CHAPTER TWO—
Tsugumi hovered by Hinata Hyuga's side, the two of them eagerly tying their headbands on. Finally, she had graduated the academy and was going on to become a true ninja! While Hinata opted to tie her headband around her neck, Tsugumi adjusted her own directly over her forehead before pulling her long outgrown bangs over the sides.
"Look at us," Twelve year old Tsugumi bragged, "lookin' like real ninjas! Maybe we'll even make it on the same team!"
When her friend failed to answer, Tsugumi followed the direction of Hinata's sight. While most of the students and their parents were gathered by the back exit of the academy, there was only one outlier: Naruto Uzumaki. He sat idly on the swing, his face overcasted by the tree's shadow as he allowed the breeze to gently rock him. He was the only one to fail. Tsugumi had thought he deserved it— after all, he was the class clown of sorts. Never studying, always causing a commotion in class. Maybe if he tried harder, he wouldn't be in this position.
"C'mon Hinata, no need to worry about him! He'll get another chance. You and I have some celebrating to do! My mom talked to your dad and he agreed to let you stay the night at my place tonight!" Tsugumi tugged on Hinata's jacket clad arm.
"B-But Naruto…" Hinata turned to Tsugumi with a frown, "he looks so sad. Maybe we should invite him to l-lunch with us?"
They had discussed exactly how they would celebrate their graduation earlier that day: Tsugumi and Hinata were to have lunch along side Tsugumi's parents and then, they'd head back to their clan's compound for a sleepover. It was the first time Hinata's father had agreed to it, and it was only after much bribing from Tsugumi's mother.
"I don't think my parents would like that."
"H-he did nothing wrong though, and he tried his best. I hate to see him so upset…"
Tsugumi groaned and rolled her eyes dramatically, "you know what! Fine, Hinata-chan! You wait right here."
Ignoring Hinata's soft pleas for Tsugumi to stop whatever plan she had in motion, the brunette pushed forward and out the crowd. With the little patience she had, she stopped just a few feet in front of Naruto and proudly put her hands on her hips.
"Uzumaki, you're coming with Hinata and I to lunch! Hinata-chan is sad and thinks you deserve a celebratory day too because you tried so hard!" Tsugumi was partially happy Hinata couldn't hear her from all the way across the yard. Surely the shy girl would die of embarrassment.
"Huh?" Naruto looked up from the dirt, not even bothering to remove the frown on his face.
"You heard me! Up you go, we're all going to get food and you're going to stop moping and get focused so you can pass next year!"
"No."
Tsugumi flinched at how straight forward he was, "w-what? You can't say no!"
"I'm not going."
'Sheesh, he really is upset, huh?' Tsugumi faintly thought to herself. Between the frown and the overly sad eyes, a part of her was actually starting to feel bad. Maybe she should have intervened way earlier and forced Hinata into helping Naruto out so he wouldn't be in this mess?
"Fine," she crossed her arms, "but don't ever say I've never tried to be nice to you!"
With that, she turned her nose in the air and stomped back to the crowd. So much for helping Hinata push past her shyness and finally actually interact with Naruto.
0000
She was on the edge of her seat, waiting intently as Iruka-sensei explained that each of the graduates would be placed on a three man team. Silently, Tsugumi wished to be on Hinata's team. Sure she knew others in the class, but out of everyone there she felt the most kinship towards Hinata. There was just something about the quiet Hyūga that always fascinated her and since day one of academy, the two had got along swimmingly.
Her green eyes, a trait she had picked up from her father, inched towards the side of the class. Naruto Uzumaki had apparently been accepted, last minute. Of all the other students in class, he was high up on the list of people Tsugumi did not want to work with. Alongside him would be Shikamaru and Chōji— the three were far too lazy and Tsugumi would hate to have to play mom for a team of knuckleheads.
The only other person she had a big issue with was none other than Shino Aburame. The two never interacted, and that was mainly due to the bad blood between their family. Some generations ago things had got heated between the two clans— the Aburame's not taking kindly to the Kanroji's use of cordyceps through their Kekkei Genkai and the Kanroji's distaste for the Aburame's willful ignorance of such a natural process.
Iruka called Hinata's name, instantly breaking Tsugumi from her thoughts only to be let down. Hinata was to be teamed with Shino and Kiba. She didn't hide her scoff.
"Good luck with that one, Hinata. Maybe you can ask Iruka nicely and he'll swap me out with Shino."
"That's m-mean. They aren't all that bad. I-I'm sure we'll work together fine…" Hinata nervously twiddled her thumbs.
"Don't hold your breath…"
Slowly the amount of students began to dwindle down as names were called off and paired up in teams. Iruka finally called out her name and Tsugumi felt her stomach twist in knots.
"Team nine will be Kanroji Tsugumi, alongside the Aiuchi twins."
Instantly Tsugumi's head shot to the only pair of twins at the back of the class. She didn't talk much with them, as the two seemed to have trouble making friends. Rai was nice enough; his personality was usually pretty go-lucky and he was kind when approached. Nariko on the other hand, was a whole different ball park. It was as if the two were night and day. Nariko was quite frankly, always stand-offish. She never smiled, kept to herself, and was nearly as dramatic and moody as Sasuke. The only difference was that she didn't openly shut people down. Despite the difference, the twins were always side by side.
Rai quickly flashed Tsugumi a smile and thumbs up, while Nariko barely acknowledged her. Tsugumi sighed and gave Rai a small wave back. At least they weren't the worst of the class, right?
