"Who are you again?" Someone asked me as I sat down.
"I am Miyako Yuriko." I answered automatically.
"Well, Yurippe." The pink-haired girl clearly didn't like me, "Can you move elsewhere? You just sat in my spot." She said rudely.
"I wasn't aware it had your name. I wanted to sit by my friend here." I guestured to Naruto, "but if he means that much to you, I guess I can move."
"He means nothing to me!" She snapped, "I want to sit by Sasuke-kun!"
I clutched my chest and cringed playfully, "That really hurt." I turned to look at this Sasuke. He was good-looking, but I can clearly tell he did not want to be bothered by fangirls. I was surprised to see the Uchiha symbol on his back. I turned to the girl, "I'll move, if you apologize to Naruto. I'm sure he didn't appreciate your rudeness."
"What?! No way!" The girl, I remember her name Sakura.
"I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I can't move until-" "Okay, I'm sorry Naruto! There now will you move?" She huffed.
"Be careful. Don't want to look to flustered in front of Mr. Cool over there. He might bust a nerve if you're too annoying."
He felt our gaze and turned to us, "What?"
"What do you mean what?!" Naruto snapped.
"Sasuke-kun can I sit next to you?" Sakura pushed Naruto aside and nearly threw me out of my chair.
I flicked her large forehead, "Watch it fangirl." I said annoyed as I found a empty seat behind them. It wasn't long until Naruto got on the desk and got really close to stare Sasuke down. Sasuke frowned even more and glared back.
"Leave Sasuke alone Naruto!" Sakura complained. Suddenly the kid in front accidentally bumped into Naruto and their faces connected in a extremely unfortunate kiss.
"Naruto, you moron! I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke started to gag.
"Yuck! My mouth is rotting!" Naruto did the same. I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I sensed the conflict with all the fangirls. This wasn't good. I casted a difficult ninjutsu to suspend everyone's minds to a stop as I manually replaced Naruto with a Naruto clone. I released the ninjutsu as the fangirls took the bait and beat the heck out of my poor clone. I covered Naruto's mouth and let him take a peek of what was happening. He gulped and returned to his hiding spot under my desk. They stopped just as Iruka-sensei stepped in and my clone disappeared.
I motioned for him to return to his seat. "They won't do anything now that Sensei is here."
"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi. But you are still genin. The hard journey that lies ahead has just started." Iruka-sensei started his final lecture. "Now you will soon get missons to help the village, so today we will create three man teams and each team will have a Jounin-sensei. You will follow your sensei's instructions in order to successfully complete your missions." He paused. Three man teams? I wonder who I'll work with. I shouldn't get my hopes up for any preferences so...
"We tried to balance each team's strength." Iruka-sensei flipped through the list on his clipboard. "Alright, Team #1..." I recognized their surnames. Hyruga... they have the Bykugan. Oh geez. Nara? Isn't that... I can't remember. Too bad. "Ok... Next is Team #7 Miyako Yuriko, Naruto Uzumaki, and Uchiha Sasuke." Uchiha? Oh crap that's right! They know about me! At least last time we crossed paths they were all about trying to capture me. My worry caused me to miss the question at hand, "Sasuke's grades were the best of all 27 graduates. Yuriko tested in second. And yours were dead last." Iruka-sensei explained, "Do you understand, we have to do this to balance the teams right?"
Sasuke mumbled something, "...dead last."
"What did you call me?" Naruto shouted.
"Give it a rest Naruto!" Sakura grumbled. She, along with the rest of them, must be bummed they weren't with Sasuke. Oh brother.
"Okay, this afternoon we'll introduce you to your Jonin sensei's. But for now, you are dismissed." Iruka-sensei waved. "Meet back at noon."
Everyone filed out of the room. I walked up to Sasuke, "You must not be excited to work with people, but you'll have to deal with it. Anyway, just want to let you know that I look forward to completing missions with you and Naruto." I said politely before walking away.
I walked out and found a bunch of fangirls waiting for me, "Look New Girl. It was luck that got you on the same team as Sasuke-kun and you are going to pay for it!" They were ready for another girl fight fest.
