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chapter 3
Fumiko was busy at the training grounds of the Hyuga compound. She had been training since dawn, and a long amount of time had passed as it was now late in the afternoon. They struck at each other, though without using their chakra. This was to prevent injuries resulting from gentle fist. That, and to preserve stamina. But despite this, she still suffered from exhaustion as her limbs ached painfully with every movement. As she outstretched her arm to strike him, she could just barely gather the strength to do so. He dodged this with ease.
"Your attacks are slow and predictable. Again," he ordered.
She attempted another strike, but to no avail. She tripped, losing her balance and nearly falling, as she struggled to catch her breath.
Though Hiashi trained her strictly, he was well aware not to go beyond her limits. This was specifically for the purpose that it would only harm her development in terms of skill. He knew exactly how much he needed to train her in order for her training to be most effective. And at this point, it was obvious that Fumiko had reached her limit.
"I had expected better from you," he said in a harsh tone, as he began to walk off.
But, I'm trying as best as I can.
Fumiko prepared one last strike. She charged at him, focusing every ounce of her energy on her form. As she reached for the attack, she outstretched her torso, extending her dominant leg in a slight lunge with her arm poised elegantly, extended in front of her. Her form had been perfect. Hiashi's expression looked almost impressed; even if it was only apparent in the slightest. For the first time, she was able to completely master her strike. But it was still not enough. Her well-prolonged training session had clearly begun to exhaust her abilities, which had become apparent in her movement. He merely tapped her arm, with such accuracy as to locate the most efficient point to strike for her to lose balance; and it was enough to propel Fumiko forwards. She collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
"Your training is done," Hiashi said sharply. Without a moment of hesitation, he then walked off.
"But-" she began before her sentence trailed off. Fumiko suddenly felt a strong sense of guilt flow through her, realizing that she could almost feel relieved hearing this.
It had now been 2 years since that fateful day. Fumiko had turned 6, soon to become genin in only a year's worth of time. She had become increasingly proficient in the gentle fist techniques, displaying promising talent for her age. Today would be the day she would finally graduate.
The classroom was as loud as ever. Everyone had been talking with their peers, arguing, and gossiping. Fumiko, however, kept to herself. She quietly sat at her desk, absorbing herself into one of her books. When the teacher arrived, everyone was promptly hushed. The class immediately fell silent. Fumiko closed her book and set it off to the side. The teacher then spoke to the class.
"My name is Takahashi Habiki," he announced. "And I will now be announcing the names of all the graduating students, as well as the team they will be assigned to."
Fumiko waited anxiously in silence for her name to be called.
"Terada Izuki, Saito Haruki, and Ozaki Kozakura, you will be assigned to team 4."
I hope my name gets called soon.
"Next up, we have Sanaki Mizu, Sarutobi Teruma, and Inuzuka Yumi. You will be assigned to team 5."
There's only a few people left. Please tell me I didn't fail. Fumiko crossed her fingers.
"Lastly, we have Kojima Akemi, Nara Taishiro, and Hyuga Fumiko. You will be assigned to team 6."
Thank goodness.
"If your name was called, you will now be excused."
Fumiko gathered with the rest of her team outside as they waited for their sensei. None of them spoke a word to each other. Akemi and Fumiko exchanged glances. His striking, hazel eyes held a nearly childlike sense of aggression. The air surrounding them became tense and frigid.
At that moment, a young woman appeared in front of them. Judging by her appearance and the konoha forehead protector she wore, Fumiko could well assume she was a jonin. She must have been their sensei.
She had long, lustrous hair held back into a half-ponytail. She looked quite young for a jonin, perhaps around twenty years of age or so. Though she was decently tall.
"Let's start by introducing ourselves," she announced. "I'm Uzumaki Kushina, and starting from today, I will be your sensei."
Her sensei's smile, enthusiasm, and lively, welcoming aura easily filled the air with warmth, relieving it of the tensions that previously clouded them. Their attention was immediately drawn to her vigorous, spirited personality.
