Mirou entered the familiar classroom with a gleeful smile on his face, his friend Shikamaru and Choji not far behind. His heterochromatic eyes scanned the room for familiar faces, joyfully noticing that all of his friends had passed as well. His eyes landed on a familiar head of spikey raven hair, giving Mirou some relief that his cousin made it on time. He had no reason to believe that Sasuke would be late, however knowing that he was here gave the young boy a strange sense of comfort.
Mirou followed close behind Shikamaru as they made their way to the back of the class. However at the same time, the two boys passed by a familiar mop of blond hair.
"What the- why are you here? Today's meeting is for graduates only," Shikamaru spoke.
Naruto only grinned at the lazy Nara and pointed to the blue Hitai-ate that was tied to his forehead.
"Hey, don't you see this headband? As of today, I'm a ninja too!" He exclaimed with pride.
Mirou crossed his arms in delight and beamed at Naruto.
"That's fantastic Naruto! But how did you get them to let you re-take the exam?" He questioned.
Naruto gave a cheeky grin and rubbed his nose before putting both his hands behind his back.
"I'm just awesome!" He boasted.
Naruto then continued to ramble about his plans to become the best ninja when Mirou's attention was taken away by the slamming open of the classroom door. He turned to see both Ino and Sakura pushing past each other, out of breath and with deadly glares.
"I won again, Sakura!" Ino yelled after catching her breath.
"What are you saying?" Sakura spat back, "The tip of my foot got in one centimeter faster!"
"You must be blind!" Ino hissed.
Sakura looked like she was about to retort when she suddenly looked in Mirou's general direction. It was only then that Mirou noticed that Naruto had stopped talking and was instead looking towards the pink headed girl with a dusting of blush. Sakura ran over towards their direction and Naruto's blush turned darker. As the young girl approached them, Naruto tried to speak.
"Mor... morning, Sakur-"
The blond was cut off when Sakura roughly shoved the unexpecting boy off of his seat and on to the floor, not even acknowledging him as she did so. Instead, she was more focused of Sasuke who Naruto was sitting beside.
"M-morning Sasuke.." Sakura spoke timidly.
Sasuke only turned his head slightly, not bothering to speak to her at all.
"Mind if I did Next to you?" The young girl asked.
Ino however, grabbed Sakura's arm before Sasuke could even think about answering and roughly tugged her away.
"Hey! I'm going to sit next to Sasuke!" Ino declared loudly, catching the attention of the other young girls.
"First come, first served!" Sakura yelled back.
"I got in the classroom sooner!" Ino spat, her voice getting louder with every argument.
"Idiot! If that's the case then I did!" Sakura retorted.
Soon, a large swarm of girls were closing in on the seat, bickering loudly over who got to side beside there precious Sasuke. Mirou, who had been watching the bizarre scene unfold, decided to step in to spare his cousin. He tentatively tapped one of the girls shoulders and put on the nicest face he could muster.
"Er, excuse me?" He asked.
The swarm of girls immediately stopped their fighting and turned their attention to the young boy, causing him to jump slightly.
"Actually, if it's okay with you, I was going to sit beside Sasuke today," he explained in a mousy voice.
The girls all looked at each other before looking back to Mirou. Ino then smirked and moved aside graciously, allowing Mirou to pass.
"Of course you can! I would never dream of coming between Sasuke and his family," She spoke in an exaggerated tone.
Sakura immediately figured out what her rival was planning and also moved out of the way with an equally smug expression on her face.
"What a coincidence, I was just about to give up my seat to you anyways," she stated in an equally exaggerated voice.
Ino turned her head sharply to glare at sakura.
"What did you just say billboard brow?" She snarled.
"I said that it was my seat Ino-pig," Sakura retorted.
This started yet another argument between the hoard of fan girls, forcing Mirou to carefully slide his way into the seat next to Sasuke, the latter of the two was completely ignoring the commotion that he had unwillingly caused. Mirou looked at the arguing girls with bewilderment and then back at his cousin. He honestly couldn't see as to why they all thought that he was such a big shot. Sure he was talented, intelligent, and maybe even above average in looks, but his personality was anything but magnetic. However Mirou did admire Sasuke for having the ability to but up with all of the fan girls, definatly not jealous of the idea of a large group of people constantly staring at his every move.
