To SoraLover987142:

Like I said before, you can only vote once. You can change your vote though.

~0~

Chapter 20:

I let out a dramatic yawn as I sit, half asleep beside Shikamaru. He yawns too. His mood has rubbed off on me. We are currently waiting to find out our teams and our new Sensei's. I rub my eyes and look at Shikamaru.

"Who do you think our teams are going to be?" I ask to pass the time. Shikamaru pauses in doing nothing with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, I'm probably going to be with Ino and Choji. Because of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation." He paused and frowned slightly. "I'm not so sure about you though. I think that either you or Sasuke will be with Naruto. Because both of you are the best in the class and he's the worst." I nod, but honestly I'd rather not be with Naruto. It's not that I dislike him. It's just that he literally attracts trouble. And let's be honest, I didn't become a shinobi for honour or protecting the village or anything like that. I became a shinobi so that I can protect myself in this world. If I'm put in team seven, I'll have to face people like Orochimaru and Itachi and Kisame and all of the Akatsuki. And I don't even know very much about them. All I know of for their members is the two that I just listed. And if all of them are anywhere near that strong then I won't stand a chance. Honestly, I'm hoping to be put with a team that they don't show in the anime. Maybe I could get them to pass the test to put us on the map.

I jump when I hear a lot of screaming and shouting from a group Sasuke fangirls and an awful lot of apologies from Naruto. I roll my eyes and rest my chin on my hands. "Alright everyone, settle down!" I hear Iruka shout over the chaos. "I'm going to assign your squadrons! One Squad will have four members!" I glance up and see him at the front of the classroom with a sheet of paper

I listen carefully for my own name as he lists the the teams off. Once he reaches five a nervous flutter goes through my stomach. We're running out of unimportant characters here. I stiffen when Iruka says yet another squad of unimportant characters. "Squad seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Latté Erin." Despite the mispronunciation of my last name I recognize it...

…

Shit.

Naruto turns to me and grins after reacting to his-no. I mean our other teammates.

Shit.

Sakura and Sasuke both turn to glare at me.

No. I don't want to.

I stand silently and Iruka turns to stare at me. "Where are you going Erin?" Eyes are on me as I make my way out of the classroom.

"Bathroom." I answer monotonously as I close the door behind me. I quickly make my to the bathroom. Once I'm there I promptly lock myself in a stull and stand silently. Once I'm absolutely sure that I'm alone panic rises in my chest. Of course I have to be in THAT team. Any other team would be just fine but of course it's them. I take a deep breath and reach a hand up to my face. Now what? Now I have to deal with every single overpowered protagonist. My breath quickens and I try my best to control it. I think of the opponents that I'll have to face and wonder about the ones that I'm unaware of. How many enemies are there? How many members of the Akatsuki are there? How long will it be before I have to fight Orochimaru? What do I do if he comes after me instead of Sasuke? He's already shown interest in me.

I silently hug my sides to try to comfort myself. 'I wish that Conner was here' a single tear falls down my cheek. I stiffen when I hear the bathroom door open and close.

"E-Erin?" I recognize the voice of Hinata.

"Yes?" I answer monotonously. I wipe my tear away and move to open the door.

"Well I was j-just wondering if you were all right." I move out of the stall to see her watching me worriedly, "since you walked out and all." I nod and glance at the mirrors. Good, it doesn't look like I was just crying.

"Well, I'm fine. Thanks Hinata." The girl blinked at me worriedly and twiddled with her fingers.

"I-It's lunchtime now. We're eating with our teams. I was put with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun." She explained in her quiet voice, "you can come eat with us i-if you want."

I shrug and move towards the door. "I think I'm good. I should probably find my own team. Thanks anyway." I hear a quiet "ok" and close the door behind me. I quickly make my way out of the school in search of my fellow "lucky sevens".

~0~

Once I'm outside I blink and look around. There isn't a single one of my teammates in sight. I roll my eyes and focus more on the chakra signatures around me. It isn't very difficult to find Naruto's chakra. I hop up onto a tree and quickly make my way toward the warm and cheerful signature. It seems like he's on the rooftops. And judging from the sudden flaring in his energy he's nervous. I quickly spot the bright orange jumpsuit and jump in front of him. I can't help but proudly note how my trench coat flows in a dramatic and majestic way as I land.

"What are you doing?" I ask and Naruto practically screeches in surprise. I smirk.

"U-Uh, well I uh. Am gonna go eat with Sakura-chan!" I furrow my brows at him. I doubt that Sakura would want to eat with him. "Well, uh, I've gotta go!" I frown at him as he runs off.

"Wait," the boy glanced back, "where's Sasuke?" The boy falters in his steps briefly before turning around and shrugging.

"Beats me." He then sprints off. Irritation flares in my stomach and I turn around. Whatever. He could definitely do far better than Sakura. But if he wants to waste his time chasing her so be it. I walk smoothly across the roof. I mean, I'm not talking about myself, I'm about three years older than him. I just know that there is a certain Hyuuga girl who is nice and has had an adorable crush on him for a while (hint, hint).

