Thank you to all my reviewers! Can you please tell me if I got a detail wrong? I couldn't really remember exactly how graduation went at the academy.
'thinking'
"speaking"
flashback
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 3
Zumi got up with the sun and dressed for the day. She grabbed a few of the essential ninja tools and put them in her pack. She also put on her headband on her thigh as before. She had to be prepared today because it wasn't over. She would learn who her new team was today at the explanatory meeting.
She stole out of the house, opting to skip out on breakfast if it meant no confrontations with her mother and sister. They were bad-tempered in the morning. It would be better if she didn't wake them up.
She made it to the academy without incident and sat in her seat in the classroom for the explanatory meeting. A few girls came in, and instead of sitting down, they clustered around Sakura's desk in the front and squealed to each other about who was going to be on Sasuke's team. They were talking very animatedly, and Zumi immediately turned to face the window. She could never have friends like that, she knew. She would never be allowed to go to anyone else's house and certainly no one could ever come to hers.
Just then, shy Hinata came up to her desk and twiddled her fingers a bit before speaking.
"Zumi-san, who do you hope you'll be on a team with? I hope I'm with Naruto-kun! I heard he passed last night after something happened with that weird teacher who teaches the younger kids? Apparently he can do shadow clones!"
Her small face glowed with simple happiness for someone else.
Zumi was suddenly angry. This little, shy, fragile, girl could afford to be happy for someone. She could look up to someone without fearing disappointment. She was protected. Why couldn't she see that she shouldn't rest her hopes on someone else?
"No. I do not hope for anything. Just go away will you? You're making me sick."
Zumi said it quite meanly and Hinata's face fell. She quickly apologized and scurried off. Zumi, instead of feeling better, now really felt sick. She hated herself. She put her head down on her desk to hide the sudden tears in her eyes.
Now finally, Iruka came in. Though he was not sobbing at the moment, his eyes were red-rimmed and he kept blowing his nose.
"There will be four teams. I will split you all up based on who will work best together. There will be two boys and a girl on each team."
He stated this through clenched teeth with the air of a memorized statement. Then, he began to simply call out names.
"Team 6. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji.
Team 7. Uzimaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke.
Team 8. Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba.
Team 9. Akisashi Seiji, Haruseki Zumi, Maziki Sota.
Zumi looked over to her new teammates in surprise at the same time as they did. She had never really noticed either of them. Seiji was inclined to sit quietly in the back and Sota always looked like he was half asleep.
She now noted that Seiji had light grey eyes and although not what was usually considered handsome, he was very nice looking. He was dressed in a traditional navy yukata. No one else was wearing traditional clothes of any sort. He sat up perfectly straight.
To Zumi's eyes, Sota looked, well, pretty stupid, just sitting there with a bored and staring off into space. He had a dreamer's hazel eyes and very tanned skin. Plain brown hair left long pooled around his shoulders. He was wearing grey shorts, nothing special, and a plain lime green t-shirt. She wondered if he had even heard a word Iruka had said.
Her question was answered by his sudden rapid blinking. He then turned away again and fell back into a stupor. Seiji just nodded at her and looked away.
'Just great.'
Her thoughts were not sarcastic at all. She preferred people who didn't talk much and left her alone. She tuned back in for the names of their new sensei.
"And Tsuruoka Michiko will be leading Team 9. That is all for today, everyone is dismissed to their training ground for today. The list is on the board."
Sure enough, Zumi could see a short list taped to the blackboard behind Iruka. When everyone else stood up, she stayed seated. She would wait until everyone else had left. No sense in rushing anything.
When the only person left in the room was a napping Shikamaru, she got up to check the slip of paper. Her team was at training grounds number 19. She then turned and walked out of the room without looking back. Never again would Zumi sit at her desk in that room.