Chapter 3: First Impressions Are Always Important

Mari took a bite of dango and savored the little burst of flavor. She, Rei, and Daichi were all sitting at their favorite dango shop waiting for Shikaku-sensei to join them. Despite no longer being his students he kept in regular contact with each of them and took a certain amount of fatherly pride in their accomplishments, so him asking them to join him for dango wasn't strange at all. The fact that he was over twenty minutes late, was.

"So, did Shikaku-sensei tell either one of you why he wanted to meet with us today?" Rei asked curiously.

Mari shook her head. "Nope, just told me to show up and I'd get free dango." She took another bite and sighed happily. "That man knows me too well."

Daichi scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe he just wanted to spend some time with us ya know? It's kinda been a while since we've all been free."

"I guess that's possible." Rei agreed propping her elbows against the table cupping her face in her hands. "But this is Shikaku-sensei we're talking about here. He never does anything without having a reason for it."

"I'm hurt by your suspicion Rei."

Rei and Mari turned their heads to look over their shoulder. Shikaku Nara stood in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest, a small amused look on his face. Instead of being embarrassed Rei shrugged her shoulders casually.

"Call it like I see it sensei. You're a sneaky bas –," she faulted when she noticed the little girl half hiding behind Shikaku. " – ket stealer…"

Mari shook her head in disappointment while Shikaku and the girl joined them at the table. Shikaku rested his hand upon the girl's back.

"Everyone, this is Akira Fukiyomi. She's just recently been promoted to chunin." Shikaku told them ignoring the wide-eyed astonishment on the three sixteen-year-olds faces. "Akira, these are my former students; Mariko Senju, Daichi Uchiha, and Rei Mitokado."

Akira gave a polite bow of her head making her bright red hair fall into her face a little. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Mari was the first to regain her composure. She gave Akira a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you too Akira."

"Yeah, and congratulations on becoming a chunin," Rei said.

Akira smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

"Just how old are you?" Daichi blurted out.

Mari and Akira whipped their heads around to glare at the Uchiha who had the decency to look ashamed. Mari turned apologetically to Akira.

"Forgive Daichi Akira, he has a severe case of foot-in-mouth-itis."

Rei nodded folding her arms across her chest. "Yeah, which is only curable with my-fist-in-his-face-cillin."

Daichi sunk in his seat, pale cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Shikaku let out a long weary sigh, wishing, not for the first time, that he had a nice drink. Akira giggled, a little amused by the older girls antics.

"It's okay, I get that question a lot actually," Akira assured them. She turned to Daichi with a grin. "I just turned eleven a few days ago."

Rei let out a low whistle. "That's pretty impressive."

"That's badass." Mari corrected her making the younger girl's grin grow even bigger. "Did any of your teammates pass too?"

Akira shook her head. "No."

"Which brings up the reason I called you all here today," Shikaku announced, outright ignoring Rei's cry of vindication. "Though Akira has rightfully earned her place as a chunin she's still a little too green around the gills. Which is why I'd like you three to take her on as…a junior member so to speak. This could be good practice if any of you are considering a future as a jonin leader."

Mari perked up at that, just like he knew she would. Still intent on adopting the Uzumaki twins when she turned eighteen in two years, the young woman was starting to look into alternative jobs that would allow her a slightly more stable schedule to accommodate having children at home. Even Rei seemed a little intrigued by the idea.

"You're kidding sensei! I couldn't even imagine trying to train her." Daichi sputtered. "She's just a cute little kid!"

He reached out his hand to ruffle Akira's hair. In a flash, her hand shot out and twisted his wrist in a painful direction. The boy just barely managed to suppress his cry of shock/pain.

"I may be as cute as a harmless bunny, but I will rip your guts out like a rabid wolf without a second thought." She warned him in a low voice that sounded unnatural in such a little girl. Her face had even seemed to transform sinisterly, giving her a very demonic aura.

She released Daichi's hand slowly her face becoming pleasant again when a waitress arrived with more dango and tea. Everyone stared at her with wide eyes while she munched away happily. Mari turned to Shikaku with a grin.