I repelled them using my magnet jutsu, so they couldn't touch me, "Look I have three things for you guys. First, Sasuke doesn't need this kind of trouble for anyone he just so happens to glance at. Two, he deserves team members who are focused on the mission at hand and not ogling at his every step. Three, you guys have no class. So you guys are really overreacting over everything. I'm not after Sasuke's delicate heart. So stop being so rough or you just might find yourself passing the limits of fangirl to insane stalker." I said simply and turned to walk the other way. Sasuke stood in the doorway. I met his gaze for a moment before walking away.
Naruto opened the door for the fortieth time, "Just sit down or something, Naruto. Give it a rest. No need to be all jumpy all the time." I suggested, tapping on the desk.
"Speak for yourself," He retorted, "Why is our team 7 sensei so darn late?! All the other teams have gone off with their sensei's and Iruka-sensei also left..." He trailed off as he brought a chair to the door.
"Oy, what are you doing?" I asked irritated.
"Hihihi." He giggled as he wedged a chalkboard eraser in the doorway, "Oh calm down. That's what you get for being late." He jumped off the chair and kicked it away.
"Pfftt. Like a Jounin would fall for such a stupid booby trap." Sasuke scoffed. A hand appeared and I panicked, switching my rinnegan on to use the deva path to pull the eraser to Naruto before it could hit the sensei's head. I closed my eyes to hide it until I remembered how to deactivate them again.
"What?!" Naruto dropped it and dusted himself off, "Did you do that sensei?!"
I opened my eyes to see Kakashi standing there, "Kakashi...sensei?!" I gasped. How can I do this? I feel so wrong in this body when delimmas from past lives are in my face.
He nodded in acknowledgement, "Yuriko, I think you redeemed my first impression of you guys a little bit. Though I still don't like you guys." He said flatly. A little bit my butt!
"What? You two know each other? How? How?!" Naruto asked.
"Eh, details aren't important." I dismissed the topic nervously. I did not need them to freak out about that incident.
Kakashi-sensei took us to a secluded park or somewhere of the like. He leaned on the railing as us students sat on the steps a ways away.
"Well, let's begin with introducing yourselves." Kakashi-sensei started.
"What do you want to know?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, start it out." I chimed in.
"Oh...me? Well my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes.. Dreams for the future... hmmm. And I have lots of hobbies." He purposefully made it vague. It frustrated me.
"So... all he told us is his name?" Naruto whispered.
"Now it's your turn, let's start on the right." Kakashi-sensei motioned for Naruto.
"Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What I like is a cup of ramen. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen" He said adjusting his head protector on his forehead. "What I dislike is waiting 3 minutes for the ramen to cook."
I laughed inwardly, I guessed straight on during class the other day. Is that the only thing he thinks about? "And my dream is to surpass the Hokage and then have the people of this village acknowledge my exsistence!" He declared firmly. I watched him in awe, my heart softening. Obito had the same dream. I will support him.
"Hobbies... Pranks, I guess.." He shrugged.
"Next." Kakashi-sensei ruffled his hair. I turned to look at Sasuke's intense gaze.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't really like anything." He said. Another vague one. "And... I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man." He said creating a heavy atmosphere. Are the Uchiha...gone?
"Okay. And lastly the girl." He guestured to me.
Oh! My turn. "My name is Miyako Yuriko." I paused, "I like new experiences, combat, and accomplishing hard things. I dislike strong people who pick on the weak, men who talk down to women, and remembering when people called me a monster." I said wearily then brightened up. "My dream. Heh. I want to live a meaningful life, find people who won't judge me for my secrets, and when the time comes, I want to die saving someone else from death." I paused to gain composure, "And finally, my hobbies...well hobby. I draw." I shrugged.
Kakashi-sensei was quiet for a while, lost in thought. "Okay! That's it for the introductions. Tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi." He announced.
"Yeah! What kinds of duties!?" Naruto asked excited. With Kakashi-sensei's new attitude, I wasn't too enthusiastic to hear about it.
"First, we are going to do something with just the four of us." He said, becoming troublesome to get information out of.
