Okay, new chapter, I hope you all are enjoying this! First, I'd like to thank: Ayumi-chan, and Genji-chan, my two best friends. Next, I'd like to thank FearTheFan, my older sister. On with the story, yeah!
Ai woke up, stretching her thin arms while she yawned. Somehow, she had woken at five AM. She shrugged, and turned off her alarm before it would bug her an hour later. She flipped on the light in her room, and the room was illuminated in the soft yellowish light. Walking over to her dresser, she pulled off her blue silk nightdress and opened the top wooden drawer, and pulled out her mesh under-outfit and deep green bra. She pulled on the mesh from her legs up, lacing it up in the front, then pulling the bra over her head. Walking over to her closet, she put on the ugly uniform, and tied the lavender scarf around her neck. Quickly, she brushed her shiny black hair and tied on the purple forehead protector. (like Sakura does, only with a bit of her bangs in her face.) She ran into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, quickly eating the most she could before walking into the desert light outside. She grabbed the book bag off the counter and then remembered something. She ran out of the house and into the small shed in the sandy yard. She picked up a cold iron fan, and dropped it into her bag, and she ran off in the early morning light.
The sand blew harshly in her face, and Ai pulled her scarf up over her mouth. She squinted, and then she saw the large gray building up ahead. "Finally" she whispered to herself. She opened the doors, and walked into the school. She passed a few students, most of them being ninja, in small groups by lockers and doors. I probably should go find Gaara and the others she thought. She walked by the basement door, when she remembered that that was where they would probably be, and opened it, the harsh light from below filling the room. She spotted Gaara, Kankurou and Temari, sitting around their lunch table, seemingly just hanging there.
"Hey Ai!" Kankurou called lazily.
"Hi!" Temari greeted accordingly.
"Hn. Hey." Gaara grunted.
Temari did a double take, staring at Gaara with surprise, but then turned back to Ai. Kankurou was sitting, typing on the computer with one hand, making a small wood puppet do an odd dance with the other.
"Hi" Ai responded, waving gently, closing the door.
No sooner had she closed it, however, had it flung open again, a girl with long purple hair burst in.
"Ai! Hi, remember how I told you about the new teams?"
"Yeah, but I thought that teams were for life."
"Normally, but you came up, and then a little 'incident' last year messed some stuff up." Mae said, glaring at Temari and Kankurou. They dropped there heads in defeat.
"RiGhT" Ai said trying to keep up.
"Anyway, I just felt like reminding you." Mae finished, a wide, hyper smile on her face. Ai looked at her with an expression that read 'You went through all of that to tell me something I already knew?' Looking her up and down, she noticed something strapped to Mae's back.
"Hey Mae, what's that?" Ai inquired.
"Oh, this?" she said, pointing at the leather strap. "It's just my katana. I brought it because we normally do some kind of big training for the teams." Temari got up and walked over to Mae, eying the sword. I guess it was a good idea to bring the fan.
"May I?" she asked, pointing to it.
"Sure, I guess." Mae pulled out the sword and handed it carefully to Temari. She took it gently and held it, fingering the smooth blade. She placed one hand on the hilt, and held it firmly.
"Hey, Kankurou, take a look at this." She called, and Kankurou dropped his puppet and folded up his laptop, Gaara following to see the commotion. Kankurou took it bye the hilt and held it with the same firmness as his sister.
"Wow, it's a Yuuna chakra blade!" He exclaimed, obviously impressed by the blade in front of him. "So that makes you a Yuuna, right?"
"Yeah." She blushed, and looked down, motioning for it back. Ai lost interest and looked over to where Gaara was standing. He looked like he was staring into space, but with more of a purpose. Ai cocked her head, and looked up to where he was looking. Nothing! Ai tapped his shoulder and he nearly jumped. He whirled around, his blue eyes flaming. She jumped back in fear, the rest of the group not paying attention, but still talking to Mae about her sword. Gaara blinked in a startled manner, like he had just woken up from a dream.
"Gaara-kun, are you… OK?" Ai asked, frightfully.
"I… I think so.." A strident ring suddenly vibrated through the basement. BRING!BRING! Temari looked up at the clock, and so did Kankurou and Mae.
"Looks like we have to get to class." Kankurou sighed. Temari shut her eyes, and held up a hand to keep Kankurou from leaving.
"No, wait a minute."
"But Temariiiiii…." He whined, causing Mae to release a small girlish giggle.
"I SAID WAIT!" She snapped. Quite unexpectedly, the crackling noise of the PDA system filled the room. "Ahem.. This is the Principal, and we have received news from the Sunakagure Council, that due to the…erm.. Incident last year, there will be a recall on all teams. Everyone is to report to the auditorium IMMEDIATELY! Pay no attention to the bell." The voice blared.
"I told you so Kankurou." Temari said, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever." He said, punching her arm playfully. The group filed out of the basement and up the stairs, first Temari, then Kankurou and Mae, and last Gaara and Ai. As they walked out, Ai and Mae were given sideways glances and glares from angry students. Mae kept her gaze straight ahead, and Ai just looked down at the floor. Pretty soon, they reached the auditorium doors. It was a large room with mats set neatly on the floor. Most of the seats in the back were taken, and to avoid the stares and vicious comments, Mae proposed to sit in the front. Ai sat conservatively on her legs, her skirt pulled over her knees. After what seemed like seconds, the principal, a tall man in his 50s, stepped onto the lit up stage.