"We're keeping her."

XxX

"I can't believe someone actually gave you a student."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Mari glared up at Kakashi as the two headed towards the orphanage. Kakashi was in his normal ANBU uniform with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He looked completely unaffected by the tiny blonde's ire.

"It means, that they must be crazy leaving an impressionable child in your and Rei's care," Kakashi elaborated.

Mari snorted. "Trust me when I say that Akira is anything but an impressionable child." She gave him an annoyed look. "And didn't I tell you not to wear your ANBU uniform today? I know for a fact that you have more than just the one outfit. Would it kill you to dress like a regular human being for one day?"

Kakashi sighed turning his gaze up to the sky. "Remind me why I'm doing this again?"

"Because I either appealed to that little piece of humanity in your mostly frozen heart, or you just got tired of me badgering you to do it," Mari said simply then shrugged. "I'm not sure which one it is."

"Probably a bit of both," Kakashi admitted in exasperation. "And I don't see what the big deal is about my clothes. They're just kids, they aren't going to know what it means."

Mari stared at him for a moment before nodding her head. "Okay. Whatever you say."

Kakashi eyed her wearily. Whenever Mari gave in so easily it usually meant something was up. He stayed on his guard even as they entered the orphanage. Mari approached a frazzled looking middle aged woman with dark hair pulled into a messy bun.

"Good afternoon Hanako." Mari greeted the woman in a polite manner, though Kakashi could hear the underlying force. This was the woman she'd complained to him about.

Hanako gave her a cursory look then went back to her business. "They're outside."

Mari gave a curt nod then walked towards the back with Kakashi following after her. Outside all of the children were playing amongst each other laughing and smiling. Carefree like children should be. All but two. Kakashi's eye was drawn to them immediately. He felt his throat constrict painfully. Mari had told him on numerous occasions that the twins were carbon copies of their parents, but he hadn't been prepared for this.

Naruto had Minato's golden spikey hair and bright blue eyes, but his smile was all Kushina. He was hopping around from foot to foot in a strange sort of dance making Noriko giggle into her hands. Noriko, just slightly smaller than her brother, despite being a full eight minutes older, had the trademark Uzumaki hair, with two pieces in pigtails while the rest fell to her shoulders and Kushina's violet eyes.

He followed Mari a bit reluctantly as she made her way to them. Noriko was the first to notice them. Her eyes lit up as she jumped up off the ground. Naruto followed his sister's gaze and a wide smile spread across his face.

"Mari!" they called out in unison as they rushed to her.

Mari dropped down to one knee with her arms held out wide. She laughed as the twins threw themselves into her, little arms twining around her neck. She pulled away for a moment to look down at them.

"Is it just my imagination or are you guys getting bigger each time I see you?" she asked them.

Naruto grinned up at her as he nodded enthusiastically. "I grewed again! Soon Im'a be taller than you! Beliebe it!"

Mari laughed reaching up to tweak Naruto's nose. "That doesn't really take much sweetheart." She noticed that Noriko was leaning against her silently. "What's up Nori?"

Noriko pointed at Kakashi. "Who that?"

Mari glanced up at Kakashi then looked back to the twins. "Remember the friend that I've told you about? This is him, Kakashi."

Naruto's eyes lit up, he rushed to Kakashi's side and grabbed hold of his leg. "Mari said you is a ninja like her! Are you?"

Kakashi glanced up to Mari for some kind of help, unsure what he was supposed to do. The blonde was grinning smugly at him with Noriko in her lap, offering no assistance whatsoever. He glanced back down to the wide-eyed child.

"Uh…yeah…"

"That's so cool!" Naruto gushed. He threw a fist into the air. "I'ma grow up an' be a ninja too! Beliebe it! So is Nori!" he turned to his sister for confirmation. "Right sis?"

Noriko gave her brother a smile as she nodded. "For sure."

For the next half hour, Kakashi was bombarded with question after question after question from Naruto about anything and everything ninja. It was a little exasperating, but Kakashi found himself agreeing with Mari's past statements about Naruto.

