I sat around with the ANBU people for a while beside one of the bridges of the village. I tried to ignore all the stares and whispers I was getting from people who passed by, mainly at my clothing. It's like they've never seen a school uniform before! Oh wait, that's right, I forgot. I'm in some other parallel universe with super ninjas that can fly...or rather, hop.
"I've got to get out of here," I nervously muttered.
The ANBU member beside me let out a slight chuckle.
I stared up at them. "So ANBU, huh? What does that stand for?" I curiously asked, trying to make small conversation.
"It doesn't stand for anything. It's just a name for us," One of them simply replied.
"So it's not short for anything? How did you come up with that name?" I cocked my head sideways.
"You may call us assassins. Since it's what we technically are. However, the correct term to refer to us is ANBU." They explained.
"Assassins?" My eyes widened. "Remind me not to get on your bad side..." I teased.
This earned a few small laughs from them. At least most of them were entirely cold and knew how to play or joke around when they needed to.
Suddenly, I heard soft footsteps approach us from behind. The ANBU dipped their heads in greetings just as I turned around to see who was behind me.
It was another ninja, I assumed. He had silver spiky hair that swept sideways, along with a mask and headband that covered his left eye. His right eye was a normal brown color. He was a fairly tall individual, appearing to be around his early to mid 20s at least.
"Hello, Kakashi." The ANBU greeted.
He nodded his head in greeting as well. "Thank you for watching the girl, but I can take over from here now." He stated.
The ANBU nodded and took this as a cue to leave. "See you around, kid." One of them referred to me before proofing out. I nodded in response.
"So you're Kakashi, I'm guessing?" I turned my attention towards him.
"Yup. I'll say you caused quite a commotion among the village. They aren't really used to outsiders, especially ones like you. The Hokage informed me to watch you and make sure you aren't a threat. In the meantime he had suggested that you serve as a temporary member under my team." He explained.
I blinked at him. "Your team?"
"The team consists of a three man genin squad. However, with you, the Hokage is making an exception and extending it to four members for my team. I was actually on my way to meet them now. We can both go," He admitted, before stepping forwards and making his way off the bridge.
I immediately hurried to catch up with him, and the both of us continued to walk side along the village pathway. "What's a genin?" I felt stupid for asking, but I had no idea what anything was in this world.
However, Kakashi payed no mind. "A genin is the lowest ranking ninja that consist of students who have graduated from the academy after years of education and training. They normally begin at the age of twelve, but there are some special cases where they start younger if they're considered to be prodigies. A chunin comes after the genin, and then the highest ranking ninja is a jonin."
"Cool," I smiled. "So what rank are you?"
"A jonin. Each team of genin get assigned a jonin to train them," He explained.
As we approached a building, I averted my blue gaze up at his. "So I'm considered a genin then?" I questioned.
He cleared his throat and opened the front entrance to the building, before walking inside with me close behind. "Technically speaking, yes. However, from what I've heard, your lack of abilities are far more lower than a genin. Actually, lower than most academy students," he scratched his head.
I glared at him, my face growing red from embarrassment. Even though he was right, I was a total noob at being a ninja. "Hey..!" I pouted.
Gosh, maybe I should read ninja training for dummies or something.
As we walked down the hall, we stopped in front of a closed room. Kakashi turned the knob and pushed the door open, about to step in-until a surprising thing happened.
A dry eraser dropped directly on top of his head.
He stood frozen for several moments as I tried not to laugh. From inside I could hear a younger voice laugh and exclaim, "I got him! He totally fell for it!"
Another younger female voice quickly apologized, saying that she tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen, and that she would never do anything like that.
As Kakashi stepped in with me behind him, I could now fully make out the group of three standing before me. They all stared at me, intrigued and quite confused. All of them were my age, and the group consisted of two boys and one girl. The boy that was the shorter of the two and the one who had laughed, had short spiky blonde hair with fair skin and striking blue eyes. He also had three lines across each of his cheeks, which resembled whiskers. The girl had long straight pink hair with green eyes. And the last boy, who was quietly sitting at one of the desks of the room with his elbows resting against the desk and hands folded together. He had spiky ebony black hair, with dark brown eyes and pale skin. I had to admit, he was pretty attractive. However, I could already tell he was going to be a jerk by the way he sat quiet and his face had a look like he couldn't give two shits about anything.
