— Even now we have stars in our eyes

warning ; perspective changes (it goes from 2nd to 3rd a lot? I tried to fix it but i'm still not good with povs), a small amount of ooc-ness (sasuke is hard to write, he is supposed to be short worded and angsty but i wanted him to be comfortable around aina and kiba so like?? oof he's more soft then he should be;;), mentions of violence, allusion to abuse, foul language, and uh yeah??

——[]——

Aina stood up and Akamaru jumped from her lap with a short yip.

She turned and grabbed Kiba's hand and held her other hand out to Sasuke who looked at her like she was insane. Aina's lips twitched down as she pouted at him but she turned away from him all the same. Sasuke will warm up to her affection, she's sure of it. And if he doesn't well, Aina doesn't mind forcing affection onto people.

So she smiled as she marched out of the classroom and towards the staircase that leads to the roof. She smiled because Sasuke is walking close to them and she thinks it's a sign of some sort of small bonding. She knew discretely passing him lunches and being his sparring partner would benefit her! In a class where girls and boys were sparring partners, she knew being polite and not an obsessive freak would help her in the long run.

Aina threw open the door to the roof and smiled widely at her new sensei because she is finally meeting the man who has plagued her dreams for years. So she dragged Kiba over to the steps and sat down, allowing Akamaru onto her lap and she waited for Sasuke to sit next to her before she turns her mega-watt smile to Hatake Kakashi. All because she is finally meeting a hero in the shell of a broken man.

"Well, we're all on the roof sensei! What did you want to talk about?" Aina asked in her chirpy tone as she ran her hands through Akamaru's fur.

"Ah," Kakashi drawled out, his posture lax and his eye crinkled into a seeming smile, "I want us to all introduce ourselves."

"And what do you wanna know sensei?" Kiba asked, a casual grin on his face, "Because I know Aina's name and Sasuke's name and I'm just fine with calling ya sensei so what's there to introduce?"

"Just your names, your likes and dislikes and your hobbies, what your dreams are as well," Kakashi replied and Aina tilted her head to the side, something sparkling in her eyes.

"Alright," Aina started with an ever-present smile, "My name is Usagi Aina, I like sunsets, training, seals, swords, dogs, and sweets. I dislike traitors, rabbits, clan politics, being an heir, and carrots. My hobbies include painting, training, reading, practicing my calligraphy and attempting to make seals as well as sword practice. And my dream for the future is, it's to uh, to make sure my precious people are safe and live their lives with as little regret and pain as possible."

Aina nodded after saying her little speech, her cheeks colouring upon speaking about her dream. She is sure it's stupid to dream of such a thing for they are shinobi, pain and regret is what will plague their lives but it was a dream. A foolhardy, sugar-sweet dream that Aina would try her best to achieve.

Kakashi nodded and motioned for Kiba to go next to which the other heir does, his lips pulled back to reveal a toothy smile, "Inuzuka Kiba, I like dogs, the kennel, and my pack. Dislikes?" Kiba paused then, his eyes flashing dangerously as he recalls what he dislikes most, "My deadbeat dad for one, and the brats who only pull at dogs' ears, and when kaasan makes me scrub the kennels. And my hobbies are training, hanging out with this loser," Kiba elbows Aina as he says this, grin wider than ever, "I also pull some pranks with Uzumaki sometimes and I guess I also garden a lot which sounds weird but it's cause my sister has a herb garden and I need to take care of sometimes when she's away! But anyways, my dream is to become a hella great shinobi! And an even greater clan leader because Hana gave that position to me, something about not being up for the task? I don't really know but I know I'll make sure she doesn't regret passing it onto me."

Kiba nodded his head sagely with a grin on his face while Kakashi simply motioned for Sasuke to introduce himself, complementing Kiba for his unique values.

Sasuke gave a sigh before he started to speak, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke, my likes are none of your-"

"Hey, hey!" Aina interrupted with a frown on her face, "Kiba and I introduced ourselves to both of you with all our likes, dislikes, hobbies and our dreams splayed out for you to pick apart as you pleased. You have to give us the same because we're a team! If we don't know what you like are we really that close of a team?"

Sasuke frowned at Aina before continuing with a roll of his eyes, "I like training, tomatoes, and cats. I dislike girls who put boys before their own lives, idiots, and sweet food. My hobbies include training and cooking. My dream is not a dream but a goal I will make a reality, I will revive the Uchiha clan and kill a certain someone."

Aina gave Sasuke a thumbs up, a smile stretched on her face, "See, now we know more about you Sasuke-san! If you had never told us your likes and dislikes I might've offered you sweets without knowing you don't like them!" Aina turned to Kakashi, smile still in place, "Now you gotta introduce yourself sensei!"

Kakashi hummed in amusement, "I am Hatake Kakashi, your jounin instructor. I like to read, I dislike when teams cannot get along and my hobby is reading. My dream for the future, well, I've never truly thought about it."

Aina frowned at her sensei before giving a sigh, "Well, we know sensei likes books and teamwork, and that he doesn't think a lot. Great combination don't you think guys?"

Kiba snickered before nodding, "Yeah, I trust my jounin sensei with my life after learning he can read and use teamwork."

"Hey, hey," Aina laughed, "Teamwork's important Kiba!"

"So's surviving."

