Chapter 4

(Setsuna's POV)

My eyes fluttered open and I sat up immediatly. Glancing to the other side of the bed, Sentaro was sleeping and his breathing was soft. The clock beside the bed said '6:03' We were supposed to meet up at 5am, so I'm over an hour late.

Sighing inwardly, I gently stepped over Sentaro, making sure not to wake him up in the process and walked into the bathroom with my clothes in hand. Once I was dressed, I brushed through my long midnight blue hair and left it down as usual. I then packed my ninja gear and wrote a note to tell Sentaro where I was, before grabbing my Shamisen and grabbing an apple.

The walk to the training ground was silent as most villagers was still asleep. The some that were out, however, were preparing their shops and small stalls for the busy day ahead of them. As the wind blew, I felt my hair flow all around me freely and I sighed in bliss at the coldness of it.

As I came up towards the training grounds, I noticed Naruto and Sakura almost falling asleep while Sasuke was merely standing up with his arms crossed over his chest. The Uchiha was actually the first to see me appoaching and glared, to which I simply stared at with an expressionless face.

As soon as Naruto and Sakura looked my way, they jumped up and shouted "YOUR LATE!!" There was a short pause as they went silent, awaiting my reply. However, I didn't talk back and walked over to a tree quite a way away from my teammates. Sliding down it, I sat on the ground and placed my Shamisen in my lap. Naruto suddenly came up to me and grinned "Hey! Can you play that for me?" I noticed Sakura and Sasuke lean forward slightly, seeing how I would answer him, but I just nodded once. His grin widened, if that was even possible, and he sat down a few feet away.

Placing the instrument in the correct position, I began playing a calm and soothing song. As the song continued, the air around me swirled softly as if it were dancing along. The leaves that fell from the trees danced along through the wind, before slowly falling to the ground around me.

Once I had finished, everything was silent, really silent. I opened my eyes since when I play, I normally close them, ans saw Naruto and Sakura staring at me in awe. Sasuke was simply smirking for some reason. "That was amazing! I've never heard anybody play like that" Sakura shouted with her hands clasped together. Naruto nodded frequantly in agreement, grinned his usual grin.

Just as I plopped my Shamisen upright beside me, leaning on the tree, Kakashi poofed in. He placed up a hand in a waving position and greeted us "Good morning everyone. Ready for your first day" "Hey! YOUR LATE!" Naruto and Sakura once again shouted in unison. "A cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way" Was his excuse.

He looked us all over and once his gaze shifted to me, he asked "Was that your music the whole village could practically hear?" I nodded 'It's the wind..' "It was amazing wasn't it sensei?" Naruto questioned in glee. Kakashi merely gave a short nod in reply and smiled my way before walking over to three stumps.

Taking out a clock, he placed it on the middle stump "Here we are, it's set for noon-" He then took out three silver bells, which jingled as he gave them a shake "-The task is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me" Naruto and Sakura 'huh'd' in confusion "If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch and will be tied to these stumps" The three had looks of realisation as to why they couldn't eat breakfast. I had an apple, so I was ok with it.

"Wait a minute-" Sakura began "There's four of us, how come there's only three bells?" "Well, that way, at least one of you will be tied to a post. You can use any weapons. If your not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells" Sakura took a step forward "Those weapons are to dangerous sensei" I shook my head and inwardly sighed at their naivety. Kakashi's a jonin, he won't be hurt by a measly kunai or shuriken.

"When I say start, you can begin" Naruto seemed angry for some reason I may have missed while in my thoughts and ran at Kakashi, kunai in hand. However, in the blink of an eye, Kakashi was behind the blond haired boy, his arm twisted around making the kunai point to his head. To the others, they probably couldn't see what had happened as he was so fast, but to me it was as clear as day.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say 'start' yet.." He let Naruto go before continuing "But, you came at me with the full intention of killing me. So.. I'm actually starting to like you guys" The others stared at Kakashi with hints of blush on their cheeks and awe, even Sasuke. "Get ready.. and.. start!" Sasuke and Sakura jumped away into hiding. Sasuke in a tree and Sakura under a bush. Naruto, I didn't think would acutally hide and was to sure come out and fight Kakashi any moment now.

"Are you not going to hide as well Setsuna?" Kakashi asked as he stepped towards me. I simply stared at him and stood up from my current spot of sitting down and grabbed my Shamisen before walking towards the forest. However, just as I stepped past him, I pulled at the top of the instrument in my arms and twisted around, cutting one of the bells off and grabbing it. This all happened in the blink of an eye and by the time Kakashi caught sight of me, I was already gone.

(Kakashi's POV)

"Are you not going to hide as well Setsuna?" I asked the mysterious girl, who continued to lean against the tree with her Shamisen. She didn't speak and simply stared at me before standing up and taking the instrument in her hands. Setsuna walked towards me with an expressionless face and dull eyes. I couldn't help but wonder what could have happened to make her so emotionless.