"What is it?" I asked cautiously. Knowing his
"Survival training." He replied. "Survival Training?" Naruto repeated. Oh, I remember this.
"Why is our first duty a training session?" Sasuke asked.
"This isn't normal training is it?" I hinted.
"Bingo. Yuriko is correct. This time I will be your opponet." Kakashi-sensei said happily.
"Then, what is it?" Naruto asked.
Sensei started to laugh, "Um, Kakashi-sensei. Will you please explain? You're persistence to being vague is really tiresome." I said frustrated.
"Uhm. Well, it's just that when I tell you this, you guys are totally going to freak out." He tried to contain his giddiness. "You see, of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become a genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!"
I didn't blink, "That's efficient. That helps decide who actually has a chance to become genin. That gives us a lot of pressure." Kakashi-sensei snickered, "I told you you'd freak out. You're spot on again. That's the point of this test. Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training ground. So bring all the shinobi tools you have." He instructed, "Oh, and skip breakfast, you might throw up."
We sat in silence, absorbing the information in, "The details are on this paper. And don't be late tomorrow." He handed us handouts.
"Hey guys. Good Morning!" Kakashi-sensei greeted us all cheery.
"You're LATE!" We all declared annoyed, but sensei ignored us and went about setting stuff up.
"Okay, it's set for noon." He said pressing the alarm on a clock on the stump. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before the time is up. Those who don't have a bell by noon get's no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you." He explained.
So that's why he told us not to eat...
"You only have to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definately be tied to the stump. And the person who doesn't take a bell fails, so at least one of you will be sent back to the academy." There was now a high tension in the air between us. I need that bell to be able to be accepted as a genin. I can do that. Kakashi-sensei continued on his explanation, "If you want you can use shurikens and kunais you won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."
"But you are so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser, Yuriko had to snatch it before it plopped on your head. We'll definately kill you!" Naruto boasted.
"In the real world, those with no talent often bark the loudest. Well. Ignore Mr. Dead Last and start when I say.." Kakashi-sensei ordered. This angered Naruto and he pulled out a kunai. In a flash, Kakashi-sensei appeared behind him, taking Naruto's armed hand to point at his own head.
"Calm down, I haven't said start yet." He said calmly. "Well, it seems you're finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill. So you've finally acknowledged me? Heh. It seems like I'm beginning to like you guys. Okay. Let's get going. Ready, Begin!"
I leapt and hid myself in the trees. "The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide yourself." Kakashi-sensei called. I remember when I first did this exersise with Kakashi and Obito. It's about team work.
"Come here and fight me!" Naruto yelled out in the open. Oh geez, can't be logical here can you Naruto? I sighed and readied myself for backup.
"Uhm. You're a little bit off.." Sensei said awkwardly. Naruto charged, "The only thing that's off is your haircut!" I watched carefully as Kakashi reached to pull something from his pouch. "Shinobi fighting lesson #1 Taijutsu. I'll teach you about it." He pulled out a book. "What's wrong? Hurry up and attack me!"
"But...Hey! What's up with the book?" Naruto asked offended.
"Oh, I just want to know what happens next. But don't worry. It won't make a difference against you guys. He shrugged reading as he went.
"I'll totally defeat you!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi-sensei was able to deflect all his attacks without flinching. I flashed behind him and sent a high kick to his temple, "You should really watch your back, sensei." I said. He reached out and tripped me and elbowed Naruto away.
I sprang away as he got to his feet and made a tiger seal behind Naruto. What? That's a fire seal, "Naruto, run away!' I shouted.
"Too late." Kakashi-sensei said, "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique: A 1000 Years of Pain!" He launched Naruto into the air and into the water in the nearby stream. That's...so...LAME! That wasn't a ninjutsu. That was just a powerful asspoke Kakashi.
I created two shadow clones and charged Kakashi-sensei. The two ran before me came to a stop a few feet away and combined hands, I jumped and they launched me higher. Tiger, Boar, Crab, Sheep. "Explosion style: Aoi Homura!" I shouted then blew blue fire darts that exploded on Kakashi upon contact.
