"Squad 7, Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka-sensei began. The class sat in strange anticipation over who would be paired with the failing screw-up.
"Sakura Haruno,"
The boy named Naruto jumped up in the air, cheering. Sakura looked as though she was going to puke.
"...and Sakuke Uchiha."
The positions switched. Now Sakura was cheering and Naruto was groaning. There had been a feud between him and Sasuke for a long time, both trying to be the best. So far Sasuke was winning.
Sakura was a well known fan of Sasuke's. She and Ino Yamanaka had fought over him for years. Now that Sakura and Sasuke were in the same squad, it seemed that she had won.
The next few squads were called and Takani just sat, totally uninterested in whether they were paired with friends or foes. Takani's name wasn't called.
By the end of the day, everyone but Takani had been assigned a squad. They were all congregating outside, talking about whether they liked their squads, as if they hadn't known everyone's reactions already.
Iruka was up at the front of the room, talking with Kakashi Hatake, leader of Squad 7, about a small problem that had occurred in the counting of the teams.
"Takani doesn't have an available team," he said. Kakashi thought for a second, momentarily putting his legendary book down. He was never seen without it.
"How did she do on her exams?"
"Flying colors. She got a solid hundred points, no mistake. She pays attention."
"I thought Sasuke got the highest score."
"I thought so too, until I checked the scores just a second ago. He was a half point below her."
Kakashi stared up at Takani, who was twiddling a pencil between her fingers. She was short and thin and did not look like a ninja in any way. How had this little thing gotten the highest score?
"Where's Gai right now?" Kakashi asked.
"I can get him," Iruka said and quickly left. Kakashi stared up at Takani.
"What do you think, where should you go?"
Takani didn't answer. She just shrugged her shoulders and stared at Kakashi. He didn't move.
"Don't speak, huh?"
Takani shook her head.
"Do you want to be a Genin?"
Takani shook her head again. Kakashi was confused.
"I don't understand. Do you want to stay in the Academy? It's boring having to listen to the same things over again, when you have such mastery of them."
Takani sighed, once again shaking her head. No, she didn't want to stay in the Academy.
"Do you want to be above a Genin? Chunin or Jonin?"
She nodded, smiling. Kakashi stared off into space for a moment, but was broken out of his thought by Iruka returning with Gai right behind him.
"So, little Takani-chan here doesn't have a team?"
Kakashi shook his head. Takani was once again uninterested, doodling on her paper.
"Is there anyone free that you know of?" Iruka asked Gai.
"Not at the moment, no. Everyone's working. What were her scores on the exams?"
Both Iruka and Kakashi answered. "100, perfectly. Above Sasuke Uchiha, even." The two stopped and stared at each other before bursting out into laughter.
Gai looked up at Takani, drawing.
"Is she the one that doesn't speak?"
"Yeah," Iruka said, "I haven't heard her utter a word."
"Last name?"
Iruka looked confused for a second. "I don't…know it. Her parent are dead, though. Does she know her last name?"
Takani nodded, still intent on whatever she was drawing.
"Would you tell us?"
She shook her head.
"This is so frustrating…" Iruka mumbled. "I do know her birthday, though. She wrote that out to me."
"So, how old is she?"
Iruka paused, thinking. "She should be five."
Gai whistled. "Only five and ready to graduate from the ninja academy…"
"Yeah."
Kakashi looked up at Takani, who was still doodling. Only five, sort of like him. He looked at her in a different light now.
"What are her specialties?"
"Just about everything. Her transformations are flawless. She could hit a target with a shuriken bulls-eye from a hundred meters, blindfolded. Everything you could think of, she has it."
"Now, the question is, will that make things easier or more difficult?"
Iruka and Gai looked at Kakashi, who had spoken. He was still staring at Takani, who had realized it and was staring back. They were locked in eye-to-eye combat.
"Takani-chan, can you please say something?" Iruka asked, sighing.
She shook her head without taking her eyes off of Kakashi.
"Should have known."
Kakashi was smiling. "She's a tricky one. Not something you see too often in a ninja, is it, Gai?"
Gai glared for a moment at Kakashi, but stopped himself before he could get too carried away. There was a more important task at hand.
"I'll take her around town, how about that? I'll ask any available Jonin I see if they have an idea. When all else fails, beg," Iruka said, smiling.
Gai and Kakashi nodded, then turned and went out separate doors. Iruka rolled his eyes, tired of the feud between the two.
"Did you hear that, Takani-chan? We're going for a walk."