Here is chapter two! Slow moving... but important.


Chapter 2

"We'll go around to each of us. I want your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, etc," the instructor explained to Team Seven. He wore a mask to cover the lower half of his face, and a crooked band to cover his left eye; the rest of his body was covered as well. His only distinguishing feature was his tall, silver hair. Suzume wasn't sure what to make of him.

Naruto looked at him suspiciously as well. "Why don't you go first?" Sakura nodded in agreement while Suzume and Sasuke said nothing. They all sat a distance apart, their enmity clear as day.

"Okay. My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes aren't really your business. I have a lot of hobbies... and I don't really have any dreams."

"We didn't end up learning anything but his name..." Sakura grumbled under her breath, just loud enough for the others to hear. If Kakashi had heard what she said, he ignored it and instructed Naruto to begin.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are cup ramen! My dislikes are waiting the three minutes for the water to boil. My hobby is tasting different kinds of ramen and my dream... My dream is to become the next Hokage and have everyone acknowledge me!" he exclaimed animatedly, his voice rising with every sentence. Suzume looked at him curiously; she had never realized he was such a passionate person. By the end of his speech, she found herself almost believing him.

Sakura went next. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are... well... who I like is..." she paused for a moment, stealing an obvious glance at Sasuke. She giggled before continuing, "My hobbies are..." Another giggle. "My dream is to..." She ended up just smiling, her face pink as her hair.

"And your dislikes...?" Kakashi prodded.

"Naruto and Suzume!"

Naruto's face fell while Suzume narrowed her eyes. "Right back at you!"

Before an argument could break out, Kakashi spoke again, "You there!"

"Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike a lot of things and I don't really like anything. I don't have any hobbies. I don't want to say dream... but my ambition is... to kill a certain man." The Uchiha's hatefully gazed into the air as if he could see his target right in front of him. A shiver ran down Suzume's spine, forcing her to look away from the him. She had never heard such vindictive words before, not even from clan members, and she knew who they were for: his older brother, Itachi.

"Ah," was Kakashi's only response, as if he had expected that answer. "And you?"

"My name is Iwate Suzume. My likes are my friends, and I dislike having to leave them and go home. I also don't like mushrooms or tomatoes. My hobbies...? I read sometimes. My dream is to make my parents proud."

"Hm... interesting," he murmured, examining the team once more. "Meet at the training grounds tomorrow morning at seven for survival training."

"Survival training? But we've already done that at the academy!" Naruto shouted, standing in an outrage.

"This is different."

"How?"

The man paused for a moment, his one eye sweeping over their faces. "You'll freak out if I tell you." The silence pushed him for explanation. "You see, out of the twenty-eight students to pass the graduation exam, only a maximum of ten students can actually become genin. So there's about a 66% chance of failing this test."

"What?!" Suzume had waited for this, that shocking discovery that it really wasn't that easy. There has been no way that ninja could be picked just by performing a simple technique; there must have been something more, and this was it.

"I told you that you'd freak out."

"So what was the point of the exam?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"That was to see who was eligible to become a ninja," Kakashi stated plainly. "So tomorrow, seven o'clock sharp; remember that. You're dismissed." For a moment, nobody moved but finally, as they all got up to leave, he spoke again. "Oh yeah, and don't eat breakfast. You might throw up." They all froze a moment more before they continued on their way.


Suzume got home not ten minutes later, coming in silently on watch for her father. "He's not home yet," a voice said suddenly. Suzume stiffened as she turned to face the speaker, her mother, a beautiful young woman with flowing black hair and cold, emerald eyes.

"Where is he?"

"He's away on a mission today, but he'll be back soon enough; then you'll be in trouble," her hollow voice replied. Suzume swallowed hard, looking everywhere but her mother's eyes. She didn't want to see what was coming for mistreating Hidemi; it hadn't gone well the last time. Her parents would not beat her any more than what was normal, but the scorn on their faces was even worse than anything physical. She turned away from her mother, running to the safety of her room.

...

She was woken from her sleepless daze by her father shouting for her. She jolted out of bed and hurried to the room in which she knew he would be waiting. Suzume immediately kneeled on the floor, her head bowed low, in preparation for her lecture. Her father stood above her, pacing slowly back and forth like a pendulum. His silence intimidated her.

"This is unacceptable, Suzume," he said in a low voice, still walking. "You deliberately disrespected your sister this morning. Hidemi is your sister, not a dog; you understand that, don't you?"

"Yes, Father." She bowed low.

