Chapter 2

Teams and Teachers

That night, five years ago, I cried for hours over my brother's dead body. Eventually, I curled up and fell asleep, still sobbing. When I awoke, I was in the hospital. Apparently, I had been asleep for one day. The first thing that came into my head was the fact that I hadn't missed Academy. But then, the realization of what had happened shot me straight in my heart, and I began to cry again. The nurses gave me a dosage of calming potion, and I stopped crying.

I hadn't cried since.

I didn't know if it's because the potion was lasting longer than it was supposed to, or if I just couldn't do it anymore. My eyes didn't even water if I get stubbed in the toe.

I barely felt pain anymore. It was like I had gone numb, inside and out. The day I started Academy didn't make anything slightly better whatsoever. My class was smaller than most- only nine people.

I immediately hated every single person in the room. All of them were so happy and carefree. None of them had had their family killed. They were all talking to each other… that is, except for one. She had black hair and pale skin, and her jacket had the Hyuuga clan emblem on it. She looked up at me blanky. The seat beside her was open, so I sat there. I told myself I didn't sit next to her because I liked her; it was because it was open.

When I sat down, the girl looked surprised. "Why did you sit next to me?"

I shrugged without looking at her. "Because it was open, I guess."

The teacher entered the room. He couldn't have been over twenty. He was tall with black hair. His forehead protector was on his forehead and he had a shock of white hair just barely revealing the leaf. He wore the typical ninja outfit, but the way he held himself made everyone instantly be quiet.

"Roll call!" he called. He sounded like he was going to burst out laughing, like this was a dare. "Arichi Kaito."

A boy with brown, scraggly hair raised his hand.

"Rioko Tatsuya."

A girl with short blonde hair called out, "Here!"

"Yamanaka Katsumi?"

The girl sitting next to Tatsuya raised her hand confidently and replied, "Present."

"Nara Kaan?"

"Here," replied a confident yet lazy looking boy in the front.

"Ani Zaku and Ani Sokoto?"

Two identical boys with dark brown hair said, in unison, "Sir!"

"Nemi Yuu?"

A boy with a shirt buttoned all the way up nodded.

"Hyuuga Kachi?"

The girl beside me raised her hand, saying, "Present."

"And… Tsukishi Hotaru…?" Our teacher trailed off… I guessed he knew my name.

I just looked at him. He guessed who I was.

"Alright." Our teacher stood up straight and somehow looked all of us in the eye at once. "My name is Kojikuro Haruko. I'm not really an Academy teacher." He paused as everyone became confused. "Your real teacher couldn't be here, so for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be your sensei."

Tatsuya whispered, "Yes!" loudly enough for everyone to hear. When we all turned to look at her, she squeaked and blushed.

"No more distractions!" he snapped. Everyone jumped and faced him. "Now, can anyone tell me was bunshin no jutsu is?"

No one moved. Then, Kachi raised her hand. "I-I think it's where you make a clone of yourself…?

"Right."

This continued for the next two years of my life. Haruko-sensei would ask questions, we'd answer. I always wondered why Haruko-sensei didn't go and get replaced by our "real" teacher. Even after three weeks, Kojikuro Haruko stayed as our teacher. He was actually a jounin. After a week of him, everyone admired him. Everyone looked up to him, even me.

In week two, I was feeling lonelier than ever. Everyone had settled in and they were all making friends. I, however, was too busy learning and preparing, because, by then, I had already made up my mind.

I was going to hunt Gosu down, and make him pay.

I had heard of this sort of thing somewhere before, where someone had his entire family murdered and he decided to get revenge on the person who did it. But he, unlike me, had betrayed everyone in order to gain the power to do so. I knew Gosu wasn't as strong as the villain in this story, but I knew Gosu was furious at how close he had been to dying.

I knew he would be learning (or creating) knew techniques so that he would never come so close to defeat again. I still couldn't believe that Dei lost to that loser. He hadn't really seemed that strong. But… to kill my brother, he must have been good.

