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This man that was supposed to be my teacher... Genma Shiranui... He was pretty cute.

I remembered that at some point, before I wound up in this insane fever dream that couldn't possibly be real, I had shipped him. I had always headcannoned him as bisexual. Or, if I was feeling extremely progressive and innovative and particularly uncaring of labels simply for the heck of it, pansexual. Which meant that I had seen him as the kind of guy that would look for an attraction that was more than just purely physical. While his best friend, Raidou, I had seen as the kind of guy that would fall for the physical aspect first and then find out if he meshed emotionally with someone.

From what I remembered of the man, he was a very laid back type of person. He always had a senbon in his mouth. And he had commented on Naruto having a mean left hook (or was it right?) during one of the final rounds of the chunin exams.

But... He hadn't been one of the teachers that we had seen in the Naruto anime. I'm sure of it. I wasn't remembering things correctly, but I'm pretty darn sure of that.

The man took me and the other two black haired boys over to the Academy's entrance. Then, without stopping for any explanations, he continued walking.

For a second, all three of us young kids looked at one another in confusion. But the man soon called over his shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets without even looking at us, "Get moving. I'm hungry and feeling particularly nice."

All three of us looked at one another once more... Then the boy that had smiled at me at the beginning of this whole thing, with eyes still somewhat dull, "I guess we should go and follow him."

The other boy, whom had longer black hair, coal black eyes, and an almost androgynous feel about him, nodded in agreement. "Well then, let's get going. I'm sure that Genma Sensei would not appreciate us taking too long to go."

Then they both looked at me.

So I blinked back at the one with the short hair.

But nothing happened.

Then I blinked back at the one with long hair.

Still nothing happened and none of us moved.

"Um... Are you waiting for me?"

There were those smiles again! What was up with these guys and smiling softly? ... It was kind of creepy...

"We are a team, after all. Right, Sai?" The one with the long hair looked over at the other boy, who nodded.

Okay, so: long hair and somewhat bright eyes, Haku Yakushi. The one with short hair and dull eyes, Sai Nakamura.

That should be easy enough to remember.

"That's right, Haku. And, as a team, I would expect that we would need to have a consensus before we go through with any true decision." The short haired one nodded in agreement, then both of them looked back over at me.

And I couldn't help but question them, "But... Are teams supposed to be run as a democracy?" Then I frowned softly, thinking to myself aloud. "Because that does sound rather stupid if you ask me. There should be a leader and followers. Waiting for all of us to decide on something sounds rather counter productive."

Both boys blinked at me. Then Haku offered, "But, seeing how we're still at the beginning of being a team, it would not hurt to make sure we are all on the same page."

Then I blinked back them before sighing. "Well then... That makes sense, I guess..." Then I smiled softly, "Let's go after the guy, yeah?"

So all three of us scurry off after Genma Shiranui, who was basically more than a yard away. He seemed all cool and stuff. Didn't even look back at us when we finally reached him. He just kept walking with his hands in his pockets and his senbon in his mouth.

Was that like a nervous tick? Or more of an unnoticed tick? Or was the senbon actually dipped in some kind of drug and was he addicted to said drug?

... Sometimes I had a rather wild way of thinking...

Our new teacher took us into a place that was certainly not Ichiraku's. It was a larger place. And it had a rustic feel about it with wooden tables placed all over, russet colored walls, and a smiling woman behind a cash register.

"Welcome to our small establishment! What shall you order?"

She was bubbly enough and kind of upbeat.

"I'll have a coffee; black; and... Uh..." He spared a glance at all three of us, cocking an eyebrow, before nodding to himself, "Three servings of tonkatsu. With all the sides. And an extra plate." Then he motioned to us with his hands, "Munchkins, what will you drink?"

"I'll have some green tea, please." Sai answered levelly, then Haku chorused, "Me too, please."

Finally all three looked at me, which made me sigh and smile nervously. "Water, please."

"You got that?" Genma asked the woman, who nodded as she wrote down the order. "That'll be all for this order. How long 'til it's ready?"