Suddenly, Naruto jumped up on to the table in front of sasuke and crouched down to glare at him. Sasuke, without a beat, returned the glare just as harshly.
"Naruto! Don't glare at Sasuke!" Sakura screeched.
"Naruto please get off the desk, you might get in trouble," Mirou added in a much softer tone.
Naruto barely glanced back, and instead glared at the olded Uchiha with more ferocity, a glare which Sasuke happily returned. The onlookers could only watch helplessly as the person sitting below Naruto shifted slightly, causing his elbow to bump into Naruto's back, forcing him to lose his balance. The room fell silent as Naruto's lips connected with Sasuke's. Mirou covered his mouth with his hand is utter shock as the two broke apart with clear disgust.
"You jerk, Naruto I'll kill you," Sasuke hissed while sputtering in an attempt to whole his mouth clean.
"My mouth is rotting!" Naruto exclaimed as he furiously wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
Sensing a menacing aura coming from behind him, Naruto turned in a cold sweat to see all of Sasuke's fangirls standing behind him with enraged faces.
"An accident, it was an accident," Naruto tried to explain.
However none of the girls were listening, completely blocking out his pleas with their fists. Mirou was still looking over at his cousin with surprise, his hand still covering his mouth. Slowly, his face morphed from shock into a mischievous grin. Sasuke caught sight of his cousin's expression and sharply turned to face him.
"What?" He hissed, still pissed at the currently black and blue Naruto.
"Don't worry Sasuke," Mirou chirped, leaning his head on to the palm of his hand. "I'll accept you no matter who you like," he said in a sing song voice.
Sasuke scoffed and turned away from his cousin, his face burning pink and now determined to ignore Mirou for the rest of the day. Iruka, who was previously watching the whole scene unfold, cleared his throat causing the class to quiet down in an instant.
"As of today, you all are full-fledged ninjas, however you are still Genin. The tough part's still to come! From here on you'll be in a squad of three and carry out missions with your Jonin teachers" Iruka announced.
Mirou blinked owlishly at the news before glancing around the room once again. He would be completely fine being in a team with anyone in his class, well, with one exception. His eyes fell upon the familiar red brown hair of Anri with a distorted expression. Mirou had almost completely forgotten about his tormentor of four years as of late. While she did still make a jab every now and then, Mirou's routine changed is such a way that Anri never got the chance to do anything further. However, if he were to be placed on a team with her without Sasuke... Mirou turned his head back to the front of the class, not even want to think about it.
"The groups have been determined so that the strength of the groups will he balanced. Now for the assignments!" Iruka announced.
Mirou waited in anticipation, crossing his fingers so that he may be placed in a group with one of his friends.
"Team six," Iruka started. "Anri Ono, Emiru Takenaka, and Mirou Uchiha!"
Mirou's heart fell to his stomach. He quickly turned his head towards Anri only to be greeted with the most devilish looking smirk he had ever seen, a smirk that said 'no one can help you now'. Mirou groaned and let his head hit the desk with a soft thunk, his previous good mood now completely evaporated.
Iruka continued to list off the other teams. "Team seven, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha! Team eight, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba Inuzuka! Team Ten, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. That's all for the division!"
Naruto, who was in no way happy about being on the same team as Sasuke, stood up fron his seat and pointed at said Uchiha.
"Iruka-Sensei! Why does an exceptional student like me have to be in the same group as that guy?!" He bellowed.
Iruka looked up from his paper with an irked expression.
"Sasuke has the best grades of the graduates. Naruto, you're at the bottom!" Of course this is how it is when trying to balance the strength within groups," Iruka explains.
This answer however, only seemed to deepen Naruto's scowl. Sasuke barely glanced at the fuming blond before adding his own words to the conversation.
"Just don't get in my way, loser," He remarked.
Naruto was turning slightly red from anger.
"Hey! Wha'd you say!?" He barked back.
"You want to fight, loser?"
"Knock it off Naruto!" Sakura roared.
The other kids in class snickered at the scene that the blond was causing. Mirou however, was lost in his own little world, too worried about his future to listen to the conversation being held right in front of him.
"In the afternoon, I'll introduce you to your Jonnin teachers," Iruka spoke. "You're dismissed until then!"
