An Unexpected Friend (Book 1 of the Unexpected Series)

Summary: Kokoro finds out Kakashi won't train her and asks for some help.

"Let me get this straight," Kokoro said with sass. She was standing in front of her dad with her hands on her hips and an unimpressed look on her face. They were in the hospital visiting Sasuke. He had been bed-bound since he finished his fight in the preliminary round. Naruto was standing beside her with his hands crossed over his chest and his lips pursed. He was side-eyeing Kakashi, who sighed in exasperation. "You're training Sasuke in some secret location and throwing me and Naruto off to the side?"

"Don't look at it that way, Kokoro. Think of it as learning from a different teacher. You did complain when you found out I was to be your sensei. Use this opportunity to learn from someone else," Kakashi said easily.

"You're just making excuses," she said angrily, "and you're playing favorites! Again!"

"She's right!" Naruto shouted. A nurse gave him a pointed glare and placed a finger in front of her closed lips. Kokoro glared at the woman and waved her off. "Who are we gonna train with anyway?!"

"Don't worry, Naruto," Kakashi said. "I've found the perfect teachers for the both of you."

A man with round, dark glasses and a bandana adorning his hitai-ate walked up to Kakashi and greeted him. He took a look at Naruto and raised his nose in the air. Kokoro instantly disliked him. He seemed like the type of person to look down on others.

"Aw not him!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You two know each other?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! He's the pervy guy-"

The man placed a hand over Naruto's mouth and laughed awkwardly. He gave Naruto a look and said, "I have no idea what he is talking about."

Kakashi shrugged and said, "Naruto, meet your sensei for the month, Ebisu. He's a jounin that specializes in training other elite shinobi. What you need the most is to learn the basics, and Ebisu is the perfect person for the job."

"Naruto isn't going to want to learn from someone he doesn't like. And what about me?" Kokoro asked.

"Haku agreed to train you when he gets back from his mission."

"And when is that?" she asked impatiently.

"His mission should take no more than 5 days to complete."

She clenched her hands into fists and bowed her head. Her hair curtained around her face, covering the anguish on her face. She opened her mouth to say something but bit her lip to stop herself from yelling. She took a deep breath and quietly asked, "What do you see in him that you don't see in us?"

"It's not that there's anything different about Sasuke, it's just. . ."

"Stop lying," she said through gritted teeth. Sasuke was a genius. She already knew that. She also knew he was a hard-working one and that she could never be on his level with the way she usually trained. Her dad was a kid genius, too, and was already a jounin by the time he was her age. He had a tendency to write off anything that he felt didn't have the potential to advance fast. It was a trait of his that she'd picked up on, and it was why she had pushed herself so much when she was younger. As she got older, she got lazier and stopped trying as much. She was already at the top of her class, so she felt she didn't need to advance any more.

The looks Kakashi gave her of disappointment when he thought she wasn't looking turned into looks of acceptance, acceptance not to expect much from her anymore. His excitement to train her lessened and over time, she felt she was becoming a nuisance. He tried to hide it, but Kokoro knew her dad enough to see it. When she was put on Team Seven with Sasuke, she saw that excitement in his eyes come back. It was Sasuke, not her, that was causing that. And when he spent all of his time training Sasuke and looking after him, she couldn't help but feel disconnected from her dad.