"I won't tolerate that behavior any longer. I've let you off before but that stops now; you're not a child anymore. If you'd like me to treat you as an adult then you have to conduct yourself accordingly; know your place! I won't take anything less from you any longer. Hidemi has already learned this, now it's your turn. You will apologize to her tonight, understand?" He had stopped finally, directly in front of her. Distaste tainted his words.

She found it difficult to speak. "Y-yes, Father. I understand... I apologize."

Suzume stayed as still as her father, not daring to move a muscle even as the hard ground made her ache. She knew he waited for her to move first but her will would not bend; he could not win against her again. Minutes passed. Then, without warning, the man left the room. Suzume exhaled harshly, releasing the tension from her body, before slumping over. She wasn't sure how much more persecution she could take before she would never cry again. She rubbed the tears from her eyes. "I promise I'll make it."


Early in the morning, before the sun had even risen, Suzume set out to the training area. Although Kakashi had told them not to eat breakfast, Hidemi argued against it, saying "you won't have enough energy to make it through a battle if you don't eat", so Suzume ended up eating lightly; she hadn't been about to refuse. As usual, she enjoyed her walk while listening to the waking birds, but anxiety built up inside of her. One day could decide her entire future. The fear settled deep inside her as she reached the field. Only Sasuke waited there, sitting silently against a tree. Not wanting to disturb the peace, Suzume sat across from him in the dew-covered grass, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. She watched him through her breath.

He didn't move a single muscle, not acknowledging that Suzume was even there. She began to wonder if he had accidentally fallen asleep as she'd never seen Sasuke so serene. She found it a welcome change from the usual frown. Her friends would have killed to see this side of him, she thought. Mai loved Sasuke more than anyone else in the academy, she would always say. Suzume had never been sure why girls liked him so much if under his handsome exterior resided such a hateful personality. Perhaps his good looks were enough for most people, she decided.

"Do you have something to say?" Sasuke asked her, his narrow eyes now open.

Suzume jumped, having not realized his wakefulness right away. "Ah, sorry," she stuttered. Unable to say more, she looked down at the grass. He did not reply, but turned his head as if dismissing the entire situation. Suzume, unsure whether that meant he accepted her apology, continued to explain, "I was only lost in thought! I wasn't doing anything strange, if that's what you thought!" For some reason, she felt nervous, as if she had actually done wrong and had to justify herself.

Sasuke looked at her again, in a long, contemplative silence. Suzume squirmed under his gaze until finally, he smirked. "I never said anything like that."

Suzume froze, the gears in her head whirring. Suddenly, her mouth gaped in dumb shock. He had been purposefully making her uncomfortable just to see her suffer! "You-"

Before she could berate him further, Sakura skipped into the field, calling "Sasuke!" The high-pitched cry immediately incited Suzume's scorn. She turned angrily toward the offender while Sasuke turned dutifully away. "Good morning, Sasuke," Sakura chirped cheerfully despite being ignored.

"You're loud," Suzume snapped spitefully.

Sakura glared at her. "Nobody asked you!"

"Good morning, Sakura!" rang Naruto's voice across the clearing; Sasuke couldn't hide his irritation upon hearing it. The calm atmosphere had completely flown away. Naruto ran up to greet Sakura again, only for the girl to snub him in attempt to gain Sasuke's attentions. Suzume couldn't believe how dysfunctional the team was turning out to be.

"Good morning, Naruto," Suzume said, trying to save whatever team harmony they might have had. There was no reason to ignore Hidemi's advice from the morning. "Make sure to get along with your teammates, even if you dislike them. That's the difference between life and death on some missions!" Suzume tried to smile pleasantly.

"Morning!" he responded loudly, grinning widely. A light blush rose to his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head shyly.

"Come sit," she suggested, patting the ground next to her. His eyes widened for a moment but he quickly took her offer.

After a few minutes of quiet conversation, Naruto admitted his surprise, "Wow, I never thought that you'd be so nice!"

"What do you mean?" she questioned, trying to shoulder his back-handed compliment. She hoped it didn't show on her face.

"Well, you always hang out with Itsuko, Mai, and Amaya so I just thought that you'd be a lot like them, and they don't seem very nice at all." Naruto looked thoughtful as he spoke. "You seem really different from them though!" He smiled toothily again.

Suzume wasn't sure whether to smile. "Thanks, Naruto. You're wrong though; they're not mean people. Actually, they're really amazing people! If you were ever be friends with them, you'd know what I mean. You can never judge them based only on what you see."

Naruto looked doubtful, which frustrated Suzume. She wanted him to see her friends' greatness. She'd have to find a way, she decided to herself.

The wind blew through the training grounds, the only noise that anyone could hear.

"Where is Kakashi?


This has been heavily edited.

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