"Only twenty minutes left, then we find out."
"Don't say that so negatively, Tenten. There's no way you could fail!"
Tenten and Allia sat quietly on a bench, each chewing thoughtfully on the contents of their respective bento lunch boxes. Forty minutes into the lunch hour, the two awaited the announcement of the Graduation results.
"You'll get to meet your Jonin leader later, won't you?" Allia asked. She looked down at her lunchbox sadly, and put down her chopsticks. "It'll be weird without you around. Too quiet."
"I'm sure you'll have done fine too, Allia." Tenten replied through a mouthful of rice "Have some faith in yourself."
"I can't have passed. Like Lee, none of my jutsus succeeded when I was being tested."
Tenten swallowed her food. "Speaking of Lee, I didn't see him come out for lunch. He was the last one to be tested, wasn't he? We would've seen him…"
"I saw him leave the classroom, and he didn't look good. Should we look for him? He'll be in trouble if he skips class this afternoon."
"We? Probably better if you look for him. It'd probably be easier for him since you're both…you know…" Tenten trailed off awkwardly.
"It's fine. I don't mind. I know what you're about to say, and it's true, so you don't need to feel bad saying it." Allia replied. "But I understand what you mean. I think I know where he might be, as a matter of fact…"
She slotted her chopsticks back into their holder in her bento box and closed the lid. "I'll go and take a look, and if he's not there, I'll come back," said Allia as she put the bento box into her bag, "I'll try and get back before the end of lunch break though."
X
Allia's guess turned out to be right. Sure enough, Lee was sat on a bench at the far end of the running track, but unexpectedly, their teacher was there also. She was mildly surprised to see that Lee did not look as dejected as she thought he would be. Izumo looked up when he saw Allia approaching.
"What a surprise, Allia. I was just going to look for you myself. I need to have a word with you both before the groups are announced." He stood up, and, indicating the place he'd been sat moments before, he said, "Please have a seat for a moment."
She sat down compliantly, feeling slightly bewildered.
"As you both know, the Graduation exam results will be announced in a little over fifteen minutes from now," Izumo began, "To put it bluntly, neither of you would've passed under normal circumstances. This time around, a particular Jonin requested that we make an exception for both of you; to pass you two on your Taijutsu merit alone…as a means of testing the reliability of the exam itself."
He paused, waiting for a reaction. When he received none, he continued.
"You may or may not be aware that the Graduation exam is only a preliminary test to determine which candidates have the potential to become ninjas. The Jonin squad leaders also perform their own test, known as the Genin Certification Exam, to decide whether their students can remain at Genin rank, or be sent back to the Academy." Izumo decided inwardly that it wouldn't be wise to mention that Jonins could also have students dropped from the program if they failed. "It was agreed that you both will be allowed to progress to that test, and if you pass it, you can both stay as Genin, and be eligible for missions with your squad."
When he still didn't receive a reaction, he turned to leave, before adding "It's probably best if you don't mention this to anyone yet. I did promise that I wouldn't tell anyone whether they'd passed or failed before the start of afternoon lessons. I expect you both on time, alright?"
"…We did hear that right, didn't we, Lee?" Allia asked shakily after Izumo had left. "He did just tell us that we passed…right?"
"I think…he did."
X
The classroom was deadly quiet. Each student was sat perfectly still, their eyes trained on the table at the front bearing row upon row of gleaming Leaf headbands, each individually folded into a neat rectangle. The door slid open, and Izumo walked in, register in hand.
"I'll be announcing the Genin squads now, so please remain quiet. When I call your name, please make your way to the front, where I will issue you your Leaf headband. Once you have received it, please return to your seat, and wait until your Jonin instructor arrives." He opened the register, and found his page.
"Squad one…"
Tenten looked sideways at Allia, with sympathy in her eyes, but was surprised to see that the look of defeat that had been there less than half an hour ago had been replaced with a far happier expression.
"Allia…? Something good happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just remembered what we're having for dinner tonight." Allia whispered gleefully.
"Must be pretty good…" Tenten trailed off suspiciously. She observed the orderly queue of students at the front with adrenaline surging through her veins, listening to the names called out, but not really hearing them. In the anxious silence of the classroom, she was surprised that no one could hear the thudding of her pulse, given how loud it seemed in her own ears.
"Squad Ten. Neji Hyuuga…Tenten…"
Tenten scrambled to her feet, shaking in relief. I passed! She thought in giddy delight. As she joined the queue, she did a double take when she heard the names of her other squad members.
"Rock Lee, and Allia Sugiyama."
So that's what you were so happy about! Tenten mouthed in mock outrage, as Allia joined the queue behind her.
"Excuse me, Sensei?" A hand waved in the air.
"You have a question, Megumi?" Izumo replied, looking up from the register.
"I don't mean to be rude, but I thought we were supposed to be in groups of three, with the squad leader as the fourth member."
"Normally, you'd be right, but we don't have any Jonin rank hybrids to teach hybrid Genins. The rules are that we put any hybrids students under the command of the Jonin best suited to teach them. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, Sensei."
Allia reached the front, and Izumo passed her a red Leaf headband. As she returned to her seat, Lee too was given a headband in the same colour. Everyone else had received a headband in either navy blue or black.
X
"Now that those formalities are out of the way, we can move on to the next step. Your Jonin squad leaders. Currently, they're waiting on the top floor of the Academy in the staff-room; so, if you'll excuse me, I'll tell them we're ready. Please stay quiet while you wait; some of them may arrive before I return, and you want to give them your best impressions, don't you?" Izumo slid the door open and walked out, closing it behind him.
The students listened to the sound of his footsteps echoing away in the outside corridor. But before they could no longer be heard, a second set of footsteps, much faster and heavier than Izumo's came thundering towards them. There was a dull thump, and a hastily shouted apology, with Izumo shouting "Would you please watch where you're going, Guy?", before the door was slid open again so violently that the walls shuddered.
A bright green and orange blur burst into the room, before skidding to a halt right in front of Izumo's desk.
"Good afternoon everybody! Life treatin' ya good!"
Every student sat in stunned silence. The man before them was clearly one of the Jonin squad leaders, but no one had anticipated such an abrupt and informal entrance by an equally eccentric looking individual. Guy stood in blissful ignorance of the disbelieving stares that came from the class before him.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he began, flashing a wide smile to the class, accompanied by a confident thumbs-up. "I'm Might Guy, and I'm here to escort the members of…" He flourished a slip of paper and consulted it dramatically, "…Squad Ten, to their futures as splendid shinobi!"
Allia looked across the room at Neji, now her teammate. He was known throughout the year group for being a controlled individual whose emotions could be determined only through subtle changes in his facial expressions (Allia, and many others, suspected that this was due to his upbringing in a clan with high social status). She could see that he was not impressed by their flamboyant squad leader, but as always, Neji contained his displeasure well. Tenten, however, didn't look so much displeased as disbelieving, like the majority of the other students.
"Well, what are you waiting for? The Springtime of Youth doesn't wait for those who hesitate!"
Neji stood up wordlessly, eyes closed in resignation. Tenten and Allia followed suit, although slightly more uncertainly, and Lee got to his feet too. As they filed out from their seats, Tenten was sure that she heard a well-stifled giggle from more than one of her classmates.