"Ahem." He cleared his voice, running his hand through his graying hair. "As you heard in the announcement earlier, there is a recall on all teams in this school." A silver-haired council man in the corner nodded, as if this was all too necessary. "And will be giving the teams codenames, so that any other villages will not uncover your true team numbers, possibly exposing secrets of our own village…" He rambled on in his speech about the village, and such. "….So our first team is Team Ainiuero, and the official number is 145." He said this proudly, as if he was announcing the winners of a contest.
This guy is so BORING! Ai screamed in her head. "Now as I say the team members names, you will come onto the stage…" We're not dumb! Cut the speech and hurry up! "… Kumino Ai!" Ai looked up, and rose up nervously, smoothing her skirt. She stepped up onto stage, attempting to be as oblivious as possible to the people in front of her. Oh Kami. THIS might be embarrassing. I'm in front of an entire school, and now two of them are going to be on my team. "Yuuna Mae!" Mae walked up with a cool, calm, face. She gave Ai the peace sign quickly, and stood there. "And last, Gaara." He finished. Gaara, instead of walking, disappeared in a cloud of sand, then re-appeared on stage next to Ai. Thank the Lord! This may just be bearable. "These are the members of Team Ainiuero. Alright, now then, you are to report to this area on the campus." He said handing them a small sheet of paper. "From there your new sensei will tell you what to do."
"Finally! Our destination!" Mae nearly yelled. Ai winced from being to close her loud and talkative teammate. Gaara looked around the sandy training grounds, seeing not a thing.
"Where the hell is this guy?" Ai complained. She heard a scuffle, and prepared a kunai. Another scuffle, and Ai tossed it at the area of the noise, in this case, a log nailed into the ground.
"Good job!" a womanish voice called from behind the log. The woman, in a Sand Jounin jacket pulled herself on top of the log. "I didn't expect any of you to be able to hear me. You have quite the ear." The woman was a tall brunette, with tanned skin and green eyes.
"This is just a guess, but would you be our sensei?" Mae questioned sarcastically.
"That would be correct. Now, to start, I'm going to ask you all some basic questions about yourself." Gaara shifted his gaze over to a bird chiping on the fence. "Lets start with you, the red head." He turned his vision over to the woman. "I'm asking you your name, what you like, what you dislike, and your dreams for the future."
"I am Gaara. I can't say that I like anything, I dislike many things, and my dreams… Hn.. To be accepted."
"Right. Now then, you, with the purple hair."
"I'm not saying anything until I know who YOU are first."
"Ah. Spoken like any true ninja. Well, my name is Machiko, of the Oki clan, and I like students who have potential, I dislike lazy kids, and my dream.. Hmm…. It looks like I've already achieved that."
"Alright sensei. I'm Yuuna Mae, I like weapons, jutsu, training, and friends, I dislike anyone who gets in my way, and my dream is to become an ANBU black op."
"Hmm… That leaves just you."
"Umm.. Right… I'm Kumino Ai.. I like the different kinds of tea, rice, training.." She hesitated "… And I dislike when my parents are out on missions, and people who think that younger people are useless.. I guess." Machiko nodded. Mae smiled. Gaara just grunted a little. Ai continued, "My dream… Is to… I dunno, show that I am a ninja to my father." Mae looked a little confused, and Gaara seemed to be paying attention just a little.
"Very good. Now then students, pay close attention, this one was tough, even for my best students." Machiko said in a stern voice. "I will perform a series of genjutsu on each of you, and you must find a way to break it." Their sensei glanced around at them, each returning a determined gaze back. "Any and all weapons are permitted, as are kekkei-genkai." After she said this, she began to perform a series of handsigns, she said, "Children, this may disturb you. Choukikioku Naitomea no Jutsu!" Ai began to feel dizzy….
Ai was frightened. Her clothes and hair were drenched in cold sweat. "Ai.. Ai.. Open your eyes Ai.." a smooth and spine-chilling voice called. She grinded her teeth together, and clasped her hands over her ears. She wouldn't open her eyes."No!" She screamed shrilly. Keep my eyes closed… Don't fully succumb to the genjutsu! Ai thought. The sinister voice continued to echo, and she couldn't handle it much longer. Her eyes burst open, and her father, covered in blood was walking around her, like a lion stalking its prey. She bit her lip, blood dripping out of it and onto the black floor. Fear was building up inside of her, she was sweating like crazy. She reached down to her kunai pack, and threw one of the sharp black knives into the monster's chest. It pounced onto her, its lifeless eyes staring through her, and its torn skin dripping blood on her. Her chakra boiled, making her heat up. Think! I can't go on much longer like this! "Hakidasu Iruujon no Jutsu: Illusion Release!" She cried. The demonic image faded, and Ai began to flutter her eyes open.
"Amazing!" Machiko-sensei exclaimed, "What jutsu did you use to release my genjutsu?"
"The 'Hakidasu Iruujon' counter-jutsu.." Ai replied quietly.
"Where did you learn such a jutsu? Only a few Jounin know it."
"I'd rather not say.." Her sensei stared at her, as if she had a horn sticking out of her skull.
"Well. Then I guess you can go home now." Machiko waved, and Ai started to walk away, looking back at Gaara and Mae still twitching violently, and she wondered what nightmares could be inflicted on them..
End of Chapter 3! WOO! Longest chapter I've ever written! From here on out, just so you know, the three won't go to the Highschool, but instead they'll go through average ninja routines. (Practice, training, etc.) Also, the jutsu I wrote weren't real, but I did some research on Japanese words, and made them up. Bye! Hope you enjoy!