Never say Never (Kakashi x OC)

Team Hajita

(Author's Note: Since Sumire is my favourite character from Boruto I always wanted to give her a little more backgroundstory. So I created Mitarashi Izumi, Sumire's mother)

While Team Kakashi left for their first mission to rescue the new Kazekage Gaara, Hajita started as teacher of the first exclusive medic ninja squad at Konoha's academy. "Team Hajita" was different than other teams since they were ALL training to become Iryonin. Normally, only one of the team members learnt some basic medical skills, but this team was more like a special force unit. Its training, more accurately described as "extra-education", was reserved for three very special, but also very different students. One of them was the Sandaime's grandson, Sarutobi Konohamaru. The village's most spoiled brat, but also a glowing fan of Hajita's little brother Naruto. The reasons for him joining Hajita's squad besides being already part of a Team, were that his sensei Ebisu thought he could do well with some extra lessons and that he really needed a break from him now and then. The heart and soul of "Team Hajita" was Hyuga Hanabi. The little sister of Hinata had been mainly trained at home by her father until he was of the opinion that his younger daughter should benefit from some authorized official training at the academy as well. The third member of the team was Mitarashi Izumi. She was already 16 (and by that 5 years older than the other team members), but still hadn't passed her Chunin exam because she refused to exert any kind of jutsu that could potentially cause harm. At Kirigakure's academy she had been kicked out because she had refused to defend herself in each and every battle and was therefore declared as "unteachable". However, she had shown signs of immense chakra control and was greatly interested in all things botanical, so Tsunade had assigned her to Hajita's Team.

"Izumi recently moved to Konoha from Kirigakure together with her big sister, Mitarashi Ryu" the Godaime told Hajita when she informed her about her choice of team members. "Their parents died when Ryu was 14 and Izumi was only 8. From then on, Ryu had to take care of herself and her sister all alone."

Maybe that was part of the reason why she had developed such a calculating and cold-hearted stance, Hajita thought. Hearing the last name Mitarashi had brought back uncomfortable memories. They had met at 16 during their Jonin Exams, back when she had lived in Kirigakure with Tsunade for a few years. She remembered watching Ryu fight for the first time and condemning her technique (Ryu had used some really strong Genjutsu and her opponent had killed himself). She remembered Ryu's mean attitude as well as her excessive obsession with good-looking men. But for her new team's sake, Hajita tried not to be too biased against Izumi. Surely, she was different from her sister.
And Izumi didn't disappoint. Even if she looked a lot like her sister due to the purple hair of the Mitarashi clan, in character, Izumi was the exact opposite of Ryu. Where Ryu was quick-tempered, Izumi was reserved. Where Ryu was reckless, Izumi was timid. All in all, she was just a quiet girl with gentle dark grey eyes. When Hajita watched her for the first days, she couldn't believe how sweet of a nature this girl had. She always wanted to help each and every injured creature and couldn't hurt a fly. Hajita was already debating whether the training would be too hard for her, but Izumi surprised her every day anew by her strong will to learn and her stamina to endure hardship.

After a few weeks, Hajita's students slowly started to grow into a real unit. On top of that, all of them had already managed to master some basic medical jutsus and Hajita was really proud. She felt like she was doing something good by guiding these extraordinary students on their way of becoming outstanding ninjas. As she started to spend more and more time with her students, a strong bond full of reciprocal affection and respect started to form between them, but especially between her and Izumi. While Hajita treated all of her students to some ramen now and then (and often regretted it afterwards because Konohamaru seemed to have the same appetite as his idol Naruto), Izumi would come to her house every day to help her with the gardening. Usually, they would work quietly side by side with Hajita explaining something about a specific flower here and there, but even though Izumi had started to come out of her shell a little bit, Hajita could tell that something still was bothering her.

"If you've got something on your mind, you know that I am always here for you, right?" Hajita asked her one day without much hope of the usually extreme introverted girl actually opening up to her.

Izumi bowed her head, so that Hajita wouldn't see the tears in her eyes and looked at the beautiful cherry blossom in her hand.

"Before coming here" she started to talk, her voice barely more than a whisper "everybody constantly told me that I need to toughen up and change my attitude. And that there's something wrong with me because I refuse to fight. Everyone thought of me as a failure. And in the end, I started to think so, too."

Listening to those words, Hajita's heart broke for the gentle girl.

"Izumi ..." Hajita tried to comfort her, taking her hand gently into hers. "Please don't ever let other people tell you that you are not good enough. You are the sweetest and most gentle girl with the biggest heart that I have ever met."

Hajita smiled her usual warm smile at her. "In my opinion, not wanting to hurt anyone is a very noble gesture and a rare stance among shinobi. Most of the times, exerting violence is easier than making peace."

Hajita cautiously lifted Izumi's chin with one hand, her warm smile slowly fading into a serious expression as she told her the core principle of her very own shinobi way. "I believe that there is one single exception from that rule. The one and only real reason worth fighting for – is to save your loved ones."