I blink in surprise when I see Sasuke jump out of an apartment window and brush himself off. I frown in confusion when he spots me and narrows his eyes.

"Where's Naruto?" He growled. Without a word I point towards the direction that he ran off. Sasuke turns and walks in that direction with purpose.

"Wait, hey Sasuke?" I ask tentatively and he pauses to turn around. "I was wondering, maybe we could convince the rest of our squad to eat together since you know, we're going to be stuck together-oh ok." As I was speaking he simply jumped off. What a little dick.

I turn around and focus on where I can sense Hinata's chakra. Maybe I can still eat with them.

~0~

I find myself in a position similar to Sasuke's after waiting for our new Sensei for an hour. Everyone else's new squad leaders have came and went. I am rapidly loosing my patience. I do not even want to be here. Naruto paces around the room impatiently, every few minutes, he cracks the door open to look down the hall. This usually ends with him groaning in frustration and slamming it shut.

It eventually appears as if the boy loses all of his patience. "That's it! I'll show that bastard what happens when he wastes our time!" He pulls a table in front of the door and reaches for a blackboard eraser.

"Naruto? What are you doing?" Asks Sakura in irritation, "Naruto! You aren't supposed to do that! We'll get in so much trouble!" The boy giggles evilly and reaches to wedge the eraser between the slide door and the wall.

"Naruto wait." The boy turns around to look at me nervously. Clearly expecting a scolding. I look up darkly and pull out a pen and and a small tag. "We must think this through carefully. I mean, is the eraser really enough? Why not leave something more memorable?"

I overhear Naruto cheer, "oh! Erin's gonna make this guy explode!" I skillfully scribble on the tag. Mostly using English but adding a few roman honorifics just because I can. I even add a small amount of Korean and Spanish.

"Now." I growl as I look down proudly at the tag. Written in a perfect circular pattern."Give me the eraser." Naruto giggles gleefully and hands it to me. I then slap it on and hand it back.

"You guys can't be serious! I understand with Naruto, but you too Erin!?" Cries Sakura and I send her a glare. The girl abruptly shrinks and falls silent.

"One hour is three hours too late to keep me waiting." I practically hiss. I then lean back into my chair and watch as Naruto wedges the eraser in between the door and the wall. Sakura now has a concerned look on her face.

"Erin? How big is the explosion going to be?" She asks hesitantly.

"Big enough." This makes her appear more nervous and I smirk. In reality it will be more like a firecracker. Maybe it'll singe Kakashi's hair but not much else. But it is indeed big enough to get our point across. I could be home or eating some dango by now if he was on time. He definitely deserves it.

"Hn." I look to my left to see Sasuke glaring at me. "That stupid trick won't ever work on a jonin."

"WATCH IT!" Naruto answers for me while waving his arms in irritation. I let out a sigh and simply begin doodling on a piece of paper.

~0~

It takes another TWO FREAKING HOURS for Kakashi to show up. I narrow my eyes when I feel a chakra signature making its way through the hallway. "He's coming." I growl, Naruto and Sakura jump from their seats while Sasuke and I stay put.

Within a few seconds the door slides open and a man with gravity defying silver hair steps in. I smirk as the eraser falls right onto his head with a puff of chalk.

"Ha! Did you see that! He totally fell for it!" Cries Naruto in glee as he points at him.

Sakura looked confused for a moment before bringing her hands up to her chest and saying nervously. "I'm so sorry sensei! I-I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen." I roll my eyes. She didn't try THAT hard.

At that moment, with a loud crackling sound, the eraser on Kakashi's head promptly explodes. I can't help but grin at the aftermath when the smoke clears. Everything with three feet of Kakashi is snowy white from the chalk. That includes Sakura and Naruto. I look to my left and see Sasuke looking at Kakashi with an utterly dissatisfied look. We meet eyes and I shrug in fake confusion. Both of us are slightly disappointed in our new teacher.

Kakashi looks at each of us with an assessing look. Once he reaches me I narrow my eyes and straighten my back slightly in a challenging look.

"Let's see… as for my first impression of this squad…" he says thoughtfully and everyone except for me leans forward with interest. "I hate all of you."

The others seem taken aback but I smirk. "Meet me on the roof." Kakashi growls before promptly body flickering away.

We sit there in confusion for a moment before I stand and make my way towards the door. Naruto quickly falls in beside me, "hey! You should have told me that some of the chalk would hit me!"

"Meh." I shrug and continue walking.

~0~

"Alright, first you guys are going to introduce yourselves." Kakashi says as he leans against the roofs railing. My new team, sits on a small set of stairs. Me on the end beside Naruto who is beside Sakura who is beside Sasuke. Who is sitting slightly farther off. Naruto looks utterly confused along with Sakura. Sasuke and I most likely are simply irritated. After a few moments of silence, Kakashi lets out an exasperated sigh. "I mean; your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, things like that."

