Chapter 6

Sensei

Natsuki POV

It had been a month. A month that felt like so much longer. It seemed so long ago that I had been forcibly pulled away from all I knew and everyone I loved. My parents, my friends, ……..Colin…… oh how I missed him.

I have been living in Konoha ever since Alex's machine screwed up and landed me in the middle of Team 7's training grounds. As soon as Mia and I were alone we both vowed never to speak of the future of this place. We may have altered it enough just by being here.

How are we here anyway? Alex's machine had somehow let us cross dimensions, into the world of a book…….. there would be time to think on it later, I suppose.

Mary was as excited as I had ever seen her about us becoming genin. We had graduated faster then anyone in the history of the academy. Even Uchiha Itachi had been there for two years. This got us a lot of attention.

That's just what we need, a bunch of people who are already obviously suspicious of us, to be watching us more closely. Seeing our 'strange origins' and my general 'keep-to-myselfness' I did not make any friends at the academy.

Mary however, with her 'cheerful-all-day-every-day' attitude, brought the attention and good will of all the kids in all of our classes. But like hell I would copy Mary just to get a friend. Besides, I already had a reputation as 'the girl Sasuke'.

I don't know if that means that I have a lot of fans around the village, which is highly unlikely, or if it's because I'm so cold and quiet. The later is completely idiotic. He is the way he is because of trauma. I am this way because I choose to be.

Anyway, it seems that Naruto has finally gotten used to us. He asked us out to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate our graduation. After wandering around for a few minutes, I found the stand and pointed it out to Mary. Why does my sense of direction have to suck?

We sat down next to Naruto, who was waiting for us. "Eat all you want, it's on me~Dattebayo!" "No way. I'll pay for my own….damn." I had just looked into my wallet.

"Out of money?" he asked. "I told you I'll pay."

"No, that's not it. I have money, just only Liberty money." "Liberty money? Let me see!!"

Naruto snatched a dollar bill out of my wallet and held it to the light. "Cool! Pretty! So this is Liberty money? What does the 1 mean?"

He never took a breath between his sentences. I guess that's why Mai and I call him a ball of boundless energy. "The 1 means one dollar. That's what our money is called, dollars. One dollar would be about…….. a couple hundred ryo, I guess. I'm not fully sure."

"That little?" "Well there are much bigger bills then that. 5's, 10's, 100's."

I took the dollar back, making sure he didn't rip it. It was the only thing I had left from my home, except for an ahnk charm that I kept in my pocket at all times. The ahnk was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life. It was a symbol to me.

A sign that I refused to lose my life here. That I would find a way home, and after that, wish for a way to go back and forth. A way to live as a shinobi, but still to see the ones I loved….

The greater details of my friends were fading already. The color of Sam's hair. The shape of Scott's glasses. Colin's face was still there, thank Kami, as well as my family.

I think that is because some of the people here are so much like Colin. Sasuke's quietness, Colin was always silent around others, but when we were alone he would make me laugh every second, like Naruto's antics. He was also quick to attack anyone who pissed him off, like Sakura if you could get her mad enough. I wanted so desperately to see him again.

If only he could be here. For then we could be happy together, and I could remain here. Everyone here seemed happy, safe for Sasuke, but he was a special case. I didn't want to leave this place. I wanted to stay here, but only if I could be with the ones I loved. I…

"Natsuki! Natsuki, what is wrong with you? Wake up~Dattebayo!"

I snapped out of my inner rant and looked at Naruto apologetically. "Sorry, did you say something?" Naruto frowned. "That was 2 minuets ago!"

"Sorry. Excuse me for thinking." I said grumpily.

"Anyway." He said. He pointed to my other side, towards Mai. I looked and saw her talking to a lady with purple hair. She looked at me and smiled.

"So you finally snapped out of it." She said laughing. I knew her from somewhere. But who? "I'm Anko Matarashi. I'm going to be your genin sensei. This is Ayume."

She pointed to the boy sitting beside her that I hadn't seen. He looked at me and then bowed his head, staring at his bowl of ramen.

"Hi! My name is Mai" She stuck her hand out to him. He just looked at her timidly before looking back at the ramen. "Ayume." Anko said warningly. "A shinobi shows no fear." "I'm not afraid. I just don't like people."

His voice was steady, so he was telling the truth about not being afraid. Yet I could tell that something was bothering him. I couldn't place it, but something didn't seem right about him. I'll have to look into it later.

I turned to Anko and said, "So….when is the first mission?" Anko looked away from Ayume and turned her attention to me. "Tomorrow. Sarutobi Hokage-sama will tell us exactly what in the morning. We're meeting at the bridge at 8:00. Don't be late."

Naruto started laughing. "That's what Kakashi-sensei always says. 'Don't be late.' Then he comes late every day. Hope you do better then him~Dattebayo!" "What about me?" Kakashi asked, coming up behind Naruto.

"Ughhhh….. BYE!!"

Naruto ran off. "Hey wait! We're meeting at the bridge at 8:00 toma……. *sigh*" Mai stood up. "I'll go tell him." She raced off after Naruto.

I sighed and talked to Anko and Kakashi some. After a while they both left together, and I was left alone with Ayume, who was slowly sipping at the same bowl of ramen he had a half hour ago. Luckily Naruto had paid when we got the bowls, instead of leaving me alone to do it.

I turned to Ayume. "Did you just graduate as well?" I asked. Usually I'm not the one to start a conversation, but this seemed to be a good time. "No."

He was still starring at the bowl, as if hoping something would not happen. "Then you have been genin for a while?" I asked, trying to get him to tell me more. "Yes."

He never looked up, and even I felt uneasy. Usually I liked the silence. But this kid didn't seem quiet, he seemed sad. I would probably be able to read his emotions easier if I could see his eyes, but his short black bangs hid them.

I tried something else. "Are the missions easy?" "Most." He said. He was nervous. Something he didn't want me to know, or that he didn't want to let himself know. I couldn't tell which. It was enough for me.

I left him alone. After a while he left and I was all alone. Mai hadn't come back, so I was assuming that she went right back to Sakura's house.

I left and saw a younger girl with purple hair. It was Hinata! She was hiding, watching… Naruto. Why was I not surprised? I decided to let her admire from afar while she could.

I headed for Sakura's house. When I got there I talked with everyone for a bit, went into the guest room where I was staying, and got in bed. There was a big day tomorrow, and I had a lot to think over.

Hi! Wow, I got two chapters in one day! Cool! Oh! And thanks to 'Blackcatsnap' for being the first to favorite this story!

-Natsuki

-KunaiBlade

-Vietnam