As soon as she stepped past me, I felt something wrong and turned around. However, as soon as I had, she leaped off into the forest. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and looked down towards the bells, gasping at what I saw. One of the bells were missing. The string had been cut so neatly without me even knowing it.

Quickly shifting my gaze back up to where she previously stood, I stared for moments in shock "How..?"

(Setsuna's POV)

Minutes passed as I sat on a random tree branch overlooking the clearing. Naruto had already been beaten by Kakashi and had just disappeared to go eat something. Sakura had also been beaten by being placed into a genjutsu and Sasuke was currently underground except for his head.

I sighed slightly, knowing exactly what the test was about. Teamwork. However, I wouldn't work with them and neither would they, me.

*Briiiiiiiiiiiiing!*

The alarm went off, meaning the end of the test. I jumped down silently from the tree and walked over to the stump which were only around 50 meters away. Naruto was tied up to one of the posts and kept on squirming while Sasuke and Sakura sat on each side of him. I just decided to sit against a nearby tree away from too much noise. Even from here, however, I could hear the sound of stomaches growling.

Kakashi went on to tell us that no one passed the test. This got Sasuke really angry and he ran at Kakashi, only to be pinned to the ground and sat on. "Let go of Sasuke! You can't step on him like he's some sort of bug!" Sakura hollered with an irk mark above her right brow.

As Sasuke struggled under Kakashi, said jonin stared at the four of us angrilly. "You don't know what it means to be a ninja. You think it's a game? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that?" I sighed at the confused expressions of Naruto and Sakura. 'How can't they understand? It's as clear as day' I mused.

"You never realised what this exercise was really about!" Just as Naruto was about to say something stupid, I spoke to them all at the same time 'Teamwork' It grew quiet as Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all looked around, trying to find out where the voice had came from. Kakashi seing their confused expressions, understood that everyone heard me. "Setsuna's right. If all four of you had come at me, then you might have been able to take them. But, it never even crossed your mind"

Kakashi's gaze turned to Sakura "Sakura, you obsessed about Sasuke and wouldn't even lift a finger to help Naruto who was right in front of you. Naruto-" He glanced towards Naruto with the same stern expression "You did everything on your own. Everything! And you Sasuke-" His hard glare was directed at the kid he was sitting on "You thought the others were so far beneath you. Worthless! Arrogance! Setsuna-" I blinked blankly at him and noticed his gaze soften slightly "You knew the purpose of the test but still didn't try to get them to understand? Why was that? Did you not care whether you pass or fail?" All was silent as they watched my expression, which, to their dismay, stayed the same as any other day.

'There was no point in helping others I do not trust. Besides, they needed to learn a lesson, do you not agree?' Once again, everyone, other than Kakashi, had shocked expressions. "They are your teammates now Setsuna and you have to trust them to success in mission" He practially yelled at him. My voice was cold and emotionless as I responded only to him 'That is none of my concern' Pulling back my long sleeve, revealing my bony and pale skin, I threw the bell at Kakashi. The other three looked shocked at the bell.

With that said and done, I closed my eyes and thought about some things. Kakashi wanted me to trust these people, but I did not want to. Sentaro wants me to be away from him, but I do not want that either.

Kakashi walked away, telling us not to feed Naruto; Sauke and Sakura began eating soon after and I simply did not. You could hear Naruto's stomach growling from a mile away, but I merely ignored it, concentrating on Kakashi who was standing behind a tree, spying on us.

From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Sasuke beginning to give Naruto some food. Sakura denied at first, but then sighed and gave some of her own. But, since Naruto couldn't feed himself, he needed Sakura to do it for him.

A moment passed, before someone came up to me. I opened my eyes once again, only to find Sakura and Sasuke before me. Sakura was glaring with pure anger, while Sasuke simply stared at me with a slight scowl of his own. I tilted my head to the side and blinked, my face blank of any emotions 'What?' My voice was also dull and Sakura flinched slightly once hearing it. "Well, we need to work together and you need strength. Where's your food?" She asked with an annoyed tone in her voice.

I shook my head once and said two words before completely keeping quiet 'Not hungry' Sakura huffed and walked back over to Naruto. Sasuke on the other hand, stayed and crowched before me. His eyes were cold and his lips were in a straight line, meaning he was serious "If you don't eat, you'll slow us down" I blinked once, twice and a third time. Eventaully, he sighed and also turned back towards the stumps.

Suddenly, well.. like I was expecting, a large cloud of smoke appeared and the wind blew faster. "You!" Kakashi yelled as he came out from the white puff of smoke. Everyone except for myself was on guard for what would happen next "..Pass!" The wind disappeaered and I was left with a smiling Kakashi and stunned teammates.

"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum" Naruto was on the verge of crying at that and said something about him actually being cool as Kakashi said that we'd be starting our first mission tomorrow.

