"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion and desire." –Aristotle
02: Chance
Tenten placed most of her weight on her hands upon the long seat and swung her legs back and forth under the desk. Staring out the window at the shadow-dappled courtyard, she could barely contain her smile. After years of studying and training, some within this very room in the Academy, she'd finally graduated yesterday. Today marked her first full day as a kunoichi; the day when she would be assigned to a cell of two other students and a jounin and begin doing missions. She resisted the urge to hum triumphantly as she cast her gaze around the room, finally letting it settle upon her new friend, Hyuuga Neji, sitting beside her with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.
"Hey, do you think we'll be on the same team?"
Without even opening his eyes, Neji simply snorted through his nose. "If we're fated to be."
"Someday you're going to have to explain your 'destiny' fascination to me," she responded, allowing her grin to break free even though he couldn't see it. He was an odd one, this Hyuuga Neji, but he was surprisingly nice for being a genius... well, nice if one managed to ignore his biting sarcasm, his presumptuous vocabulary, and his superiority complex. Other than that, he wasn't that unapproachable; he'd even paid for her meal last night as an apology for stalking her to find out her name.
"Hmph." Opening one eye, he somehow managed to simultaneously be incredulous and insufferable. "We are all born to the same fate, though–"
Two sharp raps on the chalkboard interrupted his explanation as Umino Iruka-sensei lifted a notebook from his desk in the front of the room. Satisfied that he'd gained everyone's attention, Iruka flipped the notebook open with one hand and held it before his face. "Your team assignments are as follows," he said without preamble. "Team One: Ukita Shiro, Nagato Yuukie, and Kanda Takashi. Team Two: Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Tenten."
She turned to him with a smile and whispered, "What d'ya know? It must be fate."
A/N: I've never been a big fan of the drabble-format, but... though short, I think this got my point across.