Maya - a Naruto Fanfic

17. The Early Bird Catches A Cold

I wake up early the next morning in the clothes I fell asleep in, to the sound of a blaring alarm clock. But there's no sun...

Oh.

I'm about to rush to get ready when I remember the events of yesterday, and nearly fall over myself stopping.

He's probably going to be at that memorial again, which will make him late. Then again, at least one of us has to show the team good form, and I'll be damned if I give Sasuke another reason to get on his high horse.

I'm ready and at the meeting point within 10 minutes, and the first there. Good. Now what do I do until Kakashi gets here? Just as I start to ruffle my hair in thought, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura come walking up, surprisingly in sync considering their previous differences.

"So you can do something right." Sasuke says as some kind of twisted greeting. I snort.

"Guess we've found your weakness - human decency and manners."

"Come on, guys, isn't it too early to be fighting?" Sakura whines, and Sasuke clicks his tongue. The urge to kick him hard in the knee is almost overwhelming, but I resist. One of us has to be the grownup here.

It's starting to look like I'm always going to be the more mature, reliable one.

I'm already sick of it.

"Hey, where's Kakashi-sensei? Didn't he say to be here at dawn?" Naruto asks. I shrug.

"He'll probably be late again." I say with a yawn, covering my mouth with my hand.

"What?! Late?!" Naruto and Sakura screech, nearly knocking me off my feet.

"Yeah, late."

"Why?" I'm about to tell them, the words are on the tip of my tongue, mouth slightly open, when I remember Kakashi's words.

"Don't tell them about this."

I snap my jaw shut and shrug, wrapping my arms over my chest and clutching my upper arms for warmth. I never realised before how cold it is before the sun comes up.

"You're lying." Sasuke says quietly.

"You don't know that. Why would Kakashi tell me anything?" I wasn't quick enough to remember. Damn.

"You're his teaching assistant."

"Yeah, emphasis on 'assistant'. I don't know anything."

"So he doesn't trust you." Sasuke says with a smirk.

"You never know when to shut up, do you?" I snap, spinning to face him fully with a scowl.

"Learn some respect." He snarls.

"You first."

"Enough!" Sakura yells at the very top of her lungs, fists clenched at her sides. Naruto scrambles back and for the first time Sasuke actually looks alarmed. My eyes fly wide and I have to step away from her.

"Can't you two just leave each other alone?! We're supposed to be a team! Maybe Maya isn't a genin but she's still apart of our squad! Oh-" Sakura stops suddenly and flushes crimson, knuckles pressing against her lips as she stammers out excuses.

"I mean I- uh- um- just- maybe you two could- not fight?" She tries a weak smile but we're already staring at her with awe. At least, Naruto and I are. Sasuke is refusing to look her in the eye.

"Wow, Sakura, I didn't realise how cool you really are!" Naruto yells, grinning widely. That just makes Sakura blush harder and wring her fingers awkwardly.

"I can't promise anything on Sasuke's behalf, but I'll try not to fight with him any more, so please don't yell at us again. That was so scary!" I giggle slightly. Looking at Sakura now, it's hard to believe she could ever be scary, but I was definitely scared when she yelled at us.

"Uh, thanks? I think..." We fall into a slightly awkward silence. Sasuke looks out at something in the distance, Naruto scuffs his sandals in the dirt, and Sakura looks between the two with her fingers laced behind her back. I give up on standing and flop down onto the dirt, folding my hands beneath my head and watching the sky slowly turn for dark blue to purple to red to yellow. At some point, the genin all sit, propped up against each others backs.

"Yo." Kakashi pops into sight with a grin and a wave.

"Late!" Sakura and Naruto yell, shooting upright. Sasuke doesn't recover in time, and tips back for a moment, a look of panic on his face. It's all I can do not to outright laugh at him.

"I see you're all ready and eager to start. Good morning, Maya."

"Morning. Walk under another ladder?"

"You could say that."

"Can we get started now?!" Naruto demands.

"Fine, fine." Kakashi sighs.

A/N: aaaand we'll finish this chapter here because I will not go through Kakashi's explanation again. It was boring enough the first time. So! I hope you're enjoying this, I wouldn't know because I haven't had wifi all day (2nd April) and probably won't tomorrow (3rd April). Anyways.
Ta-ta~