"Sakura, Tsubaki it's time for school," I frowned and looked over at the small clock on my desk before getting out of bed.
I pulled my long hair out of its messy bun and walked into the bathroom I shared with my sister. Like most mornings she was looking at herself in the mirror. I quickly brushed past her and turned the shower on.
"Can't you wait until I'm done to shower?" I frowned at her and stripped down before hopping in the shower.
"If I wait for you to stop looking at yourself in the mirror I'd be late for school and I'm trying not to get myself in trouble." I heard Sakura scoff before the bathroom door opened and closed.
I finished my shower and walked back to my room and quickly got dressed before running downstairs.
"Good morning, and goodbye," I said, slipping on my sandals and running out of the house.
I guess introductions are in order, my name is Tsubaki Haruno, the less important younger sister of Sakura Haruno. We're only like a year apart but because I'm smart we're in the same class, most people just ignore me which I'm pretty content with. I don't really like any extra attention so I just blend in the background with some of the other students.
Do I look like my sister you ask? Yes, sometimes people have mistaken us for twins, something I don't see. Yes, we have similar facial features but I wouldn't go so far as to say we're twins. Sakura is taller than me, my eyes are smaller, her forehead is wider, my hair is curlier, and the list goes on and on.
When I arrived at class a few students were enjoying the silence. I noticed one of my classmates and oldest friends sitting by himself, I made my way over to him and sat down beside him.
"What's wrong with you? You're brooding more than usual." Sasuke made a face at me and went back to staring into space.
"Nothing, I just want to be left alone." I shook my head and moved to my seat in the front of the class.
As time went by the class started to fill up and I heard someone sit down beside me.
"Good morning, Tsubaki how's it going?" I smiled at Raichi and patted his head.
"Good morning Rai-kun I'm alright just waiting for Iruka Sensei like everyone else obviously." Raichi nodded and relaxed.
Besides Sasuke Raichi and I have been friends for a long time, but I'll save that long annoying story for another time. Raichi is overly cocky at times and it usually gets him in trouble but he means well. Raichi and I made small talk until Iruka Sensei came into the classroom, we were going to be set up in teams of three and I was kind of excited. Me, Raichi, and a quiet guy named Eito were paired together. The class was dismissed and Raichi followed me out of the room and out of the academy.
"Maybe we should get to know the other guy, I've heard of him but I don't really know him. All I know is that he's really quiet."
Raichi ran past me and pointed to the silver-haired boy leaning against a tree eating. Eito Hoga, quiet and shy but also very handsome for such a young boy. I walked over to him and sat down with a small smile.
"Hi, since we're in the same team we thought it'd be good to get to know each other. Well, mostly you since Tsubaki-chan and I already know each other." Raichi said, reaching to take some of Eito's food.
I slapped his hand away and tossed him a bento. I usually made more than one bento, one for me and one for Raichi.
"It's nice to officially meet you Eito-kun, I'm Tsubaki Haruno, and that is Raichi Asano." Eito nodded and looked down at his food.
"It's nice to meet you Tsubaki-chan, Raichi-san. I um, look forward to being on your team." Eito said quietly as his face turned a light shade of red.
We ate and got to know each other more. I found out that Eito's family-owned like half of the villages outside of Konoha. No wonder he was so shy and quiet, he was raised away from others and in a lecture home, and it looked like he was the smartest one in our group. Raichi was the strongest and I was somewhere in between.
On my way home, I noticed Sasuke walking through the market, with his fangirls trailing behind him. Don't they ever get tired of being stalkers? I ran over to Sasuke and smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow at me and continued walking.
"What's up Tsubaki?" I shrugged and followed him through the market.
"I was on my way home when I saw you so yeah, you're on a team with my sister and Naruto-kun and you get to meet your Sensei tomorrow. Are you excited?" Sasuke shook his head and pointed to Ichiraku Ramen.
I followed him in and we both ordered.
"Well, are you just going to ignore me?" I said looking over at him. "Naruto is lame and all Sakura does is drool over me so I just don't see how putting the three of us on a team is going to be good." I guess he had a point besides Sakura being boy crazy. She was very analytical.
"I'm sure everything is going to be alright. Sakura is very smart and you never know, Naruto-kun might surprise you. I don't really talk to him but I believe in him." He rolled his eyes as our food was placed in front of us. I smiled at him as I dug into the amazing Ramen in front of me.
After dinner, I said my goodbyes to Sasuke and continued my walk back to the house. I opened the front door and took my shoes off placing them neatly on the side. "I'm home," I yelled heading upstairs and into my room. I passed Sakura checking herself out and talking about Sasuke in the room. Our bedrooms were right across from each other if we left our doors open we could see right into the other person's room.
"Sakura, are you excited to be on a real team and go on real missions?" I asked changing into my pajamas. Sakura ran into my room and fell on my bed.
"I can't believe I, of all people, is on a team with Sasuke-kun. How did I get so lucky?" I shrugged and pushed her to the side before laying down beside her.
"Well you know, when you go out on a real mission you're not going to have time to swoon over Sasuke. He can protect himself so you need to look out for you and make sure you stay on your "A" game." Sakura rolled her eyes and got off my bed. She made a face at me before walking over to her room and closing the door.
I got up and closed my door, before laying back. I heard someone tap on my window and I looked over to see Raichi waving at me. All I want to do is go to bed and be ready for tomorrow. I got up for the second time and opened the window to let Raichi in. He smiled and relaxed on the bed after tossing his shoes in the corner.
