The Legend of Konoha's Shooting Star

Friend or Foe?

"Okay, this afternoon we'll introduce your jōnin senseis," Iruka said with a tense smile. Team 7 (well, mostly Naruto and Sakura) had been really noisy throughout the rest the team assignments. "Until then, take a break."

"Hey, Naruto, why don't you go invite Sakura to join us?" April suggested as everyone began dispersing for lunch.

"Eh!?" Naruto said, blushing a little bit as his heart skipped a beat at the thought. "You don't mind?"

"Well, she's a little annoying, but since we're a team we might as well try to get along, right?" April said with a small smile. "I'll be waiting with our bentos in the usual place.

"Yeah!!" Naruto said excitedly as he jumped up to go find Sakura. "Great idea!"

'He hasn't realized that means I'll also be inviting Sasuke yet, has he?' she thought wryly as she stood up and left to find their fourth teammate. 'Oh, well. He probably won't agree to it anyway...'

Kakashi finished his visit to April and Naruto's apartments with plenty of time to spare. He was leaning against the side of the top level of a  building near the ninja academy, looking at his bells and remembering his old team and how they had to pass a test similar to the one he was about to give, when he spotted a pair of familiar purple pigtails bouncing around on the ground below.

"Hey, Sasuke!" April called out, giving him a friendly wave as she approached the stoic Uchiha.

"No, I don't want to go out with you," Sasuke stated bluntly, furrowing his brow in annoyance as he shot her a look that would send any normal girl running.

"Well, that's a relief," April deadpanned in response, completely unfazed. He must have wandered to the edge of the school grounds in an attempt to shake his rabid fans. "Don't worry, I'm not interested in younger guys. I just wanted to invite you to eat lunch with us, since we're on the same team now."

'Oh, she's trying to lay some groundwork before our meeting. Not a bad idea,' Kakashi thought.

"Eat with you and that loser? No thanks," Sasuke said rudely, turning his back on her. A vein throbbed on April's temple.

"Hey!" she yelled after him. "I know you've been through something no person should ever have to go through..." Sasuke stopped. "But just because something horrible happened to you doesn't give you the right to be horrible to everyone else. Everyone's fighting their own battle! We all have dead people. So stop being such a victim and act more like what you are—a survivor!"

"Are you done?" Sasuke asked coldly, shooting her a glare over his shoulder before continuing on his way. She had no idea what she was talking about. Everyone always said they understood, but they never did. She wasn't any different from the rest!

"Ah...!" April gasped in realization once he had rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, falling down into a squatting position as she held her head. "What the heck am I doing? You came here to make friends not, enemies!" she scolded herself.

"..." Kakashi stared down at her and watched as she picked herself up and walked off to go meet up with the others. What an interesting kid. Maybe he should take the opportunity to see what the rest of his team was like while he was at it...

"Hm?" April said, stopping for a moment to look around when she got the feeling she was being followed. She looked up, down, and all around, but didn't see anyone. 'Guess I just imagined it...' she thought with a shrug as she kept going.

'Not bad. I guess I'll have to keep my chakra suppressed around this one," Kakashi thought as he slipped out of his hiding place and continued to follow her.