She looked to the sky. Who would it be? There were so many potential candidates. There were so many choices.
"Hey, Shudup you two losers!" an obnoxious sounding voice came from in front of her. She didn't even have to look down. She knew it well. "Z" Makomichi. The biggest, laziest slacker in the whole academy. She was suprised he even got this far. His test scores were abismal. Two, thin, synchronized laughs followed. Deishi Ono and Gaishi Ono. Twins,and from what she could tell, inseperable. They were always together, every time she saw them. It was strange.
She leaned back in the swing and let her legs dangle in the air. It was probably going to be someone strong. Konaige had promised her a strong group. Strong was good. But who would it be? There were so many choices. So Many!
She looked down again, trying to identify the last of the potential genins. Suddenly, she found herself looking dead into the eyes of another student. One she had never seen before. He wore thick eyeglasses, and had his hair combed back with a perfect wavy part down the middle. He wore suspenders, and had his socks rolled over his pants. Weird. But he was looking straight at her. What did he see? To most people, she was just another ordinary little kid. There were other kids here. Why was he only looking at her? She lowered her gaze for a moment, then raised it inconspicuosly. When she looked back up, he was gone. Weird. She dismissed it from her mind. It was time to dream some more.
The Academy classroom was packed when she arrived. Chuunin and academy official Kiniga Sensai had been observing the advancing genins progress through the school very closely up till now, but even after all the research and studies, she was still surpirsed at the number of young shinobi hopefuls staring at her with bright eyed faces when she walked in. She smiled and flipped her brown hair from the front of her eyes. "Hello again everyone, are you ready to meet your new teams?"
"Haha! You bet Kiniga sensei!" a boy with a bowl cut and an orange jumpsuit shouted as he stood up with his fist in the air. Several snickers filled the room, but the boy didn't bother sitting down. Kiniga smiled.
"You can sit down now Lee" she said grinning.
"Yes Ma'am!" he shouted. He saluted once, then plopped into his seat looking straight ahead.
"A freak. Don't you believe brother?" came an icy cackle from beside her. "Indeed brother. I do believe. A freak" Kiniga sighed. The twins. Those two were bound to be trouble.
"Now, if everyone can quiet down please, I need your immediate attention!" said Kiniga. It wasn't really necessary, but it was mandatory. She walked to the front of the room, a clip board in her hand. "You all know why you are here, I don't feel like I need to explain it. After all your hard work in the academy, you've earned the right to become genin" At this, a loud cheer errupted from the class, especially from the mouth of the one called Z.
"Kiniga, you're the greatest, but enough with the mushy stuff! Give us the teams already I'm ready to kick some butt!" he yelled over the top of several of his clasmates.
"Sit down idiot" came the collected voice of Dan Hyuuga. As soon as he spoke, everyone got quiet. Instantly.
Kiniga raised her eyebrows. She had seen Dan's affect on the other ninja to some extent, but he had never completely shushed a whole classroom before. Even the usually, "loud and proud" Z took his seat. Something strange was going on... but no time for that now.
"Alright everyone, I won't waste any more time! As you all know, you have all been promoted to genin, and therefore it is time for you to become part of a three man team to continue your training. Becoming part of this team is not something that is finite, you're relationships with your team members and your squad leader will ultimately affect if a mission is a success or a failure. Sometimes, your bond can even be the difference between life and death. You all need to to take this very seriously. Do I make myself clear...Z?"
Z twiddled his thumbs absentmindedly. "Yes ma'am..."
"Good. Now that that's out of the way...Let's begin naming the teams!" Kiniga said loudly as she raised her clipboard to eye level. "Team One!...Niko Lee!"
The orange clad Niko jumped on top of the desk! "Group One! One meaning the best!" he shouted.
"...Nadari Takamino!" Kiniga continued. A long, drawn out sigh came from the back of the room. Lee did a complete three sixty twist to see where the noise had emanated from. Sitting in the far corner of the room, black hair hanging over her eyes, clothed in shredded black clothes, and sporting a dark purple eyeliner, sat the gloomy Nadari Takamino. "And...Ugi Matsobi!" Kiniga said with finality.
Everyone scratched their heads. Ugi? They had never heard of that guy before. A hand suddenly raised into the air, and a short, nerdy looking, glasses sporting kid stood up, both hands drooping past his suspenders. "That would be me" he said boredly. Some giggles passed through the group, but Kiniga quickly shushed them.
"Next Team Two! Beginning with...Raido!"
