First, there was Z. He was brash, loudmouthed, and reminded her of the braggers you always see in the movies who died horrible deaths. In the brief time that they met, he had already seemed to make enemies with the Hyuuga, and make himself look like a complete and utter doofus (trying to hop fence then falling over it with ripped pants qualified him in her mind as a grade'A' nincompoop)
She had hoped that there would be someone level headed to balance the idiocy of Z. Her hopes were not far off, but level headed was perhaps too strong a word. Dan was tall, dark, and completely stoic. The ideal talking buddy. One could speak to him for hours and he would never say a word. Kieto knew. She tried it.
At the moment, the three team members were sitting in a large grassy field, surrounded by large, protruding boulders. Kieto was seated in the middle of the two boys, her hands folded in her lap, and her eyes closed. Z was trying to balance a kunai on his nose. Dan was sprawled out on the ground, his hands in his pockets.
They had been this way for quite a while now. After the teams had been picked, the squad leaders arrived at the academy door to welcome their students. All but their's that is. When they had come to the door, there was only a note, so small, only Kieto noticed it. It read, "Team 9, do not bother catching up or socializing. When you receive this, go directly to the rock field behind the Section B housing unit. That is all."
So there they were. The sun was beginning to drop into a purple sky, and the twinkling of stars started to dab the horizon like dribbles of golden paint. Kieto had never seen such a wonderful sky. "It's beautiful isn't it?..." she murmured to herself.
"Hm?" Z questioned momentarily. Momentarily before losing his balance. The kunai slipped from his nose, and the sharp end stabbed in the foot. "Argh!"
Dan didn't say anything. His eyes were closed, so Kieto thought him to be asleep. She stared at the sky for another moment, before her face began to droop. Why did she get the loser team? A moron who hadn't stopped being an idiot since they arrived, and rock who hadn't said a word.
She sighed, and let out a breath as the air began to turn from warm to cool, then flipped a kunai into the air. Dan noticed first. His seemingly slumbering form leaped up from the ground, two shuriken in hand. He threw one quickly, the sharp "twang" of metal on metal reverberated throughout the plains. A shuriken and a kunai fell just inches away from Kieto's face.
Z raised his head. "What's going on?"
Suddenly, four more kunai exploded from the dense foliage of trees behind them. Kieto and Dan moved instantly, somersaulting away from the dedly projectiles, before relasing some of their own in the same direction. "Who's attacking?" she yelled.
Z screamed as a kunai landed at his feet. He leaped backwards (quite unecessarily) as two more landed in front of him. After he got his breath under control, a grin formed at his lips. "You missed!"
Kieto turned around to see what her idiot partner was doing, then her eyes widened. Z! Get down! That one has an exploding tag!" she shouted.
Z raised an eyebrow. "What?" BA-DOOM! An explosion ripped through the plains in a blast that sent Z flying into the air for a good three seconds, before landing face first on the moist ground. He was out.
"Z!" Kieto began to run towards her fallen comrade, but the sharp feel of steel was suddenly wrapped around her throat. A dark, sinister voice came from behind her. "Now don't think of going anywhere missy..." it said.
She rotated her eyes just enough to see Dan was in the same position. That same, cold voice, floated back into her ears. "You're dead"