end, she chose to eat, alone, on the roof of the academy.
-x-X-x-X-x-
After lunch, she had gone back and waited in the classroom. Not too long after, Kiba and Naruto joined her in waiting. The class chose to sit according to their teams, although Kyoko found Ducky sitting in his usual spot. Then again, he didn't have a team. He was his team.
Soon, the time came, and many Jounin showed up. They collected their teams and then left. But as the number of teams left diminished and as time went on, no Jounin showed up to collect Team Seven. Kyoko began to wonder why the Jounin sensei was late.
Naruto had other thoughts.
"Did they prank us? Is this some sort of a joke? Do we not get a sensei?!" Naruto started shouting louder and louder as he continued on with his rant.
A couple more hours had passed by the time something happened.
Kyoko was drawing in her notebook again, Naruto was scribbling on the chalkboard at the front of the class, and Kiba was talking to Akamaru about something. The door slowly creaked open to let the final Jounin sensei walk into the room. All three Genin looked up, although Kyoko was the only one to do so in surprise. Naruto and Kiba were pissed.
Before her teammates could begin shouting angrily, Kyoko had blurred to the other side of the room and tackled the man who had walked in.
"Nii-san!"
Kakashi regained his balance and pat her on the head, letting out a chuckle when she let out a soft and quiet purring sound. "Hello, Neko. While I know you are excited to see me, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't try to squeeze me to death before we can do team introductions."
Kiba and Naruto exchanged glances and slowly blinked in surprise.
"What just happened?" Kiba whispered loudly.
Naruto shook his head and whispered back, just as loud, "I have no clue."
-x-X-x-X-x-
Kyoko was seated on the roof, facing Kakashi. Kiba and Naruto were seated on either side of her, not fully sure what was going on. Kakashi gave them an eye-smile. Kyoko no longer felt unlucky. She had her big brother as her sensei, after all. He was the only person she let pat her on the head. Kiba, after seeing Kyoko's reaction to being pat on the head, had tried to do the same thing. However, Kyoko had backed away in time, barely avoiding it.
She made sure to do it in a subtle way, of course.
Kakashi was the first to speak up.
"Well, I'll kick off introductions, hm? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I like some things, I dislike some other things. My hobbies involve some things that some people do and some things that other people don't do. My goal is to do something that a few other people would also like to do."
Naruto and Kiba both deadpanned. Kyoko already knew the answer to most of those questions, such as his likes, dislikes, and his hobbies. But she didn't know his goal.
Kakashi pointed at Naruto, "Introduce yourself."
Naruto glared, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the lord of awesome! I like ramen, trying out new kinds of ramen, Sakura-chan, and Kyoko-chan. I dislike waiting for the three minutes it takes ramen to heat up and I hate Sasuke-teme! My hobbies are eating ramen and playing pranks. My goal is to become to Hokage one day, so that everybody will have to look up to me, dattebayo!"
Kiba snickered and muttered something that sounded like, "I bet he'd sleep with ramen if he could."
Kyoko frowned at Kiba before Kakashi pointed at her, "Alright, the short Neko in the middle, your turn."
She puffed her cheeks up and folded her arms, pouting. "I'm not short."
Naruto put his arm around her shoulders, "Please, you're the shortest person in the class. You are short."
She glared at him, "I'm not that short. Anyways… I'm Hatake Kyoko. I like cats, Kakashi-nii-san, and drawing. I don't like loud noises or being unable to handle social situations. My hobbies are drawing and training with Kakashi-nii-san. My goal is to become a strong kunoichi."
Kakashi nodded and then pointed to Kiba. Kiba started right away, "I'm Inuzuka Kiba. I like dogs, my buddy Akamaru, Kyoko-chan, and fighting. I dislike… something… and people who insult dogs. My hobbies are spending time training or spending time with Akamaru. My goal is to become a strong clan head one day and be the head of Konoha's Hunter Ninja."
Being an Inuzuka, almost anybody could tell what the other thing was that Kiba disliked. Most Inuzuka didn't like cats. Kyoko knew he only skipped saying that because she had just said that she liked cats. She caught the subtle glare Kakashi was giving both Kiba and Naruto.
Naruto broke the awkward silence first.
"So… what's the deal with you and Kyoko-chan?"
Kakashi gave him an eye-smile, but there was a mountain of killing intent behind it. "She's my little sister. Hurt her and I will personally make sure than you will never be able to sire offspring. I may use a dull butter knife to do so."
He opened his eye, "So, we have an understanding?"
Both Naruto and Kiba paled but nodded.
"Good."
-x-X-x-X-x-
Hello… again.
This chapter has been in the making for a few days, which is a long time for the size of this chapter. It isn't very long. I originally made three versions of this chapter. Then I went through and fixed mistakes on all of them. Finally, I discarded two of them and picked this one.
And yes.
Kyoko is Kakashi's sister and she has cat ears.
I don't see the problem.