"About twenty minutes." The woman answered with a smile of her own. "You could sit down and I'll bring it all up to you if you'd like."

"Thank you." Genma said, then she told him how much it would cost and he paid for all of us.

It was odd to have the person that was supposed to be our teacher buying us food. But, hey, free food. It would be stupid to not accept the man's kindness.

We sat down at a table by the corner of the establishment, all three of us students on one bench, Genma on the other. He took a few seconds to look each one of us over, analyzing us with a critical eye, before speaking up.

"My name is Genma Shiranui and I'll be your jounin sensei from now on. You kids are my first genin team and I expect to see you all become chunin in less than three years." He smiled lazily at us before moving the senbon from one corner of his lips to another. "I enjoy slow days, tough training, giving my all to any challengers, and my favorite quote is 'No words, but action'." With this he become somewhat serious, losing some of his smirk. "I do not, though, like quitters or dishonest people. Although I do also like taking things easy..."

His shift in attitude was surprising. But he was smirking lazily once more and had turned his attention on Sai.

"You, short hair. Name, likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies."

The boy blinked at him without a word for a second, then said, "My name is Sai. I like art, I dislike people that don't like art, I dream of using my art in fighting, and I like drawing in my free time."

The silence that hung over all three of us was thick. But then Genma looked at him and said in a deadpan, "That was the most informative pieces of information I've ever heard in my life." He looked at Sai with that same unimpressed look for a second before smiling once more, turning to Haku, "Long hair. You're up."

Haku kept a composed and calm attitude as he spoke, a soft smile on his face the whole time. "My name is Haku. I enjoy helping others and being needed. I do not like those that hurt others, liars, or jerks. I spend my free time helping out at retirement homes and orphanages and I dream of becoming stronger to be able to help others even more."

"Good dreams." Genma noted with a nod, then finally looked at me. "And the bluenette. It's your time to shine."

I blinked back at him. Hearing these guys talk... What was I supposed to say? Who was Aoi supposed to be? What were her likes, dislikes, hobbies, and such?

What if I answered wrong?

Blinking at him, I thought on what limited things I knew about Aoi and what she was supposed to do and like in this place.

"I... Uh... I like reading... And writing... And baking..." I murmured, glancing down at the table in front of me. "I don't like mean people or... Uh..." Thinking quickly, I remembered Kiba's words and the bet I had apparently lost. "Losing bets. Yeah... That makes sense..." I whispered to myself. And, finally, I said, "I dream of being awesome."

Genma looked at me for a second before shaking his head softly. "Right. You could be a public speaker, kid."

Then he leaned back with a cross of his arms. "Well, now that we've introduced ourselves to one another, it's time I tell you about your final test before you become a fully fledged genin squad."

Both boys beside me made different noises of surprise and discontent, but I only looked at the man expectantly.

"I have a plan for your squad. A specialization I wish for you kids to take. But to make sure you're the right kids for this kind of specialization, I am going to need to make sure you're ready by giving you a series of clues that will lead you to your final challenge. The one that will truly show me if you're ready to be genin or not." With this he clinked the senbon against his teeth before saying, "Meet me by the village's largest library tomorrow at eight in the morning. Prepare survival packs and to face quite a few oddities. And by oddities, I mean crazy people." With a shake of his head, the man sighed. "I won't lie to you. The people you'll meet tomorrow will surprise you."

"Wait... What happens to us if we fail?" Haku questioned, which had the man smirk dangerously.

"Well, let's just say it's better if you don't fail, yeah?"

It was at this point that the woman from the front desk brought us our food, setting down three plates of steaming food in front of us with a smile, then our different drinks.

"Dig in, kids! For this could be the first meal of many... Or of none..."

Haku, Sai, and I all exchanged worried looks at his final statement. But then he began to eat, prompting us to begin us well. Which made us all begin to worry about just how we would split the two plates that were meant for us to share.

What to find on the next chapter: Freak out!: Quite frankly, it was about time Aoi began to freak out about something that was completely unrealistic happening. Shit! It Speaks!: The first clues as to what she's doing in this world are revealed!

~./.~

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