It was only then did Mirou snap out of his thoughts. As the other students began to leave, he frantically searched the room for Anri. He found her two seconds later, walking quickly towards him with a familiar devilish grin. In a panic, Mirou ducked behind his desk and crawled his way to the other side. By chance, Choji walked past Mirou at that exact moment and Mirou took that opportunity to hide behind his friend on his way out. Choji gave him a strange look, but Mirou put his finger to his mouth and pointed at Anri who was scanning the room like a hawk. Choji immediately understood and gave his friend a thumbs up.
The two walked like that until they were far away from the academy. Mirou shakily rested his hands on his knees and let out a breath of relief.
"That was a close one," He mumbled to himself. "You're a life saver Choji."
Choji gave another thumbs up and opened a bag of chips. Close behind them, Shikamaru and Ino were catching up.
"You could have waited for us Choji. We are a team now you know," Ino stated with an annoyed look.
"Well I just-"
"It was my fault, sorry," Mirou interrupted. "I was hiding behind Choji to hide from Anri."
Ino blinked, having not noticed the shorter boy at first, before a sneer took over her face.
"That damn worm! I bet she was pestering you about Sasuke wasn't she!" She fumed.
Mirou rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Ah, well, she's actually on my team," he answered.
Ino tilted her head in confusion. "Is... that all? Why are you running away from her if she's your teammate?" She asked.
The other three looked at her in surprise before the peices slowly clicked into place. Shikamaru sighed in annoyance and lazily placed his hands behind his head.
"Of course you wouldn't know, you're obsession with Sasuke takes up ninety percent of your brain. Anri's been picking on Mirou since we were seven," Shilamaru spoke lazily.
Ino looked between Shikamaru and Mirou, completely bewildered by the news.
"What!?" She shrieked, cousing the others to put their hands over their ears. "Anri's been bulling you!? That miserable worm! All you've ever done is be nice and she just turns around and does this?!"
Mirou grew flustered by her words and held up his hands in an embarrassed panic.
"W-well I don't try to be to nice or anything that's just how I am! And there's no need to get so angry about it I'm not that bothered by it anymore. Besides, we don't even know each other very well so..." Mirou trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Ino on the other hand, heald out her hand towards the boy and stick her head up high.
"Well we're friends now so I'm allowed to be angry," she declared
Mirou blinked is suprize before slowly moving his hand to meet hers.
"Oh, So we're friends now?" He asked cautiously. Ino confidently nodded her head and enthusiastically shook Mirou's hand.
Mirou smiled and was about to ask Ino if she was sure when the blonde suddenly started to speed walk away with the young boy's hand still grasped firmly in hers. Mirou looked back to his friends who following close behind, equally confused by the interaction. He then looked back at Ino who seemed to read the look on his face.
"We're all eating lunch together. Team ten plus Mirou and that's final," she spoke confidently.
Mirou looked at her in both awe and gratitude, wondering to himself as to how she could be so confident in her words. The four of them eventually made it to the balcony of a building that Mirou didn't recognize and sat down to eat. Choji brought out a large bag filled with onigiri and gave one to the other three, keeping a large majority of it to himself. The young Uchiha happily sat with his friends, ignoring the growing feeling of dread as the seconds slowly started ticking away.
"Alright, if we're going to be in the same group you're going to have to follow my lead. That's the only way it'll work." Ino spoke loudly.
Mirou could almost hear Shikamaru's eyes rolling as he turned to him with a look of exasperation.
"Why don't you lead us to some barbecue, Ino?" Choji said while taking a bite of his food.
"Hopeless!"
Mirou finished his onigiri before turning to face the blonde. "You know, barbecue dosen't sound half bad right about now," he teased
"Don't encourage him!" Ino snapped, but it only made the two friends laugh.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes for a second time before catching two familiar figures at the building across from him. One was Naruto, who was sneaking up on an unsuspecting Sasuke who looked like he was just trying to eat his lunch.
"Naruto," he stated, causing the other three group members to watch the scene unfold. They all watched with varying degrees of surprise as Naruto jumped inside the window to attack Sasuke, causing the wooden shutter to close behind them.
Ino was the first one to speak up. "Naruto! If you so much as scratch him, you're on my enemy list forever."