"You just can't be around Naruto for more than a few minutes without feeling like the world is a better place. He's like…seeing the sun after days of rain…"

Mari sat on the ground with Noriko in her lap. She'd taken the girl's hair down and proceeded to braid it in two low pigtails reminiscent of the way she used to wear her own hair when she was a genin. The little redhead seems perfectly content and spoke to Mari occasionally, or to her brother whenever he directed something to her, but other than that she was pretty quiet, a stark contrast to Naruto. But the way she was looking at Kakashi – it reminded him of the way Minato-sensei used to look at him. Like she could see right through him. It was a bit unnerving.

"Lunch time!"

All of the kids rushed to get inside, all but Naruto and Nori, Kakashi noticed. Neither one of them made any kind of move towards the building. Mari gently moved Noriko off her lap and stood up dusting off the back of her skirt.

"I'll go get your guys lunches and we can eat out here. How does that sound?" Mari asked the kids with an easy smile.

They both nodded exuberantly.

"Can you read to us to Mari?" Noriko asked hopefully.

Mari nodded. "Sure. Say Naruto, why don't you come help me. You can pick out a book and carry the lunch out."

"Okay!" Naruto agreed taking Mari's hand.

"We'll be back soon," Mari called over her shoulder to Kakashi and Noriko as they walked to the building.

Kakashi felt a brief flash of unease at the prospect of being left alone with Noriko. He could handle Naruto's enthusiasm fairly easily, it was a bit similar to the way Mari used to act when they were kids, but Noriko…her quiet intense stares reminded him a little too painfully of himself…

They sat in silence for a while before Noriko turned her gaze on him.

"Your one of those mask peoples that watches me and Naruto, aren't you?" she asked him.

Mentally Kakashi was completely floored. A two-year-old had noticed ANBU, ninja that were supposed to be renowned for their stealth and infiltration. It was only thanks to his years of keeping tight control on his emotions that he was able to hide his surprise.

"Hmm, I dunno what you're talking about Noriko." He said playing dumb.

Noriko titled her head to the side as she continued to look at him in that unnerving way. "You wear the same clothes as them. An' I think I've seen your hair before too." She brushed a piece of stray hair from her face. "Mari says that they're good peoples who makes sure we're safe."

Kakashi nodded his head softly. "They are."

Noriko stared at him for a second longer before she seemed to come to a silent conclusion and went to gazing up at the clouds. Kakashi's shoulders slumped a bit when he no longer felt like he was being scrutinized. He was even more grateful when he noticed Mari and Naruto heading back their way.

"Everything alright here?" Mari asked curiously.

Noriko nodded with a grin. "We just talked." She looked to her brother. "Did you get my book?"

"Beliebe it!" Naruto held it out to her.

Noriko took it from him with a soft thank you. Mari was surprised when the little girl moved into Kakashi's lap and held her book out to him.

"Read to me?"

Kakashi seemed surprised too for a moment, but took the book and began to read. Mari watched them from the corner of her eye with a barely concealed smile.

XxX

When they left that evening both twins were more subdued than they'd been all day. Before they left Noriko had whispered something into Mari's ear. The older girl had seemed amused by it. As they walked through the village Mari turned her dark gaze up to Kakashi.

"So what'd you think of them?"

"They're good kids." He admitted honestly. "Naruto's a little excitable, but his heart is in the right place. If he works hard he'll probably become a great ninja. And Noriko…well…she's very observant."

Mari snorted. "She called you out on being ANBU didn't she?"

Kakashi ran a hand through his silver hair. "Yeah…you were right about not wearing the uniform…"

"Damn straight I was right. I'm always right."

"…I wouldn't go that far…" Kakashi said a little monotonously. "What did Noriko say to you?"

Mari grinned cheekily at him.

"She said I could keep you."

Personal Headcanon: Children in the Naruto-verse, more specifically, ninja children like the twins, develop faster than average children. (In our world or theirs) So that's why Naruto and Noriko are a bit more verbal than regular two-year-olds (and to be honest they're closer to three at this point in my timeline).