Izanami looked at her new team in distaste. Tenten, the only other girl, seemed all right, but the others…
There was Rock Lee, with his outrageously busy eyebrows, buggy eyes, and unbearable green spandex suit.
And then, there was…Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy. The cold, silent genius.
The person she hated most in the world.
He had hurt her in the past…hurt her so much…
She gently pressed her hand to her chest, above her heart. The scar still remained, a faint line of pain, a memory of what unchecked emotions could do.
Tenten twirled a kunai in her hand. She sighed. "Anyone know when our new sensei will show up?"
Izanami and Neji didn't respond. Lee gave Tenten a thumbs-up and winked.
"He'll show up soon, Tenten! Don't lose hope!"
"I never said I was losing hope," Tenten muttered. Nevertheless, she grew silent.
Neji glanced at Izanami. She stared stonily ahead, never blinking.
Tenten noticed the tension between the two, but wisely decided to say nothing.
"Good morning, my new beautiful team of youths!"
Tenten let out a small gasp as a tall man appeared, looking freakishly similar to Lee.
"Hello, team! My name is Maito Gai, and I am your new teacher!" he called out loudly.
"We'll start out with introductions!" he continued. "You, my wonderfully stylish young student!" He pointed at Lee. "You can go first!"
The boy beamed before he went. "My name is Rock Lee!" he started enthusiastically. "One day, I hope to prove that hard work is better than natural genius!"
"Beautiful!" Gai said with tears in his eyes. "Simply awe-inspiring!" He nodded to Tenten. "Now you; it's your turn!"
Tenten shoved the kunai in her weapon pouch and sighed. "I'm Tenten, that's pretty much all I have to say…"
"Wonderful! You!" Gai shouted at Neji.
The rookie of the year stared coldly at his bubbly (me: whoa, that sounded wrong…) sensei. "Hyuuga Neji." Were his only words.
"And now, last but not least, the girl in the shadows!"
Izanami finally spoke, her voice low, smooth, and slightly bittersweet. "Fushigi Izanami. Pleasure to meet you."
"So polite!" Gai exclaimed. "Now, for our first step, we will all run laps around Konoha! How about...fifty for starters!"
The team grudgingly started jogging (except for Lee – he started full-speed while smiling brightly).
"Faster! Faster! Come on, let's get those youthful hearts pumping!" Gai shouted.
After the forty-seventh lap, Izanami felt like her lungs were on fire. Her breath came in short, ragged breaths.
She had always had trouble running, ever since that night...After all, the blade had almost gone straight through…it was no wonder…
"Enough!" Gai called. Three of his students gratefully stopped sprinting while one insisted on doing another lap.
"That was an excellent warm-up, am I right?"
No one felt the need to answer.
"All right, then!" Gai waited for Lee to stop running before he continued. "Since it's our first day, let's start with some fun! How about a little sparring?"
"Great idea, Gai-sensei!" Lee said encouragingly.
"First off, Tenten and Lee! Then, Izanami and Neji!"
Neji and Izanami glanced at each other. The hate between them was mutual.
Not the best two people for a friendly match.
