"I can choose any one of these ninja to be my sensei?" I asked quietly, looking at the row of people in front of me. All of them were much older than me, and I was a bit nervous. "well… how do I know which one to choose?" I asked, looking up at the old man who had brought them here. He was, as I said, very old, tan skin wrinkled and spotted with liver spots, though most of his body was covered by the long white and red robes he wore, with matching hat thingie. "that is up to you." I poked my lower lip out in thought, turning back to the dutiful ninja standing before me. The first one I noticed was rather tall, wearing what appeared to be a green full body spandex suit. His hair was cut into a rather neat bowl cut, and his face was… well, he was memorable to say the least. He had high, noticeable cheek bones, sharp eyes with prominent lashes and unbelievably thick eyebrows. Despite these features, I thought he was quite handsome. When he noticed me watching him, he grinned at me, teeth seeming to audibly shine, and gave me a thumbs up. "I'm Maito Gai! The Noble Blue Beast of the Leaf!" he introduced himself, and I giggled. The man standing next to Mr. Gai rolled his eyes at Gai's antics. He wore a dark blue mask, covering the lower half of his face, which was further covered due to his grey-silver hair that fell over his left eye. His face held a bored expression that seemed to change to an amused one when he turned from Mr. Gai to me. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. How do you do?" he introduced himself politely, taking my hand in his own and kissing the back of it. I smiled and blushed, as the old man beside me chuckled. Mr. Gai seemed to be pouting. I nodded in recognition and turned to the next potential sensei. He was almost as tall as Mr. Gai, sporting tanned skin and dark brown spiked hair, and scruffy facial hair. He was muscle-y, like a boxer and his smile was warm and fatherly. "Sarutobi Asuma." He said simply, smiling warmly as his introduction. "ah… Saru…Sarutobi?" I turned to the old man beside me, and he nodded. "my son." He confirmed and I nodded, taking this into consideration. The next was a very pretty woman whose dark hair fell in curly tendrels that framed her face and set off her striking red eyes perfectly. She smiled, and I couldn't help but think that the motherly way she looked at me matched Mr. Asuma's fatherly air perfectly. "I am Yuhi Kurenai" She said, nodding slightly. I nodded in response. The last person assembled before me was another woman, grey-brown hair pulled back into a high spikey ponytail, dark purple-brown eyes looking at me dully. "Mitarashi Anko." She said boredly. I frowned. It definitely wasn't going to be her. "well, who do you pick, young lady? These are the top ninja of the Leaf Village." The old man said, crouching down to be on my level. I frowned and looked them all over again. "I promise I will make you a splendid ninja!" Mr. Gai yelled enthuisiasticly, striking some strange pose as his teeth gleamed again. I blinked, dumbfounded for a moment. He certainly was… energetic. I grinned, raising my arm and pointing at him without any further thought. "I CHOOSE MR. GAI!" I grinned at the astounded look Mr. Kakashi had and the amused chuckled from the man beside me. Mr. Gai shot me another thumbs up, grin widening. "That's Gai-sensei now!"
"Gai-sensei, where are we going?" Neji asked impatiently, having to lug a huge bookbag along with his other team mates. Tenten seemed annoyed, but didn't say anything and Lee was happily walking along as though he hadn't been walking for 13 hours and wasn't carrying 50 pounds worth of supplies on his back. Gai threw his head back and let loose a hearty laugh into the air. "you will see, my faithful students!" he called back to them, still hiking a head of them. "this is ridiculous. We don't even know where he's taking us." Naruto whined, hanging his head and adjusting the weight of his backsack. "no one told you to tag along, Naruto." Neji pointed out, causing Naruto to chuckled nervously. "I'm sure where ever Gai-sensei is taking us, it is worth it!" Lee called out, grinning into the sunlight that fell over them and warmed his skin. "do not worry! We are almost there!" Gai laughed again, and Tenten sighed. "who knew Kuraimura was so far away?"
"Mona! Hurry! Hurry! He'll be here soon!" I ran across our home, trying to tidy everything, yet probably making a bigger mess by rushing. "calm down, Kiyoko. Everything is clean enough." My older sister, Mona chided, shaking her head at my nervousness. "oh, but its been so long! I don't want him to think I'm a slob!" I whined, pulling my twin ponytails downward in my distress. "you are a slob." She retorted, laughing curtly. I growled at her. "very funny." I snapped, pouting. "seriously. Calm down. It'll be fine." She said calmly, placing her hands on my shoulders trying to calm me. I sighed. "okay… okay…" I breathed deeply, trying to relieve my nervousness. And of course, as soon as I felt calmer, a knock came at the door, causing me to make a weird "eep" sound and jump nearly a foot in the air. "he's here! He's here!" I squeaked, running to the door as my sister laughed and shook her head at me.
