XIV: The Next Step

Sarada

Sarada sat in the classroom, waiting for the team assignments to be handed out. It had been two days since the graduation exam had taken place with Sarada passing with flying colors, top of the class, and today the immediate future of the 30 new genin would be decided. The class rankings were posted in the hall outside, with separate lists for the overall scores, theoretical knowledge, physical conditioning, ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, and weapons proficiency.

A group of ninja-fans sat at the front of the class admiring their new headbands. "These are so cool, man," one of them gushed.

Another one adjusted his. "Yeah, but I wonder why you see so few ninja wearing theirs."

"Its fallen out of style since the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War." A voice called from the other side of the room. Sitting there was Ronin, the only student to outscore Sarada on theoretical knowledge, but near the bottom on physical conditioning and slightly above average everywhere else. "With the world mostly being at peace and the Five Great Shinobi Nations allied with each other the precedence for wearing the headbands has lessened. These days most ninja only wear them during missions, when announcing their allegiance is more important."

One of the ninja-fanboys made a face. "Well, that's not cool at all."

Sarada scoffed silently to herself at this and set about watching the other students make their ways in. There were a handful of other students, Ronin being one of them, who truly had Sarada's respect and she that hoped to be assigned to a squad with.

The first of these to walk in was Inojin Yamanaka. The heir to the Yamanaka Clan, he had all around high scores, coming third in the overall class rankings. He came in with Shikadi Nara, who Sarada found to be unreasonably lazy, and Chocho Akimichi, who had been part of the graduating class despite the fact that she was a year younger than everyone else.

One of the ninja-fanboys was apparently thinking the same thing about her. "Hey, Chocho, how come you got to graduate early?"

Chocho winked at the boy and giggled. "Well, I took the test early and I passed, its as simple as that."

The ninja-fanboy sighed at the non-answer answer and turned his attention to Shikadai. "Hey, Nara, who do you think you'll be teamed up with?"

Shikadai looked at the other boy, as if he were considering if answering was worth the effort. He apparently decided that it was. "Yes, I know exactly who will be in my squad."

The ninja-fanboy smiled at him slyly. "Oh yeah, how do you know? Steal a look at the listings?"

Shikadai sighed, then turned his head slightly to the side and grabbed his earlobe, highlighting the single silver hoop earring that he wore there. "That's how I know."

Stumped by the cryptic answer, the ninja-fanboy just watched as Shikadai walked off to sit with Inojin and Choza. Sarada had to admit that she had no clue what he was talking about either.

The next person to walk in that Sarada wanted on her team was Haruto Hyuga, the latest prodigy from that clan, marked as its most promising member since Neji Hyuga himself. Extremely talented, Haruto had the second highest overall scores after Sarada.

Then Spike Kuro came in. Civilian-born, Spike was notable during his first years in school for his large eyebrows and complete ineptitude, his scores being the lowest in the class across the board. However, a couple years ago Spike had started training with Rock Lee, and the improvement had been dramatic. His physical conditioning and taijutsu skills had quickly become the best in the class, surpassing even Sarada and Haruto, the resident prodigies, while in other areas he had improved to about average. Despite now wearing those despicable green spandex training suits, his hard work and vast improvement had earned Sarada's unspoken respect.

The last person to come in that Sarada would want on her squad was Kano. An immigrant from another country, Kano didn't really like to talk about herself. She was, however, known to possess amazing natural speed and dexterity. These allowed her to excel at taijutsu, in which only Spike surpassed her.

Shortly after she entered the classroom the meeting started, with Shino entering the room after all the graduating students had arrived. Carrying the list of squad assignments in his hands, he walked over to his desk at the front of the room.

"Today is your last day in the academy, because you are graduating. You will be formed into three man squads under the command of a jonin. This jonin will be both your on field commander and your teacher from this point on. I'll start announcing the teams."

Sarada leaned back, listening for the names of those she wanted to team up with, and found herself including Bolt Uzamaki in that list for some reason.

"Team one, Inojin Yamanaka, Shikadai Nara, and Chocho Akimichi."

There went teaming up with Inojin. Teams two and three were both full of ninja-fans.

"Team four will consist of Haruto Hyuga, Bolt Uzamaki, and Tora Yamato."

So much for her guilty pleasure of having Bolt on her team and Haruto wouldn't be available either. Teams five, six, and seven were filled in by the ninja-fans.

"Team eight will have Hiruto Hyuga, Spike Kuro, and Kano."

To Sarada's disappointment and dismay, she had lost the chance to be on a team with both Spike and Kano. That left only Ronin as an acceptable teammate. Sarada resigned herself to the fact that she would have to deal with at least one ninja-fan for a teammate.

Team nine featured neither Ronin nor Sarada on its roster.

"Team ten will, as you might guess, feature Sarada Uchiha, Ronin Moto, and Natsuko Taka."

Sarada breathed a sigh of relief that she had been put on the same team as someone like Ronin, but Natsuko was one of the people she wanted most to avoid.

Shino put the paper down on the desk. "There are all the team assignments. Your jonin senseis will be arriving shortly."

