Wakfu Way of the Ninja

Chapter Two

"So, why don't you introduce yourselves." Kakashi had brought them to the roof of the academy.

The blond kid in an orange jumpsuit and a bad sense of humor was Naruto. Looked just like his dad, only smaller. And obnoxious. He was probably the most infamous kid in Konoha, with more lifetime bans before he could walk than most people achieved in their entire lives.

The girl with the Hyuuga eyes and the Hyuuga skin tone and the Hyuuga emblem on her coat was probably Hinata. Probably. While the blank white eyes made most Hyuugas look mysterious, wise, and even fierce, Hinata ended up looking perpetually surprised.

That left the third one as Yugo. He wore a sleeveless yellow shirt and blue shorts, but his most distinctive feature was his hat. It was blue with a broad tail and ears on it. Well, he'd seen ninjas in sillier costumes and wouldn't have thought anymore of it, but then the hat ears twitched. Like the ears of a cat or a fox, the hat ears perked up when he was excited and drooped when he was disappointed. It wouldn't be that hard to run chakra through the fabric, but to do it so it looked natural, well, Kakashi liked to show off at that age too.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, just tell me something about yourself," Kakashi said easily. "Likes, dislikes, ambitions, you know, stuff."

"Could you go first?" Yugo asked.

"Sure," he said. "I like...things, I dislike...other things, and my ambitions...I don't feel like talking about those right now. Right, so who's next?"

"Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" Naruto said, waving his arms in the air just in case Kakashi didn't hear him. "I like ramen and eating ramen and then eating more ramen. I dislike how long it takes to cook ramen and bullies self-centered jerks who think they're better than everyone else. And my ambition is that when I grow up, I'm going to be Hokage!"

"That's great, kid," Kakashi said. "Who's next?"

"I'll go," Yugo said. "I like cooking, helping my dad out at the inn, people, meeting new people, making new friends, going to new places, and learning new skills. I dislike...huh. Well, I don't like funerals, but who does? And for ambitions, I'm going to travel all over the world and go everywhere!"

"Also realistic," Kakashi said. "Hinata, you're up next."

"Um, I like..." She glanced at Naruto and ducked her chin under the forehead protector she wore around her neck. "I like pressing flowers and making healing ointments. I dislike people who are cruel for no reason. My ambition is to train and become stronger to prove myself to my clan, my father, and..." She opened her mouth to speak more, but no sound came out. "And that's all."

"Well, that was fun," Kakashi said brightly. "I feel like I got to know you all a lot better." All of their dreams were impossible, but that was okay. They were young, and they had their whole lives to become jaded and cynical. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"What?" Naruto demanded. "Aren't you going to train us?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I haven't decided yet."

Yugo looked up. "So you can decide not to?"

"Of course. Your chunin instructors said you all earned the rank of genin, but I don't have much trust in their evaluations, so I'm going to make my own. If you pass, you'll be my students, and if you don't, you'll be theirs again."

"What?" Naruto said. "Oh, heck no! I've worked way too hard to get through the academy to get sent back!"

"If that's true, then you should have no problem. No genin worthy of the rank would fail my test. But the last two groups they sent me were really pathetic, I mean the whole thing was just sad. But you guys, well, one of you might pass. Heck, maybe even two of you will."

"Or three of us?" Hinata asked hopefully.

"No," Kakashi said. "One of you will fail. Two of you might pass."

"What?" Naruto demanded. "That's not fair!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Neither am I. Be at training ground...oh, let's go with number fifteen at five in the morning. If you don't skip breakfast, you'll throw up, and if you're not prepared for anything, you'll fail. But don't stress out about it. Ah, who am I kidding? Stress out all you want. It won't help."

They looked up at him, all grimly credulous. Was he ever that gullible? He didn't think so, but his sensei was a lot more trustworthy than he was.

"Well, see you tomorrow."

WWW

If he was going to skip breakfast the next morning, Naruto was going to eat an extra big dinner to make up for it. "Another bowl, Mr. Teuchi!"

Teuchi, owner and head chef of the world famous Ichiraku Ramen shop, refilled his bowl with steaming hot deliciousness. "So, what's the occasion? Your first day as a genin was that good?"

"No, but tomorrow's going to be intense!" He slurped up a mouthful of ramen. Oh, that's good stuff. It wasn't just the taste, or the temperature, or the texture, but it was everything put together that made ramen perfect. "Tomorrow, my new sensei's going to take us on a survival mission, and whoever fails gets sent back to the academy!"

"That does sound intense. Well, if you pass, be sure to drop by here tomorrow to celebrate."

"You bet I will!"

"And if you fail, you're always welcome to drown your sorrows in broth and noodles."

"Oh, that sounds good." Naruto finished off his bowl. "One more!"

He couldn't afford to fail tomorrow. He didn't have anything against his teammates–he didn't know either of them that well, but Hinata was never mean to him, and Yugo had sometimes even laughed at his pranks before someone else shushed the kid to stop Yugo from "encouraging him"–but he'd need to be stronger than either of them. Iruka-sensei made him a genin, and he wasn't going to let anyone take that away from him. No matter what.

WWW

The dinner rush at the Crunchy Gobball came and went, and Yugo helped his dad clean up the kitchen. "So," Alibert said. "What do you think of your new team?"

"There are two kids from the academy and a jounin in charge of us. The girl, Hinata, seems nice, but never says much. The boy, Naruto, you know how someone painted word bubbles on the Hokage Monument a while ago?"

Alibert smiled. "Yeah?" One morning, the ancient leaders of Konoha had seemed to be spouting sage sayings, like, "The meaning to life is cheese!" and, "Smile if you're not wearing undies!" Some of Naruto's pranks were funny, others were obscene, and the rest were both.

"Well, that was him."

"Just one kid?"

"Yep."

"Impressive, impressive. And the jounin? Did he have white hair and a mask?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"He came by earlier asking about you."

"I don't know what to make of him. He already decided to fail one of us and send us back to the academy."

"Really?" Alibert frowned.

"Yeah, and I'm sure I'll do fine, but I don't want either of the other two to fail." He grinned slowly. "Hey, maybe all three of us will pass, and we'll send him back to the academy!"

WWW

Hinata prepared what to say if her father asked her how her day went. She had no idea what to say if she got sent back to the academy, and deep inside, she knew she would.

The day before, she told her father that she had graduated from the academy. She had hoped that he would be impressed, or glad, or at least relieved that she hadn't embarrassed the clan.

Instead, he had asked her one question. "And?"

"That is all."

"Ah."

And she was dismissed. As a Hyuuga, she was expected to excel, not just pass. Anything less was an embarrassment to the clan. Even the possibility of failure was out of the question.

And yet for her, it was all too familiar. Tomorrow, she would rise, she would fight, and she would fail, but knowing that, she would fight anyway. And that alone was worth something.

Wasn't it?

As she retired to bed, she thought back to the ambition that she had shared with her teammates, as temporary as they might be, and the words she had not shared.

To train and become stronger to prove myself to my clan, my father...

And to myself.

WWW

A/n I know this chapter is pretty short, but the next part with the bell test is pretty long and this seemed like the best place to break in a chapter. I'm almost done editing chapter three, so expect it shortly, and thanks for reading!