What a nightmare:

"Me first!" A bigger kid tried to pull himself up onto the stage, but a tall, lanky boy grabbed him and pulled himself up, using the boy as a platform. That was all Marin caught sight of before the whole room burst into action, everyone trying to get their first look at the list. People pushed, shoved, got into little scraps, and yelled words at each other that she was pretty sure 12 to 13 year olds shouldn't be saying. It was all she could do to stay on her feet, with all of the people pushing and bumping into her…

Oh no… If they bumped into her too much they might set off her ability! She needed to get out of here! "You're a danger right now, right?" She heard a voice right behind her ear. It was calm; way too calm for all of the bustle around them… and it was also familiar. "y-yes!"

"I have already seen the list. I can help you get out of here." With much effort, she turned to see who the voice belonged to, and was taken aback by the proximity of a demonic mask. It was that Kebi kid from class; the one who never really spoke, and always wore that mask.

"O-okay." Without a word the masked ninja grabbed her hand, which made her cheeks feel warm for some reason, and started pulling her through the crowd, weaving through with expert precision. Before they knew it they were at the back of the room, which was empty, as everyone was pushing forward.

He dropped her hand, and walked over to the wall, leaning against it in complete silence. He seemed pensive. "Thank you… er... Kebimaru, right?"

"Don't worry about it. You might have accidently hurt someone, so I was merely doing my duty." She nodded slowly… He was so mature. So… cool. She'd never really thought of it before. She wondered what he looked like under the mask.

"Oh, and about the list…" She listened intently to him as he spoke; did he see what team she was on? "You aren't on it." A sinking feeling was set upon her. It was like her stomach was falling into her feet. Not on the list? Did that mean… oh god… maybe she hadn't really passed after all! Her mom had been so proud of her when she told her… It made her want to… cry…

Hmm. It seemed she was going to cry about it. Little girls were so melodramatic. He ignored her and went back to his thoughts… It was true, the girl wasn't on the list, but the odd thing was that he wasn't on the list either. He wondered why. He had been the first to see the list, having started moving silently as soon as the teacher mentioned where he was going to post it, and had quickly memorized as much of it as he could.

From what he recalled, he, and two other of the shinobi of his class where not on the scroll. He wasn't worried, though… There was no way they would neglect to put him in a team; he had the highest marks in his class. He was somewhat worried, though, about the other two shinobi that had been left out. There was the girl, who had an interesting blood line and some workable talent in taijutsu, but from all he had seen of her, she was a bit of a screw-up, and then… him.

"Outa my way!" He yelled as he kicked a kid in the back of the knee to buckle it, and then climbed over him to move further. He shoved one kid to the side, and then squeezed in between two fat boys. There it was! The list! He pushed further, and then grabbed the kid in front by the back of the shirt, yanking him away, and taking his place.

A big grin came to his face as he eyed the scroll, looking up and down at the names on it. The smile faded as he read through the list, and didn't see his name. He checked again; it had to be some sort of mistake. It wasn't there. He read through again, and again, and again before he felt a hand pulling at him. He did his best to stay in position, his eyes plastered into the slip of paper. The next thing he knew he was cast off into the crowd… He let himself go, limping all of his muscles as the crowd pushed him back on its own. What the hell? Why wasn't he on the list? Did they forget him? He'd done just fine on the assessment. Was there something wrong with him?

He found himself ejected out the back of the crowd, and stumbled, falling onto his bottom, and just sitting there ,staring at the ground.

The room emptied out, kids chattering excitedly about their teams, and meeting their new team mates on the way out. Kobu just sat there. He heard an excited squeal, and then looked up to see Nari, Kari, and Pari gathered around the list, all jumping up and down.

"He picked me!"

"And me!"

"and me too!"

"Sister hug!"

Ugh… it made him sick… He was a better ninja than all three of them, and yet… from what he could tell… The most famous shinobi in the village had just picked… them. Who ever heard of an all girl team, anyways? This was bullshit. Complete and utter bull-

"Seisho, Koburan?"

His eyes darted up to see Roku sensei standing in front of him. "Yeh?"

"I apologize for the inconvenience, youngin; you were not on the team list, but you have been assigned to a team. The teacher was uncertain until just last night, and the list could not be changed in time. It seems they have pulled a teacher out of retirement to train you. Your other team mates have been informed." The older man fished out a slip of paper. "On this is the time and location of your meeting. Don't be late, kid, or I'll be seeing you in the academy next year."

So… He was on a team? Hah! He hadn't been forgotten after al-wait… they pulled his new sensei out of retirement? So… it was going to be some old fogey! An image of an old man with a walking stick complaining about an aching back while trying to teach them to run up walls popped into his head… Oh god… What a nightmare.