Sarada leaned back as all the other students started to move around to sit with their new teammates. Ronin came from across the room and sat next to Sarada. The young Uchiha wasn't sure but she thought she saw him glare at her for a little bit before taking his seat. Natsuko then took up the seat next to Ronin, smiling and humming to herself.

"Well, this is exciting, isn't it?"

Sarada decided that the best way to deal with this was to ignore her entirely. Ronin must have thought the same thing because they both kept their silence.

The first jonin to enter the room was Konohamaru Sarutobi, who Sarada knew to be good friends with the Hokage. He didn't even call out for his team, Inojin, Shikadai, and Chocho simply got up and walked out with their new sensei. Apparently Shikadai was telling the truth when he said that he knew who would be on his team.

The next couple of jonin to arrive Sarda didn't recognize and they were assigned to different teams. Then Rock Lee entered the room.

Sarada perked up when she saw the taijutsu master. "Uncle Lee, are you going to be my teacher?"

Lee blinked at Sarada, apparently surprised to be posed the question. "Oh, sorry, Sarada, I'm not your jonin sensei. Team 8, come with me, its time for you to show me the bright flames of your youth burn!"

Ronin looked at Lee, one eyebrow raised. "I don't get it. Was that a euphemism or something?"

Sarada smiled. "No, that's just the way he is."

The next few jonin to come in were assigned to different teams, and Sarada readily recognized none of them. After a while Sarada's squad were the only ones left in the room.

Nakasuko, who by this point practically bouncing in her seat, turned to her new teammates. "Oh, this is so exciting, I wonder who our new sensei is!"

Again, neither Sarada nor Ronin chose to respond.

Then the door opened and the three newly minted genin looked in anticipation to see who it was. All three looked on in mild confusion at the person who stepped through that door.

Sarada dipped her head to the side. "Uncle Naruto? Is something wrong? Could our sensei not make it?"

Naruto stood at the front of the classroom, a great big smile on his face and his arms crossed. "No, he got here fine. I'm your new sensei."

After a moment of shocked silence from the three genin Natsuko began to scream in delight. "We're going to be taught by the Hokage! This is so awesome!"

Naruto, still smiling, waved to the genin to come down to the front of the room. The three did as they were bid.

"Sensei," Ronin said, "what's in store for us?"

"Yeah, sensei," echoed Natsuko, "what?"

Naruto placed on hand on Sarada's shoulder and one on Natsuko's, with Ronin standing between them. "I have something planned for you, don't worry."

Sarada felt a very strange chakra envelop her body. Then, suddenly they were no longer in the classroom, but somewhere outdoors.

Natsuko looked around them in confusion. "Where are we?"

Ronin provided an answer. "We're on the Hokage monument."

The Hokage provided a more precise answer. "We're standing on top of the old man Third Hokage."

Ronin reached down and touched the ground, as if he were making sure that it was real. "But how? That was so fast, I wasn't even aware that we were moving."

Naruto sat down on the ground. "That's a taste of the power available to ninja. Now, why don't we start with introductions?"

Ronin placed his hands in his pockets. "Why? You've probably already looked at our files."

Naruto suddenly looked very annoyed. "That's besides the point, Ronin."

Natsuko suddenly got very excited. "Sensei, sensei, why don't you introduce yourself first?"

Naruto sighed. "Alright. I'm Naruto Uzamaki. I love my family, friends, and village. I hate anything that threatens those. My hobbies include… I was going to say things about ramen but I suppose I don't really have time for hobbies these days. My dream is…well, I'm living my dream now, though I suppose now I want to live up to the legacy left behind by my predecessors."

Natsuko was practically bursting with energy, wanting to go first. "My name is Natsuko Taka! I love really cool ninja things! I hate…I don't know, uncool things. My hobbies are talking about cool ninja things! My dream is to be a cool ninja!"

Ronin and Sarada both sighed at this, and then the latter started her turn. "My name is Sarada Uchiha. I love my family and clan. I hate people who don't take things seriously. My hobby is training. My dream to become a notable ninja, not just a footnote as the first Uchiha born since the massacre, and I want to move past my clan's bloody past."

Ronin let out a deep breath, as if he were just annoyed with all the proceedings. "My name is Ronin Moto. I love learning and reading. I hate people with unfair advantages." Sarada thought that Ronin shot her a glare out of the corner of his eye as he said that. "My hobby is reading about shinobi history and techniques. My dream is to be a great ninja like no other."

Naruto sat there with his eyes closed, thinking about the responses that he had been given. "I see. Tomorrow you will start you're first mission together."

Natsuko yelled out, "A mission?" and Sarada and Ronin looked on in mild anticipation.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, come to training ground seven tomorrow for a survival exercise. Oh, and don't have breakfast tomorrow morning, that would end badly for you. See ya."

With that said Naruto waved at them and then disappeared, leaving the newly formed squad alone on the Third Hokage's head. Realizing that their teacher had left them stranded up there, they ranted for a bit before consigning themselves to taking the long way down.

Sarada eventually started to make her way home, thinking about the day's events. Whatever came before and whatever came after, on her path of being a ninja this was the next step.