"It's time to choose your weapons." I watched as everyone rushed towards the tables, eager to choose their weapons. I clenched my fist, remembering the metal claws I'd had. Yoshika had taken them from me, leaving me with the uncertainty of finding a new weapon to master. Slowly, I walked towards the large array of weapons displayed.
Metal gleamed in the sunlight, the edges blades glinting wickedly. I studied each weapon carefully, even testing a few, but found none to my liking. A shadow fell over me, and I turned to find my old Sensei standing behind me. "Here," he said, smiling. He handed me my gloves. I slipped them on, clenching my fist.
The claws extended smoothly, the only sound a whisper of metal on leather. They shone silver in the sunlight, curved edges razor sharp. The corner of my mouth twitched upwards, almost in a smile. Sensei watched me, searching my face for a reaction. I nodded, and rejoined the rest of the graduates.
Sensei put us in our teams, and sent us off to meet our new Sensei. I watched other teams moving towards different Jōnin, spotting my new Sensei in the shadow of a wall. She had long straight black hair and scarlet eyes. On her back she carried scrolls. I walked over, joining my new teammates. They groaned when I joined them, but I ignored their pointed looks and complaints.
"I am Ai-sensei. I will be your squad leader." She walked away, motioning for us to follow. We made our way to a shaded are beneath a rock. "Now, I would like to know a little about each of you. How about you first," she said, looking at the other girl in the newly formed squad. "My name is Aya. My weapon of choice is the flash bomb, though I prefer to use ninjutsu."
Ai-sensei looked to the boy in the squad next. "My name is Ren. My weapon of choice is the sword." I rolled my eyes. Why do guys always go for the sword? Ai-sensei turned to me, noticing my reaction. She raised her eyebrow. "Asuka," I murmured, and raised my hand. Clenching my fist, I displayed my weapon of choice, saying nothing else. She looked surprised by the weapon.
"I've only seen Konoha shinobi use that weapon before. I didn't know we even had any." I said nothing, my blank face betraying nothing. She sighed, and stood. "Come with me, I have to test your skills, find your strengths and weaknesses." She led us to a corner of the village that was quiet, with no one else in sight.
"Now, I want each of you to pick a target. I'm going to test your skill with kunai and shuriken." We each removed the weapons from the pouches on our belts, taking aim at a fence post. Ren went first, his kunai thudding into the post on target. His shuriken however flew wide, missing the post completely. He collected the weapons and stood back, allowing Aya to try.
Both her shuriken and her kunai thudded into the fence post, though they were off-centre. Waiting for her to collect her weapons, I gazed up at the cloudless sky. "Asuka," Ai-sensei called. I refocused, throwing a kunai. It missed the fence post by a metre. Aya and Ren laughed, but were hushed by Ai-sensei. She had moved to collect my weapon, a shocked look on her face.
"Asuka, you hit it." I nodded, already knowing that. Aya and Ren looked confused. "What did she hit, Ai-sensei?" Aya asked. Ai-sensei shook her head, disbelieving. "A fly." Aya and Ren glared at me, furious at having been shown up. I ignored them, instead readying my shuriken. It landed at the exact centre, prompting more amazement from Ai-sensei and jealousy from Aya and Ren. I turned away, already bored by the day's events.
