Chapter 1
As the morning sun filters through the blinds it burns my eyelids. Groaning I roll away from the sun and press my face into my pillow. Across the room, my alarm starts blaring and I groan again. Pulling myself into a sideways sitting position I rub the sleep from my eyes and yawn. I stretch my body until I can manage to slide my legs over the side of the bed. When my feet hit the cold floor, I shiver. Trudging across the room I slam my hand down on the off button which sends the alarm clock crashing to the floor from the force. Great,it's only 7:45 and my day is already off to a terrible start.
"Uggghhh, I hate mornings." I groan into my lonely apartment.
After righting my alarm clock back on the dresser, I shuffle my way to the kitchen. I skirt around piles of clothing that crowd the main hallway in my apartment. My clothes have no interest in clothes baskets. Flicking on the kitchen light, I stagger my way to the fridge and grab some leftover rice, miso soup, and eggs from the top shelf. I start making my breakfast by heating the miso soup in the microwave. I reach over and flick on the stove as I fill a cup of water for the rice cooker. Grabbing a pan from the dish rack I quickly crack some eggs into it and place it on the stove. While the pan of eggs heats up I start spooning rice into the rice cooker. I sigh and lean against the counter. This will be a long day! I can't believe Hiro Sensei is making Tadashi and I do teambuilding exercises!
*Flashback*
"Squad 12's biggest problem is its lack of teamwork!" Hiro Sensei lectures fiercely as he paces in front of us. He turns and looks squarely at me.
"Nagiri! You're always bickering with Tadashi!" I hear Tadashi snickering beside me which causes Hiro Sensei to turn sharply towards him.
"And Tadashi! Why are you always trying to start a fight with Nagiri!"
Tadashi swallows guiltily and I smirk. Hiro Sensei glares at both of us warning us to stay quiet.
"Squad 12 hasn't successfully completed five missions now. You aren't going on another one until your teamwork improves. Your actions are tarnishing the Leaf Village's name! I'm disappointed in the two of you!" My smirk instantly falls into a grim line.
*Flashback end*
My nose scrunches at the burning smell drifting around from behind me. I twist around and see the eggs burning and I quickly grab the pan and shove it on the counter. In the process, my hand hits the stove and I yelp in pain. Damn, that's hot! I curse under my breath and turn around to check if the rice is done. My hand stings as I reach for the switch on the cooker. I turn the sink on and stick my hand under it to stop the burning. As I run my fingers under the cold water I think of Tadashi's face again. You're not even here and you're still ruining my life! Damn you Tadashi! Sighing I turn the water off and go over to the microwave when I hear it ding. I pull the leftover chicken from the fridge and replace it in the microwave with the miso soup. The miso soup and the rice survived the morning though the eggs weren't as lucky. Once the microwave dings again I grab the chicken along with everything else. I carry my breakfast to the table while quickly shoving the chicken onto the eggs and rice. Even the burnt eggs can't ruin my oyakodon (chicken and eggs on rice). I finish it all off quickly and drop the dishes into the sink. I shed my pajamas as I walk to the bathroom and into the warm awaiting shower. I grin and sigh as the warm water cascades around me. When the water starts getting cold I step out and dry myself off. My wavy black hair hanging down my back moves silently as I brush my teeth. Reaching for my hairbrush I grab my hair with the other hand. My hair shimmers in the light and seems to brighten as if I am brushing life into the silky strands. After I'm done I pull my fishnet tank top on and wrap my left arm in bandages. Then I pull my ninja half-shirt over my head followed by my hooded vest. The vest is lined with fur around the edges and hood to create warmth. Black ninja shorts cover my legs along with a ninja skirt that is split into four sections with the side pieces held together with buckles. I grab more bandages and wrap them around my left thigh and place my kunai pouch over it. I complete my outfit with blue ninja sandals and my leaf headband which hangs loosely around my neck. I glance in the mirror and sigh again.
This is just not a good day Tadashi.
I slowly walk to my front door not looking forward to the events ahead. As I step out, I hear loud bickering from down the corridor. I look to see Mai, Kamichi, Michiro, and Nanaba leaving their apartment also. Great, more nuisances!
"And it begins." I grumble. The bickering was coming from Kamichi most likely complaining about something again. Mai, Kamichi, and Michiro were all a year younger than me. Nanaba was Michiro's older sister and was five years my senior. Kamichi is a brat that's all there is to it. She's loud and obnoxious and likes to pick fights with everyone. Michiro's a wimp and never stands up for himself. I originally had no problem with Nanaba until she found out I was picking on her little brother. Now she glares at me every time she sees me. Mai is the only one out of the group that I like. She's pretty quiet, but not the type to let people walk all over her. She's a good ninja as well, but not one of the annoying types that is a cocky show-off. That's why I like her so much and why I find some of the others so annoying.
"Hey, Nagiri." Mai smiles gently at me. She knows how much the others annoy me.
"Hey, Mai." I smile weakly at her. I'm not much of a smiler. Mitsukuni tells me that some of my forced smiles look like I am in pain.
"Well, well, well. Isn't it Miss high and mighty herself!" Kamichi says. When I walked up it seems to have made Kamichi forget whatever she had been angry about before.
"And if it isn't Miss I think I'm the greatest person to ever walk this Earth." I reply dryly.
"Hey, I don't think that, but I'm certainly better than you!" Kamichi spits back hotly.
"Hey, why don't we get going. We can't keep Asuma sensei waiting. He's got to meet with his new squad later today." Mai says, quickly coming between Kamichi and I. That's probably for the best because if Kamichi had kept going I would have hit her. There's Kamichi wanting to pick a fight again. One of these days Kamichi and I are going to see who the strongest is. Mai slips in between Kamichi and I and leads the way down the stairs to the street. Michiro and Nanaba follow behind and I can feel Nanaba's glare drilling a hole in my head. After a tense thirty minutes, we part ways to go to separate responsibilities. I head to meet my squad in training field six.