I don't own Naruto etc, but the OCs are mine
So read, enjoy, post reviews -but no flames are tolerated
I secured my new forehead protector around my forehead, making sure that it was tied correctly. I was ten years old –and I had passed my Graduation exam for the first time. Starting today, I was a shinobi of the Leaf.
I double-checked what I was wearing –I had replaced the piqao dress I had worn as a child with a white shirt with loose sleeves that flowed over my palms, obscuring the fingerless gloves that had armour plating that ran up to the elbows. The shirt was emblazoned with the crest of the Takeda clan on the back and right sleeve. I wore cropped trousers with cords pulling the ends to my legs. I had bandages wrapped around my lower legs.
I had grown my hair long, braiding it down my back.
So much had happened in the village –my clan had been decimated; and then the Uchiha clan had been destroyed from within. I hadn't been able to believe it when I had heard what had happened –Itachi had killed every member of his family, apart from Sasuke. Ever since that day, Etsuya acted as though he didn't even exist.
Sasuke had changed so much it was scary. When he had returned from the hospital, he had been even more withdrawn –darker, colder. He had glared at everyone, and yet it had seemed as though he wasn't looking at them, but someone beyond them. Naruto was always competing with him, always chasing the genius.
I hadn't forgotten my own desire –to find and eliminate Tsurugi for what he had done to my family –but I wasn't going to let it change me that much.
"Hazuki! Tenten's waiting for you!" Etsuya shouted up the stairs. Our old complex was still in a state of constant repairs, so we had moved into a recently-renovated townhouse. Our weapon-store had survived untouched, and the falcon-house where the Great Birds roosted was fine –our security had been downsized and become more discreet.
Tenten was of the Xa Jing clan, a fellow student and graduate in the Academy. She was twelve years old –there were a good solid couple of years between us. She was wearing a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants; she had her hair in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector. We had been friends for years –ever since I had been adopted into the Takeda clan.
"So who do you think you'll have on your squad?" she asked as we headed to the classroom for the final time. She was excited about this.
As for me, it was still sinking in –I wasn't a little kid anymore; I was a Genin, a kunoichi in training. I couldn't wait until I was out on missions as part of a squad –I just didn't show it like Tenten did.
"I dunno," I said, and I meant it. I didn't know who I wanted on my squad, but there was one person I knew I didn't want to be partnered with. If there was anyone I found even more annoying that Sasuke, it was Neji Hyuga.
We got to the classroom a few minutes before noon –the designated time when we would be sorted into squads, and from there met our Jonin sensei. The room was filled with twenty-seven recently graduated Genin, all sporting the same forehead protector. The room was filled with excited chatter; I took my place and pulled out the book I had been reading for the past few days.
"Alright, I want your attention at the front," the instructor called out. "First of all… I want to say congratulations to all of you for making the rank of Genin. Now, before we hand you over to your Jonin instructors, there is one final thing to be done. And that is to divide you into squads of three. We have tried to create a balance –a mix of abilities and levels –in each squad, so that's how we set the squads up. Now listen carefully."
He started reading from the checklist. I glanced behind me, up to the central top level. Neji was sitting beside Tenten and a brown-haired boy, eyes fixed determinedly on the teacher. I was fine with any squad, as long as I wasn't put in the same group as Neji. I couldn't stand the way he had gone on and on about fate. My fists clenched at the mere memory of what he had said when he had beaten me in taijutsu finals –"You will never be able to defeat me; the outcome of this test was determined by fate the moment I was chosen as your opponent."
One day, sooner or later, I was going to make him eat those words.
I scoffed at the mere idea that 'fate can't be altered' –if that were true, then I wouldn't have been here today. I would still have been stuck in that cage if I hadn't decided to take my future in both hands and change it around for the better. I was the complete opposite to Neji's fatalist take on the world.
"Squad 5 –Neji Hyuga, Tenten Xa Jing and Rock Lee," the instructor said. I breathed a small sigh of relief. Someone must have been listening to my wish from above. And Tenten would be happy –she was part of the squad that had the number-one ninja in it.
"Squad 6 –Hazuki Takeda, Osamu Kurama and Kai Mizumaki," the instructor said next. I looked around for my team-mates.
Kai Mizumaki wasn't too difficult to spot –he had ash-blond hair that hung loose around his shoulders, wearing a pair of light trousers and a blue top. His lower legs were bandaged, and he had arm-warmers on both lower arms. He came from a clan of Water Style specialists, but was otherwise unremarkable. He got average grades, and was good at both ninjutsu and taijutsu. He had graduated the year before, but for some reason had been booted back into the Academy.
My other team-mate was sitting a row in front of me, with his brown hair tied up in a ponytail and glasses perched on his nose. He was pale –maybe due to the fact that he spend many hours inside, feverishly studying. He was a member of the Kurama clan –extremely skilled genjutsu masters, although none had been born with their Kekkei Genkai for a while. They had once been a prominent clan, but their influence and numbers were beginning to fade. Still, there was evidence that Osamu might become a genjutsu-style fighter –he had extremely advanced chakra control and a sharp mind. But his other skills were slightly rusty and forced.
Then the final squad was announced, and then we were left on our own until after lunch. That would be when our new sensei would come and introduce themselves.
"Hey," I heard someone say as I gathered my things together. I looked up to see Kai standing over me. "I think we should go out for lunch –the three of us. I think there's something I should tell you and Osamu."
We took lunch in a dumpling shop.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to us about, Kai?" Osamu asked, munching on a dumpling.
"You probably know that I was booted back to the Academy," Kai said. "It wasn't because I messed up on the mission –it was because I failed the final test."
"What final test?" I asked. "We've graduated already."
"That's what I thought too," Kai replied. "But that whole exam –all they were doing was picking graduates who might become Genin. There's still one more test –one that only nine students can pass."
Only three teams were going to be allowed to graduate? That hardly seemed fair. Still, we had to take Kai's word on it.
"We can't afford to let whoever our sensei is know that we know all this," I commented. "Let's see what happens when we met him. Then we can come up with a strategy."