"Ungh?" came the groan from a dirty, smelly looking kid with frizzy black hair. He reeked badly, as if he hadn't taken a bath in months. A sharp laugh came from the back of the room. Kaki Subiki and Doshiga Kunegi huddled together between the desks.
"Ya see that Doshiga, THAT's our enemy. That boy. Well, not just him. All boys like him. He's the prime example of what we're fighting against."
"We're fighting?" came a timid reply.
"Well...metaphorically. But just look at him! He smells bad, has bad manners, has no respect... He shouldn't even be a ninja!" Kaki laughed.
"Isn't that going a bit too far Kaki?..."
"What? Are you saying you WANT to be on a team with that...that...boy?"
"Well, no...I just..."
"Second...Doshiga Kunegi!" came Kuniga's voice from the front of the room. Doshiga paled as Kaki slapped her on the back.
"I feel for you sister, but it seems like irony finally got the better of you! Just imagine it! You're going to be on a team with a dirty...smelly boy! I bet you would KILL to be in my shoes right now!"
"And Lastly...Kaki Subiki!"
Z turned around and stared as a sudden, endless streaming of curses errupted from the back of the room. "I wonder what those wimps are yelling about?"
"Team Five!...Sogome Dicharo, and Deishi Ono and Gaishi Ono!"
Simultaneously cackles spurted from the twins as they slapped hands. "Wait...you mean I have BOTH of them?" screamed an enraged Sogome from the front.
"Moving on!..."
Z laid his head on his desk. It seemed like he would never get called. At the same time, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to. I mean, some teams were okay, but other weren't. He would hate to be in that Raido kid's shoes. Kaki would probably kill him within the first couple hours. He propped his feet up on the desk and placed his hands behind his head. Maybe an attitude adjustment was in order. He had always been lazy at the academy when it came to schoolwork, but he always trained rigourously whenver he could. However, he could see that by the way thing's were looking now, the stronger, higher ranked students were the only ones that were left. How did that happen! He had scored in the lowest half of the class...there was no way he should still be hre. He should have gone with the weaker groups...But now that he thought about it, Nkiko wasn't really that bright, and neither was Raido. And they both had smart ninjas on their teams...it could only be for one reason...To make the smart kids look better! Z cried into his hands. He was doomed.
"Group 9!...Z Makomichi!" came Kiniga sensai's voice. Z suddenly perked up, his ears twitching intently. "...Dan Hyuuga!"
Suddenly, Z's face drooped. Crap. He risked a look in Dan's direction. He was met with an sinister stare. Crap. Crap. crap. Not good. Not good!
"..and finally, Kieto!"
Z risked a peak above his desk; maybe that last person could offer him some protection against Dan. But seriously, why couldn't the guy get over it! What's past was past...right? Z stopped thinking about his predicament with Dan for a moment to notice that "Kieto" had not acknowledged herself yet. "Hey! Kieto! Whoever you are! You're on my team!" Z hollered. He caught a look devilish look from Dan, and quickly added, "Our Team...I mean"
No one responded. "You won't find her in the building Z, she wasn't even part of the academy" said Kiniga sensai walking over to a window.
"Well, where is she then?" Dan's steely voice once again reduced everyone to silence as it echoed around the room.
Kiniga flicked open a hatch on the inside of the window, then popped it open. "See for yourself" she said as Dan and Z questioningly got up from their seats and made their way over to the open window. Kiniga pointed, and the two genin followed her finger to a tree, then a swing, then a girl on a swing. She had long brown, hair that hung over face, and wasn't bothering to move it. Z squinted. "That little girl, is Kieto?"
Kay stood before the Seventh Hokage of the Village Hidden in Leaves with his arms crossed. "Are you sure this is a good idea sir?"
"No"
"Then why are we...?"
The Hokage held up a finger, interupting him. "Please Kay, you know my feelings on this matter. Kudon was very close to me, and I need someone with talent to continue where he left off. You are one of the most intelligent, powerful shinobi's I have. If you cannot do this job...I do not not know who will"
Kay inhaled deeply, then looked at the ceiling. "Sometimes I really don't understand you..."
The Hokage let out a booming laugh. "Very good, very good. You'll need to hurry Kay, they've just finished assigning squads, and I suppose some of the teams have already met their leaders. You better get going"
The Hokage grinned widely. "I know three certain genin that are expecting you..."
End Chapter One! Who is the one called Kay? Why was Kieto not in the academy? Who is the mysterious Dan Hyuuga? New answers and new questions in cHapter Two!