"Speaking of survival," Kakashi drawled out his eyes moving across the three freshly graduated genin, "Tomorrow we will be doing a survival test to see if you all truly deserved to pass."

"Deserved to pass?" Kiba asked, leaning forward with a frown, "I thought we were already genin?"

A chuckle escaped Kakashi's lips and the three genin leant away from the older man, "You see that was only child's play, only twelve out of all the students actually pass, sometimes even less. Tomorrow the real test starts, be at training ground three at six-hundred sharp."

Kakashi stood up easily and turned away, about to jump from the roof to another, "Oh, and don't eat breakfast; you'll puke."

And with that he was gone, nothing but smoke left in his place. Kiba jumped up, sputtering out curses as he glared at the spot Kakashi had just been, "What the hell! That bastard just left us after dropping a bomb of info on us? That's not cool at all man!"

"Kiba," Aina laughed, amusement rolling through her, "I'm sure sensei was only trying to scare us. We should all use tonight as the time to get to know each other and prepare for tomorrow's survival exercise! If you're up to it, of course, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke grunted but didn't get up to leave them so Aina counted it as a yes.

"Alright, so my house?" Kiba asked, picking the dirt from under his fingernails, "I know your dad wouldn't appreciate you bringin' me or Uchiha to your house and I know my kaasan won't mind him at all. Plus today's Thursday right? Yeah, it is, so your ojii-san would be home, so you can spend the night at my place too."

Confusion washed over Sasuke as he listened to Kiba talk before a scowl washed over his face because of course, they were taking family for granted, "Why would she stay with you when her family is home? She should be glad they're at home with her, you should spend time with them while you can."

Kiba narrowed his own eyes as he turned to look at Sasuke, "Look Uchiha, I get you got family problems, you lost 'em when you were seven so you think everyone should cherish the time they got with family but here's a newsflash for you; not all families are all that great. Some people shouldn't have children and Aina's dad? He's one of the ones who shouldn't have had kids."

Sasuke opened his mouth because he didn't understand what Kiba meant, he couldn't understand really but Aina beat him to it, "So anyway, we should head over to Kiba's. The faster we get there the more time we have to plan."

Sasuke grunted again, frown plastered on his face while Kiba turned away from Sasuke and simply nodded his head. Akamaru yipped and started to run down the stairs causing Kiba to yell out to him to stop because, "Dammit Akamaru, you'll get lost again!"

——[]——

Kiba, Aina, and Sasuke entered the Inuzuka clan compound at breakneck speed, Akamaru a few feet ahead of them all as he barked loudly.

Aina was laughing as she ran, her grin as wide as usual and even Sasuke was smirking as he ran alongside Kiba and Aina because even he knew how to have fun from time to time. He was still a kid after all.

Kiba screamed as he tripped over literally nothing and was sent sprawling forward, his hand lashed out and he grabbed onto Sasuke's ankle. The Uchiha boy gave strangled cry as he was brought down, his arms wrapped around Aina's waist as he futilely tried to keep himself up but found that the girl wasn't as sturdy as she looked.

Aina gave a laughing shriek as she was pulled down into the dirt, her body shaking with sheer laughter. Kiba started to laugh as well, his hand leaving Sasuke's ankle as he pushed himself upright, his laughter coming out in howls.

Sasuke didn't move from where he had landed, his head was buried into the curve of Aina's back, his shoulders shaking as he tried to keep his chuckles muffled because by all counts what they had just done was so stupid that Sasuke couldn't help but laugh! He couldn't help the way his face muscles stretched in ways they hadn't in years and it didn't help that Akamaru had come and stood on top of his back like he was the Hokage of the village!

Sasuke squeezed his arms around Aina, as he continued to laugh. Trying his best to contain the wheezing sounds that were escaping him as Akamaru kneaded his back like a damned cat.

Sasuke knew he should compose himself around the idiots he would be calling teammates but honestly, running to the Inuzuka compound had reminded him of a time when they were all just innocent children laughing and running around as Kiba's mother dragged them into her house to feed them. Or when his mother would call them inside and they would gather around and politely eat their dinners in a much different manner than how they played.

He cringed as he remembered what he tried to bury because god, he didn't want to care about them, not when he could take them away too. It hurt too much, knowing that in a blink the people he cared for were gone.

It hurt even now, knowing that if he were to ever come back that he'd kill anyone close to him that meant he had to stay away from people, he had to achieve his goals on his own and yet, here he was in the Inuzuka compound laughing. If Itachi were to see him now he'd be disappointed, he'd kill them in front of him just to prove how weak he was. How he would take them away just because he could and he would only be able to watch.

Kiba shoved Akamaru off of Sasuke's back and yanked the Uchiha up in his good-natured ruffian spirit, a toothy grin stretched across his face; "You okay there, Uchiha?"

Sasuke took a deep breath before smirking, "What, think I can't handle your pathetic little dog?"

Kiba growled and Aina laughed as she pulled Sasuke onto the ground, Kiba jumped into the dogpile they had formed in the middle of the Inuzuka compound and Sasuke snickered quietly, the sound hidden beneath Aina's shrieking giggles and Kiba's howling laughter.

And suddenly, even with the threat of Itachi being ever potent, Sasuke realized he didn't want to be alone anymore.