"Gai-sensei!" I exclaimed, running and jumping up into his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist and spun around. "Kiyoko-chan! Its so great to see you again! Youthful as ever I see!" he laughed heartily, causing my whole body to vibrate as his chest heaved with every laugh. He put me down, smiling warmly at me. For the first time I noticed that other people were with him. "who are these people, sensei?" I asked, smiling warmly at them. "no way Bushy-brow-sensei knows such a cute girl!" the Blonde-haired boy said, mouth gaping. I glared at him. "do not address my sensei like that." I said coldly, shocking the boy. "heh… sorry. I'm Uzimaki Naruto! The future Hokage!" the blonde boy grinned, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. I nodded, still not sure how I felt about him. "I am Hyuuga Neji." A pale skinned boy, a few inches taller than me with long dark brown hair and white eyes said, bowing. I bowed back, smiling. He was quite handsome, and I felt my cheeks burn softly as he smiled at me. "my name is Tenten." The girl next to him said, all too eager to ruin whatever moment was started. I smiled at her, knowing she must like this boy. "hello Tenten." Then my eyes settled on one of the most beautiful things. He was tall, taller than the other two boys, hair was silken and black, and cut into a bowl cut, identical to my sensei's. He wore a green spandex jumpsuit, and orange leg warmers. His face was defined and smooth, like a porcelain doll, with large dark eyes and prominent eye lashes, and … really? He also had unbelievably thick eyebrows! "um… did you not hear me?" he asked politely. Good heavens, even his speaking voice was calm and proper and wonderful. "um, I'm sorry. What was that?" I asked, trying to hide my blush by lowering my head and letting my bangs fall in my face. "my name is Rock Lee." He said, smiling sweetly at me. I had to refrain from allowing my jaw to drop. He was beyond beautiful, and I immediately felt my face burning. Gai-sensei clapped his arm around my shoulders, grinning at me knowingly. I frowned, hoping he wouldn't say anything. "this girl is one of my greatest students! Meet Kiyoko!" Gai-sensei announced, turning his grin on the others. Lee blinked for a moment. "she… is a student of yours as well, Gai-sensei?" he asked, face tinting pink. "yes, one of my very best." Lee nodded thoughtfully. "well then… Kiyoko." Lee said, looking up at me. "I challenge you!"
"um… excuse me?" I squeaked. While I was more than capable of holding my own, I believe. But I definitely didn't want to fight Lee. I wanted to… I don't know… take him out for lunch or something. But if he was anything like my sensei, and I could tell already that he was, he wouldn't take no for an answer. I sighed. "okay, Lee. Lets go." I said, turning and making my way further inside my home. "er…where are you going, miss?" Lee asked, nervously trotting after me. "to our dojo." I answered, blushing as he moved to walk next to me.
"wow. Lee has it bad, eh, Neji?" Tenten laughed softly, nudging Neji in the side. He nodded, frowning. "yes, he made it rather obvious." He agreed. "ehh? What are you two talking about?" Naruto asked, draping his arms around the both of them and bringing himself between them. Tenten sighed, she was so close! "nothing Naruto, if you didn't notice it, then theres no point in telling you." They all stopped conversing upon hearing a slight sniffle. "erm… Gai-senei?" "MY TWO STUDENTS! TUMBLING LIKE CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN THE SPRINGTIME OF LOVE!" He yelled, before sobbing loudly with happy tears.
I panted softly, each breath racking my body with pain, and as I looked at Lee's face, half crumpled up in pain, I could tell that he felt the same. If I didn't know it would hurt, I would've shook my head. "we probably shouldn't have been so eager to use the Hidden Lotus." I said quietly. He chuckled, wincing a bit. "it seems you are right, Miss Kiyoko." He struggled to take a step towards me, and I did the same towards him. We both managed a few more steps before we both collapsed, resulting in us sprawled out on the floor, heads turned towards each other. "you are very good, Kiyoko-chan!" he said, eyes sparkling in admiration. "me? You were amazing!" I said, grinning at him. An uncomfortable silence set in soon after this, and since neither of us could get up, it became even more unbearable. "Kiyoko-chan?" he asked, averting his eyes from me as a light pink blush swept over his cheeks. "yes, Lee-kun?" I answered. He seemed to freeze up for a moment, but quickly regained himself and grinned at me, his teeth gleaming just like sensei's. "would you join me for dinner tomorrow?" he asked, still grinning and blushing and I smiled, blushing as well. "sure, Lee-kun!"