He briefly averted his gaze towards mine, but not even a second passed when he quickly moved them away, uninterested. I didn't know whether to be insulted or glad that he was the only person who didn't stare at me like I was from another planet. However, the other toe couldn't keep their eyes off me.
Kakashi slowly bent down to pick up the dry eraser, before standing straight and rubbing his chin. I had expected him to be angry, but he appeared to stay very calm. I guess he was a very laid back guy.
"Hmm...how can I put this? My first impression of this group...you're all a bunch of idiots." He simply stated.
The three dryly peered down at the floor, feeling embarrassed. "Hey! Why am I an idiot? I didn't do anything," I protested with a huff, thinking his insult was towards me as well.
Kakashi glanced at me. "Except for you, Kagome. Learn from them and don't do what they just did,"
I softly smirked. "Lesson learned." I chimed.
All three of them glared at me, and the blonde boy quickly piped up. "Hey, sensei! Who is this girl? Is she like another addition to our team or what?" He asked.
"Yes, she is. This team is going to be four members instead of the usual three. She's new," Kakashi explained.
The girl with pink hair suddenly glared at me for some reason, and seemed disappointed that I was going to be joining the team.
"Cool!" The blonde boy smiled at me. I returned the smile and decided that I would get along with him.
The dark haired boy didn't care, and replied with a "hn."
I had a feeling being in this team would be quite interesting.
Afterwards, Kakashi took us to an area that overlooked most of the Leaf Village. All four of us sat on the stairs while Kakashi stood in front of us, against the railing.
"Now, why don't we start off by having the four of you introduce yourselves," He began.
"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?" The pink haired girl questioned.
"Things you like, things you hate, hobbies you have, and dreams for the future. Things like that," He answered, crossing his arms.
"Why don't you talk about you first, I mean, so we know how it's supposed to work." The blonde boy suggested, and I found myself agreeing.
"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future...never really though about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies." He thought about each thing for a few seconds.
"Well that was very descriptive," I dryly stated.
"That was useless, all he really told us was his name..." The pink haired girl muttered to us. Me and the blonde kid nodded in agreement.
"Okay, now you guys. You on the right start first," Kakashi referred to the blonde kid.
The blonde kid fixed his headband against his forehead. "Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the noodles from the ramen shop. I hate the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the water in the instant ramen cup. My hobbies are eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my dreams for the future is to become the greatest Hokage! Then the village will stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!"
I smiled at him. Jeez, that kid really loved ramen.
Kakashi nodded. "Alright, next."
The pink haired girl spoke up cheerfully. "I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like is um...I mean the person I like, is..." She broke off her sentence with giggles, before blushing and glancing towards the dark haired kid.
"Gah, kill me." I rolled my eyes. She was one of those annoying fangirls.
"My hobby is um..." She tried to hide her blush. "My dream for the future is..." She gave out a girlish squeal.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "And? What do you hate?"
Sakura glared at Naruto. "Naruto!" She yelled, which caused Naruto to heartbreakingly pout.
"Alright, next one." Kakashi replied with boredom.
The dark haired kid began to speak, resting his mouth against his hands. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything," He explained, causing Sakura to frown. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality." His eyes grew dark and menacing. "I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."
I stared at him. Well great, we have a Michael Myers on our team, fantastic. "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine," I muttered, and he immediately glared at me.
"Okay, now your turn." Kakashi turned to me.
"My name is Kagome Higurashi. I like long walks on the beach..." I began, which earned me a few raised eyebrows. It seemed like I was setting up a dating profile. "I also like going to the movies and hanging out with my friends. I hate homework and tests. My hobbies are playing volleyball, and my dream for the future is..." To get the hell out of here, I sarcastically mentally thought. "To someday become a doctor or a lawyer," I decided.