I could tell Kachi liked me. But I didn't want to give up my lonliness. It was as if I couldn't feel pain, and I also didn't want to let anybody that could cause me pain in. So I blocked her out. But somehow, we got to know each other, more and more.

Our relationship was different that most of my other friendships. I had had a lot more friends before my brother died. Afterwards, they all treated me like a statue. They'd pass by me, muttering about how sad it was for me. They also tried to repeat the "story" of what had happened that night, but they always got the facts wrong. They said things like, "Poor Tsukishi Deiru… he never stood a chance against the leader of the Rebels!I hear he died after a single cut from Gosu's gracefulness."

Yeah, right. Dei had almost beaten him. If Dei had had a longer weapon, Gosu would have been in ribbons. The thing that still nagged me in the back of my mind, though, was what Gosu had said.

"…if we can trust you. You haven't exactly been helping us…"

Why had Gosu said that?? Still, I knew in my heart Dei was good and that he wouldn't revolt against us.

I never discussed any of this with Kachi, though. I talked to her about everything except my brother and the Rebels. Eventually, I even surpassed Kachi in my grades (which amazed everyone, including me). When I was twelve and a half, I received my forehead protector. But instead of wearing it there, I wore it in the same place as my mother had: his neck. It also covered up the scar of where Gosu has almost slit my throat. It was black, like my hatred for the man whom had carved it.

Kachi decided to wear hers as a headband instead of across her forehead. It looked better that way. Kachi was so beautiful… She had jet black hair, light, violet eyes, and pale skin. Just like all of the Hyuugas. She also had something different about her… Kachi's parents had died when she was young, so she had grown up with her brother, Hige-san.

I loved graduating in the top of my class, but being sorted into teams came as quite a shock. After graduation, Haruko-sensei had had to go on an important mission and we had a substitute for our substitute. She was a frail, young woman with brown hair and a mole. I almost laughed when I saw her. Koni wasn't the most grand of ninjas.

"Team 4 will be Arichi Kaito, Rioko Tatsuya, and Hyuuga Kachi."

It hurt so much to realize I wasn't getting to be on a team with Kachi. And on top of that, Kachi was with Tatsuya, who I had hated since the first day I'd seen her. She had short, blonde hair and always wore a long shirt with shorts underneath. She looked perfectly nice, but I hated her all the same.

"Team 8 is Yamanaka Katsumi, Nara Kan, and Nemi Yuu."

I hated Katsumi even more than Tatsuya, so I was glad I wasn't on their team. Then I looked around to see who was last.

"Team 7 is Ani Zaku, Ani Sokoto, and Tsukishi Hotaru."

So… I was on a team with the Twins. I was glad. They were my favorites next to Kachi. They had stood up for me when Yuu made mean remarks and Katsumi laughed at my choice of clothing.

"What about our instructors?" called Tatsuya.

"Oh, right." Koni ruffled through her papers. "Team 4… Gasta Naomi."

In a swirl of white dust, a woman in jounin clothing appeared. She had dark, glossy hair and pale green eyes. She smiled slightly at her team. Kachi and Tatsuya looked at each other and smiled. My head panged with jealousy.

"Team 8… Raiji Ogawa."

A ninja with scars across both eyes appeared in the same manner as Naomi-sensei. He was a rugged looking ninja. It was obvious for Katsumi that it was "love at first sight."

"Team 7… Kajikuro Haruko."

All three of us wanted to scream, "Yes!" and in a swirl of dark light, Haruko-sensei appeared. At least Kachi and Tatsuya will be jealous, I thought. I looked at them, expecting to see sad, jealous faces. But instead, they were both talking hurriedly to their new instructor. I shot Tatsuya a death glare. She saw it, and whispered loudly to Kachi.

"Is she always that cold?"

Kachi shrugged.

"Come on, Zaku, Sokoto, Hota." He beckoned us out of the classroom.

Casting one last saddened look at Kachi, I left with my new teammates.

I never thought a metal forehead protector could make me feel so heavy.