Standing up, I picked up my Shamisen and began walking away. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke also followed after but Naruto was tied to the middle stump. Sighing inwardly, I concentrated and got rid of the roped, all while walking back into the busy streets of Konoha. In the distance I could hear Naruto exclaim - "Where'd the ropes go?!"

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As I strolled through the village, I found a nice dango shop and sat down at an outside table. I picked up the menu and watched as a female waitress walked over to me, a fake smile plastered over her face. "Welcome, what would you like?" I lifted up the menu and pointed to the word 'dango' and then to the 'green tea' She nodded after a moment of confusion and stalked back over to the counter with a "I'll be right back"

A few minutes passed before the woman came back, a plate of dange in one hand and a mug of green tea in the other. I nodded my head in thanks as she placed them down on the small round table, getting another fake smile before she left me in peace.

I picked up one of the dango sticks and gingerly lifted it towards my mouth, take a small bite of one. The small piece metled nicely in my mouth and I took another bite. A small while later, as I was just finishing off the last dango, I heared a commosion coming closer. Turning my head to the left, I saw three familar faces walked towards the dango shop.

As soon as Lee noticed me, he grinned widely and ran over. "Oh! It's great to see you again my youthful flower" I blinked once, twice and a final time before turning my faze back to my cup of green tea and gingerly picking it up, taking a silent and elegant sip.

TenTen smiled once she saw me and gave a small greeting "Hello, Setsuna right?" I nodded but then tilted my head as she and Lee sat at my table. "You don't mind us sitting with you right?" After a small pause, I shook my head. The same waitress came over again and this time took Team Guy's orders. Lee and TenTen ordered Dango, while Neji simply said "Green tea"

"So, what have you been up to today?" TenTen started up a conversation, which on her side was a silly idea as I don't talk or even really want to. As seconds passed, Lee frowned and leaned closer to me. "Why don't you talk?" He asked curiously. This caught the others attention as well as they were probably also curious. Shaking my head, I placed the money for my order on the table and bowed before walking away. They did not get a reply in since I was already gone.

The sky was becoming darker and many of the shops had already closed for the day, it's owners getting ready for bed.

I clutched at my Shamisen as I made my way down the more empty streets, towards my house. I wondered wether or not Sentaro would already be back, how I should ask him how his day went or if he was angry that I didn't wake him up before leaving this morning.

"Hey" I stopped and looked back over my shoulder only to find Sasuke leaning against the nearby tree, staring at me with a glare. I tilted my head, asking 'what?'. This seemed to make him angry as he stomped over to me with a death glare, although it didn't intimidate me one bit.

"You should stop acting so arrogant around us, or you'll just get in our way. Weakling" He spat. I stared into his eyes blankly and turned around, beginning to walk away without anything said. However, my wrist was grabbed and tugged, making me stumble into his chest. "Don't ignore me" He ordered.

With a shake of my head, I twisted my arm around and grabbed his before shoving him backwards. This seemed to shock him slightly as his eyes widened. With a last stare, I went back home, not being bothered by the Uchiha a second time.

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As soon as I got through the door, I was pulled into a hug with so much force that we both fell.

I looked at Sentaro 'What was that for?' He tightened his arms around my waits and sat up, with me now on his lap. "Seems I also can't stay that long without you Setsuna" I looked into his serious eyes with my own, much more dull ones and sighed.

Placing my arms around his neck, I hugged back and breathed in his sweet minted scent 'I missed you to.. It's difficult with you not around 24/7 Sentaro..' I felt his chest rumble as he chuckled and stroked my hair. "I know.. you'll get used to it" He pulled back slightly and kissed my forehead, making my lips twitch upwards slightly.

Sentaro's eyes widened in shock before smirking. "Am I the only one who makes that happen?" I thought about it and nodded after a moment. 'It's weird Sentaro.. I don't like it" He sighed and poked me on the forehead. "You'll get used to it, I promise" Suddenly, I let out a yawn and felt my eyes drooping closed. "Long day huh?" I gave a sleepy nod.

Sentaro moved and stood up, myself in his arms. His right arm was under my knees and the other, behind my back near my neck. I glanced up at him through half closed eye lids and snuggled into his chest, soon enough falling into sleep.

(Sentaro's POV)

Hearing that Setsuna only ever smiles.. well, almost smiles, at me, made me happy. It's been over two years since she's even shown any kind of emotions and by now.. she's forgotten what they feel like. I couldn't help but smirk as I could feel her snuggle closer to my chest, I won't ever let her be this close to anyone other than myself.

Placing her down on the bed, I got changed into some grey jogging trousers and a black t-shirt, before taking Setuna's shoes, kunai holster, sash and headband off, placing them on the bedside table. I then moved her small and fragile body over so that I would have some room on the bed.

Once in, I pulled her closer and smiled to myself "Don't you ever smile in front of anyone other than myself Setsuna. My dear sweat Setsuna"

With that said, I closed my eyes and instantly fell into a deep sleep.