The four of them looked at me like I was crazy.
"What's volleyball?" Naruto asked, confused.
"What's a lawyer?" Sakura added.
"Uh..." I started to explain, but Kakashi interrupted me. "Good, you're each unique and you have your own ideas," He commented. "Now tomorrow the four of you will begin your first mission. You can call it a survival test," He narrowed his eyes.
I stood there with my mouth agape. "Well, it was nice knowing you all. I'm out," I nervously chuckled, and made a move to stand up but Kakashi gave me a look that said to sit back down. I grunted and sat back down with my arms crossed. There's no way I'm dying!
"A survival test?" Naruto questioned.
"I thought we were supposed to have our first mission, not more practice." Sakura complained.
"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi replied.
"So what kind of training is it then?" Naruto scratched his head.
At this, Kakashi began to darkly chuckle. "If I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it..." He chimed.
"Yeah, I'm out." I sweat dropped, and made another move to get up but Naruto grabbed my arm and tugged me back down. I gave out a miserable whine.
"Out of the 27 graduates who came here, only 9 will be accepted as genin. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. This is a pass or fail type test, and the chances you'll fail are at least 66 percent." Kakashi explained.
"Way to give us words of encouragement," I mumbled, as Naruto and Sakura almost fell over. Sasuke looked intrigued.
"I decide if you pass or fail as a genin. Be at the designated spot tomorrow at 5 a.m. You better skip breakfast too, or else you'll puke. That's it, dismissed for today." Kakashi explained. "Oh, and Kagome, since we still yet to have found a place for you to stay, the Hokage has suggested that you temporarily move in with one of your team members. Sakura lives with her parents, so preferably Naruto or Sasuke since they live alone," He added.
"Like hell. She isn't living with me," Sasuke coldly replied.
I angrily crossed my arms. "Well, me neither! I wouldn't want to live with a jerk like you!" I retorted.
"Tch," Sasuke turned away in annoyance.
"I don't mind having a roommate," Naruto shrugged, giving me a grin. "Believe it!"
"I'll stay with Naruto then," I stated.
Kakashi sighed and scratched his head. "Well, you see. I was actually suggesting that you stay with Sasuke since his apartment is much bigger than Naruto's."
"So? That doesn't matter." I shrugged.
"Well actually, I forgot, I don't have an extra mattress for you to use...so you'd kinda have to sleep on the floor," Naruto nervously chuckled, before scratching his cheek with his finger.
I opened my mouth in another protest, however Kakashi stopped me. "Unless you can sleep comfortable on the floor, I highly suggest against it. All of you will be needing good sleep due to the rigorous missions we will be doing," He explained, and I suddenly got quiet.
He had a point. I never slept good on the floor.
"Sasuke, do you have an extra futon mattress?" Kakashi questioned.
"...Yes..." He begrudgingly replied.
"Alright, problem solved then." Kakashi nodded. "Kagome will stay with you,"
Both Sasuke and I didn't seem too pleased about that idea, especially him. Sakura disliked that idea too and immediately spoke up. "So she's going to be SLEEPING with Sasuke!? No way! That isn't fair! Ugh!" She glared at me.
I rolled my eyes. "Calm down, pinky. I have no intention of stealing your precious Sasuke. I'm not a fangirl like you. And eew! I'm not sleeping on his bed! I'll be sleeping on a mattress, for your information." I argued.
She crossed her arms and huffed.
"Great..." I heard Sasuke sarcastically mutter.
"Alright, dismissed." Kakashi told us.
Sasuke and I walked towards his apartment in silence. I was dying to make at least small conversation because I had always talked a lot, but it was obvious that Sasuke wasn't much of a talker so I decided to say something first.
"So, why do you live alone? Where are your parents?" I wondered out loud.
He remained quiet for several moments, which was terribly awkward. "I don't have parents," He finally answered.
"Did they leave somewhere?" I questioned, confused.
"No. They were killed when I was eight." He simply replied. However, I could sense the faintest tinge of sadness and anger within his voice.