0000
Tsugumi rushed through the streets of Konoha and towards the specific training field that they were assigned to meet with what would be her new sensei; Nozomi Yuuki. She faintly wondered what they'd be like. The name sounded masculine, but she could be wrong… Were they going to be a good teacher? Were they a hands on type of sensei, or would they be learning by the books? After having trained under her grandmother, mother, and Iruka, Tusugmi had learned early on that there are vastly different ways for one to teach students.
As she approached the rolling green training field, Tsugumi spotted the blonde heads of the Aiuichi twins. The two wore the exact same outfit— black ninja gear with splashes of electric yellow. She had known little of their clan and wondered if their outfits reflected their specialization. The previous night Tsugumi had begged her dad to drop some details on the Aiuchi clan but he remained steadfast and told her she'd have to learn for herself.
"Tsugumi-chan!" Rei instantly hopped up from where he was sat on the grass and waved eagerly to her approaching figure, "we were wondering when you were going to show up!"
"Good morning Rai, Nariko. Is Nozomi sensei not here yet?"
Nariko stayed where she was sat on the grass and turned to face the two. She gave Tsugumi's question a lazy shake of her head.
"I'm sure he will be soon, though," Rai added. "I'm so freaking pumped! I wonder if he'll let us fight each other to see each other's strengths! Or maybe, he'll have us do a showcase of our abilities! You have a Kekkei Genkai, right? My mom said your mom was crazy creepy in school!"
Creepy and Kanroji seemed to go hand in hand, especially when it came to her mother. Tsugumi didn't dismiss the insult though because quite frankly, they were right. If she were on the other side of her family's bloodline, she'd think it was beyond weird as well.
"Yep. Though, maybe he'll give us book work and force us to review the basics before we actually start anything…"
"That would be stupid," Nariko broke her silence.
"Mhm, but who knows… Unless you two have any info on our new sensei? My parents wouldn't tell me anything, and said I had to learn about my team for myself."
"Actually, yeah!" Rai leaned forward and covered a side of his mouth with his hand, as if keeping a secret, "my mom says that his nickname is' the angel of death'. He's super at like, healing and stuff! He used to work for the special forces but stopped because it became too—"
"Your mom really should stop spreading rumors," a clipped voice interrupted.
Rai practically leapt out of his skin as he let out a small screech and stumbled away from the sudden figure that appeared behind him. Even Tusugmi jumped upon seeing him suddenly appear. The only one who remained unmoved by their sneaky sensei was Nariko.
"S-Sensei Nozomi!" Rai quickly bowed, his face flushed with blush, "I promise I wasn't saying anything bad! I-I was just telling Tsugumi how good you are at healing!"
Nozomi Yuuki was a tall man in his late twenties with pale skin and even whiter hair. His blue eyes were rimmed with dark shadows, as if he hadn't got much sleep in the past few weeks. Yuuki casted Rai an unamused look and sighed.
"Sure, sure. How about instead of he-said she-said, we actually introduce ourselves one by one?"
Tsugumi plopped down on the grass a few feet away from Nariko, and instantly raised her hand in the air.
"Uh, yeah?" Yuuki addressed her.
"I'll go first!" Tsugumi cleared her throat, "I am Kanroji Tsugumi! I am twelve years old and am currently the only child in my clan who is training to be a ninja! Our Kekkei Genkai consists of the manipulation and creation of spores deriving from fungi."
While she would never admit it to anyone, not even on the pain of death, Tsugumi had spent a good hour that morning standing in front of her mirror and practicing different ways she would introduce herself. Would she be laid back and cool, or did she want to sound clever and strong? Eventually she settled on the latter, hoping that they would see her as a formidable teammate.
"Us next!" Rai cheered from where he stood, "I'm Rai and this is my twin sister Nariko! I was born a whole three minutes before her, and—"
"How about you two introduce yourselves individually?" Yuuki instructed.
Rai casted Nariko a look of concern but continued on, "well, umm…. I like to play pranks and read comics, and my goal is to get strong enough so I can become a teacher too! The Aiuchi family bloodlines are super cool! We specialize in lightning ninjutsus and can actually work together! If we are holding hands while performing a move it is amplified! Sort of like I'm the negative side of a battery, and she is the positive!"
Yuuki hummed in acknowledgement, "I heard a lot about your clan. Your family has many twins who specialize in fighting side by side to combine each other's chakras into an even more powerful force, correct?"
Tsugumi looked between the two twins as she listened to Yuuki's further explanation. Combining chakra to make an even more formidable opponent, huh? She couldn't help but feel a bit of relief that she would be fighting with them, not against them for the most part.
'I wonder how they'd react to cordyceps?' As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she banished it. Technically Tsugumi still didn't even know how to do it as her family still insisted on her waiting.
"Your turn, sis!"
"Hmm…" she leaned back on the palm of her hands unenthusiastically, "I'm Nariko. I like reading, and you already know about our bloodline so that's that."
Tsugumi pulled her legs to her check and rested her chin on her knees, "and now, Sensei's turn to introduce himself."
"I'm Nozomi Yuuki, and I am primarily a medical nin. I did work alongside the special forces and the hospital, but I retired so I can train students learning to become ninja. I believe heavily in the knowledge behind learning how to heal yourself and your teammates, first aid, and defensive techniques to help keep you alive longer."
"Do you have a Kekkei Genkai?" Rai interrupted.
"Nope. All I have to rely on is hard work and training. Now, before we start our training… are you ready for your first evaluation?"
Deep down, Tsugumi was excited to finally show off.