A log replaced sensei. Drat, he got away. "I'm impressed. You shouldn't be able to control chakra at genin level." He said behind me. I turned as he began to cast genjutsu. By reflex, I activated my sharingan and stopped his attempt to cast the illusion.
Kakashi-sensei leapt back as I attepted to reverse it onto him, "Won't work." He revealed Obito's eye. I winced inwardly and closed my eyes hopefully before he could red into me.
Crap. He saw into my soul. Stay calm, Rin-Yuriko. "Shinobi fighting lesson #2: Genjutsu, I didn't fall for it. Shinobi fighting lesson #3: ninjutsu. I think I'm farther in that than the others." I said playfully.
I grinned, "I love combat. So watch out sensei." I launched my clones towards him and sparred, he blocked me pretty well.
"Taijutsu isn't everything." Kakashi-sensei said plainly. I smiled, "Your right!" I made more seals: boar, dog, dragon, ram, rat, hare, tiger. "Ice style: crystal chasm!" He was not able to anticipate each attack and barely saved his skin by replacing himself with one of my clones to freeze.
I sighed, "Two sharingan users will create a drawn out battle." I called out ending the clone jutsu. "I will use other means." I laughed inwardly.
"Sharingan! Sharingan! What the hell is that?" Naruto yelled.
"Sharingan.. The sharingan is one of the types of pupils that gives you this power. It is said some have the ability in their eyes to read and defeat all types of genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu." I said with sick enthusiasm.
"It seems Sasuke is missing all the action!" Naruto yelled as I deactivated the sharingan.
I scanned the area with my sight seeing eyes. Sasuke was in the trees to our left. Kakashi-sensei was hiding below us. I knocked Naruto away as Kakashi-sensei pulled me into the ground.
I was just a head now looking up to Kakashi-sensei, "I don't need hands to defeat you! I was going easy!" I heard Naruto set off a trap. "You put a bell as a trap didn't you?"
Kakashi-sensei laughed, "Pretty much. What were you saying about having no hands?"
"Oh! You're really going to love this!" I activated my rinnegan and used the deva path to pull the bell to me. I caught it in my mouth. "See? No hands!"
"Well, you just became a target for the other two." Kakashi-sensei said irritated, "And, What kind of eyes are those? How can you possess more than one powerful pupil? Those one's are pretty creepy.."
"Kekkai Genkai rememer?!" I winked. "This eye is my own, not taken from somebody else. It's the..." I stopped as kunai came and assaulted his face.
"No way! Sasuke you went too far!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi turned into another log.
"Hehehe, I did it! I got a bell!" I started to break through the dirt. Naruto grumbled in frustration, "Yuriko, let me out of here!" I freed my hands and pulled myself out.
"Tell you what. You get out of that by yourself." I said tossing the bell on the ground below him, "Then you can have the bell." I bargained, waving as I headed to find the other two.
I carefully hid in a safe spot while watching Sasuke attack Kakashi-sensei. Sensei took hold of Sasuke's foot, then opposite hand. Sasuke twisted around to swing a kick to Kakashi's head, positioning himself perfecty to grab the last bell. I flashed behind Kakashi-sensei to push him forward as Sasuke grabbed it off him. Kakashi-sensei pushed him away while jumping aside.
Kakashi-sensei glanced at me, "Both bells have been taken. So it seems."
About ten minutes later, I was securely tied to the stump. "You guys look really hungry. Oh and by the way," Kakashi-sensei noted, "Something about this training. Well, there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."
Naruto started getting giddy, but me and Sasuke waited wearily for the rest of the message. "All three of you should quit as shinobi!" Sensei said calmly.
"What?!" Naruto growled, "We got the bells! Why do we have to quit?!" He took an offensive stance.
"Because all of you are just punks who don't deserve to be ninjas." Kakashi-sensei retorted. Sasuke charged him and ended up under sensei's foot. "That's why you're a punk."
"You're being a bit harsh, Kakashi-sensei." I said worried.