I softly gasped, feeling sorry that I had even brought it up. "I'm sorry," I frowned. That must explain why he acted like such a cold jerk.
"It doesn't matter. I'll avenge their deaths...one day..." He clenched his fists.
I stayed quiet for the remainder of the time, not wanting to say anything more stupid. I had obviously made him emotionally upset for bringing up his parents. Ugh, why did I have to do that? Stupid, stupid! I mentally sobbed.
Once we got to his apartment, he opened the door and let us both inside. I glanced around his apartment, and I admitted it was really nice. It was very homey, and I could tell he was very neat by the way the floors seemed spotless and his bed already made. The apartment also had a balcony with a prefect view of the village. As I continued to stare around, I spotted a TV sitting against the wall of the room.
"You have a TV!" I exclaimed, running over to it. I thought I had landed in some world from the past, so I was surprised to see modern technology here. Obviously this world was a parallel universe that appeared to be from the past but still had modern technology to some extent, minus the cars of course.
"Yes, I do." He raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you ever seen a TV before?"
"Well, yeah, but I thought this world-I mean-this village didn't have TV's...?" I stupidly replied, trying to cover up the fact that I wasn't from this world. Of course, he probably knew that already because of the way I dressed. Heck, the whole village probably already knew.
"Whatever, you're weird." Sasuke rolled his eyes, slightly amused.
"I'm not weird...I'm just incredibly insightful." I argued, sticking my tongue out at him.
"At least you aren't annoying like most of the girls were back in the Academy." He dryly stated.
"Were they all fangirls?" I smirked.
"Yes," He groaned.
Of course. As I suspected, Sasuke was quite popular with the girls in this village.
"Alright, as long as you're staying here, I'm gonna go over a few rules with you," Sasuke's tone of voice changed back to it's usual coldness.
"Like what?" I blinked.
"Don't touch any of my shit, that includes the TV." He started to explain, before grabbing and dragging an extra mattress from his closet and placing it against the wall on the other side of the room. "And stay on your side of the room. I like my space,"
"Okay, okay." I rolled my eyes with a frown. "Where's my side then?"
He pointed to the corner of the room where my mattress sat. "That's your side," He replied, and made an imaginary line with his foot. "You see this? Don't cross it. This is my side,"
I gaped at him, incredulously. "You only gave me that small corner of the room! The whole room is practically your side!" I protested.
"Exactly. It's my apartment, so what I say goes." He plainly replied, not caring about what I thought. "So, you either deal with it, or sleep outside. I don't care,"
"You're mean." I crossed my arms in frustration.
"Like I said, I don't care." He shrugged.
I made my way over to my corner, and softly landed on my futon mattress, which already had bedding cover over it.
"Here," He grabbed one of his extra blankets and tossed it over to me. As well as a pillow. Or rather, tossed it at my head.
"Thanks," I muttered, and pulled the blanket off my head. "Do you have any PJ's I can wear?" I asked, since I really didn't feel like sleeping in my school uniform.
He pulled out one of his T-shirts. "You can wear one of my old t-shirts." He merely replied before tossing the shirt to me.
I gave him a thanks, and I stood up to head to his bathroom and change. Once I came out wearing his t-shirt and my uniform folded in my hands, I went back over to my mattress and placed my folded uniform on the floor beside it. I peered over at Sasuke's bed and discovered that he was already laying there, about to fall asleep.
I yawned and curled up against the mattress with the blanket pulled over me. I couldn't help but thinking about my mother, my grandpa, and Sota back home. They were probably really worried and looking for me. It made me miss home. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to get back home.
I sighed and decided to get some sleep instead of thinking about it.
"Goodnight," I chimed to Sasuke, not really expecting him to answer. I quickly fell into a deep sleep after.
"Hn," Was all he said in reply, before falling asleep as well.
Yay, Kagome met Team 7 :) I'm looking forward to writing the chunin exams part where she meets all the other genin. Thanks for the reviews guys! Leave me more reviews and tell me what you think of this chapter. ~