Still, there's still silence. Nobody wants to go first. "Whatever, I'll just go first." Kakashi says with a shrug. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't really feel like telling you about my likes and dislikes. I haven't really thought about my dreams. And as for my hobbies… I have many." I roll my eyes.

"So all we really learned about him is his name." Whispers Sakura quietly.

"No kidding." Answered Naruto quietly. I amusedly note how they are still covered in chalk. Kakashi is too.

"Alright. You, in the orange jumpsuit go next." I'm not sure why he would call Naruto "the one in the orange jumpsuit". Since he's still covered with chalk.

Despite that, Naruto leans forward and adjusts his headband. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like instant ramen, but my favourite is the ramen at Ichiraku's. Sometimes Iruka-sensei and Erin go with me!" The boy pauses to grin at me. "I don't like the three minutes that you have to wait after pouring water into a cup of instant ramen. My hobby is eating and comparing different types of ramen. And as for my dream… I want to become Hokage!" Well that took a sudden turn. "Then everyone will have to start respecting me and acknowledging my presence!" Damn. That took a very sudden turn.

Kakashi simply gave him an uninterested look, "alright, you next." He looked at Sakura as a que.

The girl looked slightly taken aback but spoke. "My name is Haruno Sakura. For my likes… well… I mean who I like is…" the girl let out a squeal and I roll my eyes. "A-And my hobbies are… and my dream is…" the girl squealed again and I let out a groan of irritation.

"And your dislikes?" Asks Kakashi with a bored look.

"Erin and Naruto." She growls and I smirk. Naruto looks absolutely crushed.

"Whatever. Next." Kakashi says with a shrug. I immediately find myself in a staring contest with Sasuke. Neither of us want to go before the other. Both of us narrow our eyes in a challenge. I'm half aware of the uncomfortable silence from the others as we have our contest. There is an unspoken "whoever looks away has to go first". After about ten seconds I realize that I am stooping to his level and shrug.

"Whatever. I'll go next I suppose." I move my hands in a carefree expression and I can sense Sasuke seething. "My name is Latté Erin. I like dango, and several other things-"

"She also likes making other people's lives miserable." I hear Sakura mutter.

I continue, "I dislike shallow people." I cast the pink haired girl a side-eye. "And several other things. My hobbies are; reading, drawing, especially seals and dragons, training, and other stuff. As for my dreams? Hmm…"

'Find a way back home, not be on this team, manage to protect myself from the evil of this world, etc' I think briefly on what I will say next. "I want to become stronger." Naruto practically falls over.

"What kind of a dream is that!?" I shrug.

"You forgot to add the fact that one of your favourite hobbies is making things explode." Said Sasuke. Clearly expecting a reaction.

"Well, I'm not denying it." The boy bristles slightly.

Kakashi looks utterly unimpressed, "alright, last one."

Sasuke begins, "my name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly "like" anything. I have many dislikes. My hobbies are none of your business." The boy pauses and adds darkly, "my ambition, that I do not intend to just leave as a dream, is the revival my clan. And to kill a certain someone." Everyone silently stares at him for a few moments.

"I hope that he doesn't mean me." Naruto whispers as he leans slightly towards me. I shrug, uninterested.

The group is broken out of the awkward silence when Kakashi speaks. "All of you seem to have interesting personalities. We have a mission tomorrow." Naruto immediately lightens with excitement.

"What kind of a mission, Kakashi-sensei!?"

"A survival exercise." The man answers in a slightly darker voice.

Sakura looks up in confusion, "a survival exercise? We already did a bunch of those in the academy!"

I roll my eyes and lean back, I guess I'll let this slip, just to seem smart. "It's probably some sort of test." Kakashi nods in approval.

"Yes. The test that you are taking has a sixty six percent failure rate. If you fail, you will be sent back to the academy." The group, minus myself, tenses. "That means that only nine, ten if your squad passes, of this year's class will actually make it to full shinobi."

Naruto looks absolutely outraged, "but we already passed the academy's test! You can't just send us back!" He stands and points at Kakashi. The man kept a bored look in his eye.

"That test was just to ween out those who were hopeless." Before any of us can respond he continues, "meet me at training ground three with all of your shinobi gear. At five in the morning. And my the way, don't eat any breakfast, or else you'll vomit. You are dismissed."

I let out a sigh as our new sensei disappears. I quickly stand and stretch. "See you guys tomorrow. I'm getting some dango and going home."

The group stares at me in amazement as I leave, without reacting to the whole test.

~0~

A/N: sorry for the late update! Had thanksgiving and stuff. I hope that you guys had a great weekend! Oh, and by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO UZUMAKI! Yay!

By the way, I'm bumping up Erin's future power level to maybe a little bit higher than Kage level.

Here's how the votes are going:

Snake:5

Scorpions:11

Peacocks:19

No summoning:3

Damn, that escalated quickly for the peacocks! This is your last week to place your vote before I announce the winner!