"Don't worry," Said Mirou as he was handed another onigiri by Choji. "They fight like this a lot, and Sasuke almost always wins."
There was a lot of crashing and shouting coming from the room before it went completely silent. The onlookers watched in anticipation for one of the boys to finally open the window, but they were met with more silence.
"Wha- what happened?" Ino asked anxiously.
Finally the window opened, revealing Sasuke who walked away from the scene without a single scratch on him.
"He beat Naruto without even breaking a sweat," Shikamaru said with astonishment.
Ino puffed out her chest and smirked. "Well what'd you expect? Naruto against my boy Sasuke? No conte-"
"That's not Sasuke," Mirou interrupted. The other three looked at him in confusion.
"Whaddya mean that's not Sasuke? Of course it is, just look at him," Ino argued.
Mirou looked between 'Sasuke's' retreating figure and the window before nodding firmly to himself. "That's definitely not Sasuke. Just wait and see."
And wait they did. The four of them watched the window intently for a few short minutes before a second Sasuke came out and walked away in a similar fashon to the first. Shikamaru was the first one to catch on to what happened.
"I get it, so Naruto somehow beat Sasuke and then transformed into him before leaving," Shikamaru explained lazily. "But how did you know that before I did?"
"Well..." Mirou started, but he didn't have an answer. It just didn't feel like Sasuke, not in the way he walked or in the way he jumped out the window. Even from a distance he could see that nothing about the figure was familiar. "I guess it's just a family thing,"Mirou answered.
The group was forced to pack up and leave soon after. Mirou had a pit slowly growing deeper within his stomach with every step that he took towards the academy. He knew that once he entered those doors he would be confined to the hell that is Anri's torment until he was at least a Chuunin, and even then. His shoulders slumped as he thought about his future years at the hands of the she-devil, not that he would ever call her that out loud.
The group split up once they entered the classroom, with team ten going to the back of the class and Mirou sitting in the front with team six. He sat anxiously beside Emiru, who in turn sat beside Anri. She gave Mirou a cruel smirk as he sat down that caused the Uchiha to gulp. He didn't know what she had planned but he knew that it wasn't going to end well for him.
The first Jonnin was a familiar face, Asuma who was coming for team ten. As the group passed him by, Ino and Choji both gave him a smile that said "good luck" while Shikamaru shot him a look of pity. The next Jonnin to come was a lady who introduced herself as Kurenai. She had come for Kiba and his team, the former also giving him a pitying look. As time passed by more and more teams came and went until it was only teams six and seven left. Mirou waited anxiously, fiddling with the ends of his gloves as a distraction.
The classroom door slammed open, causing the remaining students to jump. Through the door came a woman with short strawberry blonde hair that fluffed out in every direction except for the left side which was shaved. She wore a green qipao dress that was tied with a dark red-brown obi as well as shorts of a similar colour. Mirou took notice of the practical bandages that were around her shins and forearms, not ones that you would use for injury, but for extra padding or armor. The woman seemed to be winded and out of breath, doubled over on her knees.
"I- I'm not late am I, Iruka-sensei?" She wheezed between breaths.
Iruka shook his head in disappointment. "You're fifteen minutes late. I expected better from a Jonnin," he scolded.
The woman composed herself and looked towards the remaining students. "Sorry about that, I just got back from a mission a few minutes ago, my name is Haruga Abiko. Please stand if you are in team six."
Mirou, Emiru, and Anri all stood at once. Haruga crossed her arms confidently after seeing her new students.
'Anri Ono, not the smartest in the class but her skills in shuriken jutsu and her strength alone more then makes up for it,' The Jonnin thought. 'Emiru Takenaka, one of the smartest in the class and a member of the Takenaka clan, a clan that specializes in umbrella weapons and illusions. He works great under pressure, but his fighting skills could use some work,' She then turned to Mirou with a certain gleam in her bright yellow eyes. 'Mirou Uchiha, perhaps not the best on paper, but his ability to pick up new skills as fast as he can is a talent all on it's own, not to mention the rumors of him already Awakening the sharingan. He could be a great Shinobi if he only had confidence in himself.'
Once she was done analyzing her new students, Haruga placed her hand on her hips and pointed to herself with gusto. "Congratulations team six, now follow me. Your real training begins now!"