"I was bored and the Aunt was trippin' out so I left. So what's going on? You want to get in some trouble?" I shook my head and pushed him off my bed.
"I'm going to bed and you should be doing the same. Go home, apologize to your Aunt, and go to bed Rai-san. I don't want to be up all night with you." He got off the bed and scoffed.
"I bet you'd let Sasuke-kun or Eito-tan stay over," Raichi said in a high-pitched voice. I threw my pillow at him and he laughed loudly. I shushed him and waved him out the window.
"Leave before you get me in trouble please." He nodded and jumped out the window waving at me before taking off back to his place. At least I hope so. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep but I woke up to Sakura going through my drawers.
"What are you looking for?" She ignored me and continued going through my things until she found a pair of shorts. She frowned at me and walked to her room slamming the door.
If she just did her own laundry our things wouldn't get mixed up all the time. I got out of bed, showered, and did my morning routine before getting dressed. I headed downstairs and walked over to the table where dad was sitting. Mom was in the kitchen like always.
"Good morning, Otousan, Okaasan." Papa smiled at me and patted my head. I always had a better relationship with dad than I did with mom. It was painfully obvious that Sakura was her favorite and I was papa's favorite.
"How did you sleep, Tsu-chan? Is your sister up yet?" Papa asked, smiling down at me. "I slept alright, and she's awake just taking her time," I said digging into my breakfast. As I finished, Sakura walked downstairs and sat down at the table. ]
"Morning," I waved to Papa and thanked Mom for breakfast before sliding on my sandals. "I'm off, I'll see you later," I said leaving the house. Raichi was leaning against the wall across from the house, when he saw me he ran to my side and smiled.
"So you know the really huge complex over on the other side of the village beside the Hyuga complex? That is where Eito lives, I always thought that's where the Hokage stayed because it's so freakin' huge but no." Raichi said with wide eyes.
"I followed him home yesterday to see what he's all about. That's why I came by so late because I was going to share that with you but you were being lame." I scoffed and shook my head.
"Well, his family is incredibly rich so, yeah. Anyway stop stalking him, he's our partner now so we have to respect and get to know him like normal people do." I said as we walked into school. I spotted Eito sitting in the back by himself, so I pulled Raichi and took a seat beside him.
"Good morning, Eito-kun." Eito blushed and looked down at his hands. "Good morning, Tsubaki-chan, Raichi-san." Raichi rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.
When all the students arrived the Sensei's started showing up and taking their small teams off for introductions and welcoming. A pretty lady walked in and looked around the room before her eyes landed on mine. "Tsubaki Haruno, Raichi Asano, and Eito Hoga." The three of us stood up and followed her out of the room.
"Ok, I didn't eat breakfast so we're going to bond over food so I hope you guys are hungry too." Her voice was so soft and melodic, it reminded me of a nursery teacher. "Hell yeah, I never turn food down lady." I smacked Raichi over the head and continued to follow our new Sensei.
We made it Yakiniku Q and even though I ate I was more than happy to eat here. I loved BBQ. When we walked in I noticed Ino's team was sitting at one of the tables. Our Sensei waved to their Sensei as we walked past them. We were seated and I noticed Raichi sat down right beside our Sensei, he was definitely crushing on her. I looked over and nodded, she really was beautiful. Her long purple hair was pulled up in a braided bun, she had full pink lips, and a small beauty mark on the left side of her mouth. She had blue bedroom eyes with two blue dots below her lower eyelashes.
"So, tell me about yourselves. Well, I guess I should start off since you all have already met. I'm Fumi Shiba, I'm a Jonin of course and I'm a wonderful healer. I was the youngest Jonin in my class and I'm waiting to be happily married. Now your turn. Boy, that's too close to me, go." Raichi smiled and looked over Fumi Sensei.
"I'm Raichi Asano, I'm amazing of course and that's all you need to know." Fumi Sensei rolled her eyes and looked over at me next.
"I'm Tsubaki Haruno, I'm not cocky like that guy beside you and I'm a hard worker, however, I'm not that strong so I rely on my brain to get me through things." Fumi Sensei nodded before looking beside me at Eito. He looked down at his cup and sighed.
"Um, I'm Eito Hoga. I, ah, I guess I'm good with chakra control. I..." Raichi slammed his hand down on the table and got up.
"Come on man, speak up and stop acting like a weak little girl. Tsubaki has more balls than you, I can't be on a team with you if you're always going to be acting like a wuss." Eito got up and bowed to us before leaving and I gave Raichi the meanest look I could before getting up and following Eito.
I ran in front of him and bowed. "Eito-kun, I'm sorry for Raichi's poor behavior. Sometimes he just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. Please don't leave, you are a part of our team no matter what and if he can't appreciate you and your skills then that's too bad. You were given a headband because you have the talent and skill of a true ninja so please don't leave." I said finally taking a breath.
I heard laughing and I looked up to see Eito laughing with a few tears in his eyes. "What's so funny?" He stopped laughing and wiped his face before smiling at me.
"Thank you, for you, I will stay Tsubaki-chan. However, I'm not strong and amazing like everyone thinks I am, I'm weak and small, and the only things I'm good at is controlling Chakra." I shrugged and led him back inside of the restaurant.
When we got back to the table Raichi was beaten up and our food had arrived. "Ah, you came back. Come on now, don't let the meat spoil let's eat." I can already tell this team is going to be a blast to be a part of.