"Now, I would like the three of you to introduce yourselves, and tell us one fact that you would like to share with everyone."
Akemi started first. "I'm Kojima Akemi," he said proudly. "And my goal is to become a great ninja!"
He smirked, continuing on with his introduction. "That shouldn't be too hard for me, thoughβ I bet I'm already stronger than the both of you," he stated arrogantly, pointing at Fumiko and the boy next to her, Taishiro. Kushina became visibly annoyed by his statement. Her eyes narrowed, her lips curling into a taunting smile as her once kind and eager expression had been replaced into one of menace.
"I'll have you know that you're arguably the worst out of your teammates," she said, responding to his arrogance. Embarrassed by this, he immediately kept quiet.
Fumiko decided she would start next. "My name is Hyuga Fumiko." She paused for a moment, recollecting her thoughts before continuing. What she truly wanted to share was her determination for becoming a ninja; but with that tied indirectly to the clan, she felt reluctant to share. She hesitated to respond before finally saying, "I don't have anything that I would like to share about myself, if that's okay with everyone."
Akemi was unsatisfied with her answer. His face held a subtle, yet arrogant expression as he uttered sarcastically, "Well, maybe you should share about how much of a spoiled brat you are."
Her patience had been finally tested to its limits. Answering his unnecessary statement, she voiced in response, "Maybe if you trained as much as you ran your mouth, you wouldn't be at the bottom of the class." She returned his snobbish, conceited gaze.
Fumiko wasn't the only one to lose her patience. Kushina raised her fist as her hair started to rise slowly from her head. "I've had enough with your arguing," she growled.
After a few seconds, she calmed herself down. She then spoke in a much more sensible manner, "Akemi, I need to have a talk with you about your behavior."
For a moment, Akemi held an almost fearful expression in his eyes. When the genin remained silent, Kushina spoke again.
"Taishiro," she said calmly. "Why don't you introduce yourself now."
"Sure," he said. "My name is Nara Taishiro. And my objective is to become the advisor to the Hokage."
"Interesting," Kushina said. "Isn't that one of the Nara clan's most proclaimed roles?"
"My father worked directly as one of the Hokage's most trusted officials," the Nara said placidly. "And I would like to follow in his footsteps."
After Taishiro finished his introduction, the genin were dismissed for the day. Kushina instructed them to meet with her tomorrow, and with the exception of Akemi, the genin left the area. Fumiko walked home, exhausted. She held many doubts regarding her team, especially how they would fare in battle. Surely, their lack of compatibility would come at a price. All she could do was hope for the best.
The next day was the day of the bell test. She had heard of it before, and she knew it would pose a challenge. As she was walking to the area where her team would be meeting, she felt a sudden rush of nervousness flow through her, following the unanticipated realization; she was the youngest out of the team, which granted her an obvious disadvantage.
She halted for a moment. She felt the sudden urge to turn back around; to discard her life as a shinobi. But she couldn't just abandon her goals, nor her obligations to Hyuga. Fumiko assured herself of her doubts, making the decision to continue with her team.
Kushina arrived shortly after. "Before we start, I will explain the bell test to you. It's quite simple, actually," their sensei had said, with a modest smile on her face. "Your job is to capture one of the bells from me." She held out the bells in her hand. "Once you manage to catch a bell, you pass the test."
But then, why are there only two bells, Fumiko thought. That's strange...
Taishiro seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. "If there are three of us, then how come there are only two bells?" he questioned.
"Hmm. Well, I'm afraid you will have to figure that out yourselves," Kushina said. "Oh, and one more thing," she added on. "If you fail to capture all of the bells by noon, I will have no choice but to fail everyone."
Fail?
"But that's not fair!" Akemi said.
Kushina simply smiled at this. "Don't get yourself too worked up. Besides, I have faith that all of you will pass."
"Now," she said with a grin on her face. "Let's begin the bell test, shall we?"