"I am not." His countanence darkened, "Are you guys estimating ninjas? Huh? Why do you think that you were divided into teams and are doing this training? Yuriko was the only one that got this. That is why you two have the bells. No other reason. Your abilities were nothing in the reason you got a bell. It was at the mercy of her." He flattered me.
"What does that mean?" Naruto said confused.
"Basically, you two are not understanding the answer of this test." Sensei explained.
"Answer?" he asked stumped.
"Yes, the answer that helps us pass this test. I didn't realize that was the basis of the test." I said in realizaton.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
"Yeah, share the info Yuriko!" Naruto chimed in.
"It's teamwork." I watched Kakashi-sensei, "With the three of us working together, we possibly could have overwhelmed Kakashi-sensei and gotten the bells. But because there was two bells it created a sense of competition between us." I explained.
"Of course. This test is purposefully set up to make you fight amonst yourselves." Kakashi-sensei started to correct my thinking, "The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interest and successfully work together under these designed circumstances." He paused to adjust himself. "Yet you guys..."
"Naruto! You were just running around by yourself. Sasuke! You just assumed the others would get in your was and tried to do everything yourself. Yuriko!" He turned abruptly to me, "You did what you could for your teammates. Sacrificing your bell to Naruto. Though your last method that got the bell seemed pretty... how to say it... cheap and mysterious. I still don't understand it."
"Like the sha-"
"Naruto!" I shouted then mended my tone, "That is not the matter here."
"Anyways, the duties are done by the team, of course superior ability is important to a ninja, but what's even more important is teamwork." Kakahi-sensei continued his lecture. "Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger and even get you killed. For example. Yuriko! Kill Naruto! Or Sasuke dies!" He ordered. Naruto looked at me, not understanding the example.
"If a hostage is taken there will be tough choices to make and in the end we will most possibly be dead." I explained, finishing sensei's thought.
"Yes, you will be risking your lives in these duties." Kakashi-sensei got up and walked to the carved stone, "Look at the numberous names carved on this stone. These are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Naruto spoke up, "I've decided to get my name carved on that stone too! That's what I'll become!"
"But," Kakashi-sensei continued, "They aren't just normal heroes..." I sensed a feeling of sadness, respect.
"Oh yeah? Then what kind are they?!" The hyperactive jinchuriki asked.
"They are all heroes who died while on duty." Kakashi-sensei told us. My face softened, Obito... "This is a memorial. My best friend's name is also carved here..." He said fondly, then turned to us again and sharply spoke, "You guys... I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challange can eat lunch, but don't give any to Yuriko. It's punishment for not ending up with a bell. If anyone gives her any food, they will fail immediately. I am the rules here. Got it?" He said before leaving. He was so cruel.
The two of them sat down to eat, and I stared at the ground. I couldn't eat, so what? My stomach rumbled at an embarrassing volume, "I'm okay, it's just one meal. This is nothing!" I assured them, "Just ignore the embarrassing stomach noises..." I said as another sounded. It was really hard not to think about food.
Food... Riceballs... No! Stop, resist. Overcome the physical need. Need...food...
"Here." Sasuke lifted his bento to me.
"Hey, Sasuke, Sensei just said..." Naruto whispered from my other side.
"Don't worry. I don't sense him near here. After lunch we'll work together to get the bells." Sasuke reassured us, "Without food, she'll just be in the way and that will only hurt us."
Naruto thought about it then nodded, offering some of his food too. I smiled, "Thank you." I focused chakra to cut through the ropes and found my extra chopsticks in my pouch, "Lucky I somehow misplaced these this morning." I took a few bites of each of their bentos. "Thanks." I sighed, feeling my monster stomach be silenced.
"What is this?!" Kakashi-sensei yelled as a huge white cloud exploded, "You guys...!" He glared as we jumped in surprise, "...pass. 3" I could almost see him smile under his mask.
"Pass? But why?" I asked cautiously.
"You guys are the first." He replied. "Everyone else would just do whatever I told them. They were all just morons... A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash but, you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrads are lower than trash." He shrugged.
"That ends the training. All of you pass!" Kakashi gave the thumbs up. "Okay, starting tomorrow Team #7 will begin it's duties!"