Mirou was the last to leave his seat, but as he did, he waved back to his friend and cousin in the row behind him. Naruto waved back while Sasuke gave him a subtle nod. It wasn't much but it was all he needed to get through the day. Or at least he hoped.
The new team sat I'm the middle of training ground nine, the only training ground that reached the wall of the village. Haruga observed her team with watchful eyes, getting a good sense of their personalities before continuing.
"Alright," She suddenly spoke. "Now I know a lot about you guys from your files, but I don't know a lot about you as people, like your likes, dislikes, ambitions and whatever. So let's go around and say a few things about ourselves, alright? I'll go first."
She paused to think for a couple of seconds. "Hmmm... Well, my name is Haruga Abiko, but you guys already know that. I like enthusiasm and dipping noodles, I dislike killjoys, and my ambition? Well, it's to make you guys live up to your true potential," she smiled brightly, her eyes lingering slightly on Mirou as she said this. The boy shifted under her gaze.
"You, with the braid," she pointed at Anri. "You go next."
Anri stuck her nose up in the air as she spoke. "My name is Anri Ono. I like Sasuke and the colour blue, I dislike people who think they're better then they really are, and my ambition is to be the best kinoichi to come out of the academy," she proclaimed.
Haruga grinned at the young girl. "Very ambitious, I like it! Next is you in the red."
Emiru gave a neutral expression as he spoke. "Emiru Takenaka. I like skipping stones. I dislike over confidence. My ambition is to learn many things," he spoke vaguely.
"A man of few words, I get it," Haruga nodded approvingly. "You with the eyes, it's your turn."
Mirou chose to ignore the comment about his eyes, he was used to Anri's comments by now anyways. "My name is Mirou Uchiha. I like watering my plants and hanging out with my friends, I dislike... uh," Mirou paused, noticing that Anri was now listening more intently. Mirou gulped at the thought of Anri using his dislikes against him. "...well nothing really comes to mind on that one," he lied. Anri huffed and turned her head. "My ambition? Well, I guess I want to be a Shinobi that my mother would be proud of." Mirou said is a softer voice. It still hurt to talk about his mother, but it's as they say, time heals all wounds.
"Very honorable," Haruga commented. She then stood up, brushing herself off as she did. "Now then, now that we all know each other a bit better, we can officially say that this is team six. You are no longer an academy student, you are a real ninja who will have to face very real dangers. Tomorrow we will meet back here for a very special survival exercise do you understand?"
"Yes Haruga-sensei," The three Gennin spoke in unison.
"Good. We will meet up at nine o'clock sharp so don't be late." She finished. And just like that she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the three kids all alone.
Mirou tried to escape before Anri made her move, but a hand on his shoulder haulted his movements.
"Now where do you think you're going, half' n half?" Anri spoke cruelly "we're a team now, and we have so much to catch up on, we haven't spoken in months."
Mirou heart was beating quickly in his chest as he tried to come up with an excuse to get away from her. He knew what the old Anri would do, and if he was dealing with the old Anri he could either endure whatever she had planned or slip away easily. But this wasn't the Old Anri, this was the new Anri, and she was much more bold, more forceful, and more egotistical then the old Anri. Mirou didn't want to know what she was going to do.
"I... I have to go and see Shikamaru!" He blurted out. The Nara compound was close by and if his Sensei was as quick as Haruga then he should be home by now. "We're going to play some Go together, and he dosent like to be kept waiting so I have to go now."
Anri raised her brow in disbelief and Mirou was preying that his lie would work. Emiru, who had been quiet this whole time, finally decided to speak up.
"Come on Anri, let's just go. Your mom's gonna be pissed if you don't get home on time."
Anri glanced back at her partner in contemplation before sighing and letting go of Mirou's arm.
"Fine, whatever, we can catch up some other time. I don't want to waste my breath talking to this trash heap anyways."
Mirou watched as the two slowly faided into the distance before letting out a breath of relief. He grasped of the place where his heard was still quickly beating in an attempt to calm it down. He turned to go home but then paused, a churning feeling in his gut telling him to stop.
'Maybe I should go to Shikamaru's, just in case.' He thought to himself before changing directions, not noticing the pair of eyes watching him in annoyance.