Aki 05.
At exactly 5 am, the group of freshly made Genin clustered together, each coming from a different direction.
The orange morning sun was barely poking up over the horizon, easily winning it's battle with the previously dominant nightfall.
Naruto yawned loudly, stretching his arms up to the sky.
"Where are they?" Ritsu asked groggily as he rubbed the sleepies out his eyes.
"They said to be here by 5," Sakura began, yawning lightly "If anything they should've been here by now."
"Maybe they're just busy?" Fuyu suggested quietly.
"At 5 in the morning?" Naruto asked, wavering in his battle to stay awake.
"Why don't we all just be patient?" Sasuke suggested, looking off in the direction he came from. "I'm sure they'll be here soon."
:-:-:
"6:25." Soma read once he looked down at his watch for the 100th time.
Naruto sighed angrily. "They made this huge deal about us not being here on time, then they don't show up on time! On top of that, I didn't have breakfast." he whined, clutching his stomach tightly.
Much to their dislike, everyone else followed suit, remembering they didn't have the blessing of eating breakfast this morning either.
This is wasting my time. Sasuke thought to himself as he clenched his fists together firmly.
"Gooood morning." a familiar voice greeted from behind the group of six.
In a matter of seconds, they all turned around with a scolding look on their face, ready to let their sensei have an ear full of it.
Golden rays reflected off of brown hair, with forest green eyes gazing down at the Genin with a more than noticeable smirk.
"You're late!" Sakura, Naruto and Ritsu exclaimed, pointing at Nagare sensei with an accusing finger.
He rose his hands up innocently. "I had a few things to take care of. But I'm not the one you all should be worried about, Kakashi probably won't be here till noon." he replied smugly.
"NOON?" all six repeated.
Tsk. How was I grouped with such an idiot of a sensei? "Then why did he tell us to be here by 5?" Sasuke asked, slightly irritated.
"A shinobi must follow instructions, whether or not the commander does the same. All in all, that was your first test. And you all passed!"
"So, sensei." Fuyu began, gaining Nagare's attention "does that mean we have to wait till noon to begin the exercise?"
"Yeah! I don't want to wait for that dead weight of a sensei! We should just begin now!" Ritsu added.
Nagare chuckled lightly. "Too bad, we're going to have to. It wouldn't be fair to have all 6 of you come at me."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked from behind Naruto and Sasuke. "Why would we be coming at you?"
Nagare shrugged his shoulders. "I've already said to much. If I said anymore I'd have to…kill you." he answered seriously.
Their eyes widened slightly at their Sensei's claim.
"Not to worry though!" Nagare began, laughing lightly. "I won't tell you. Therefore I don't have to kill you." he finished, looking off in a random direction.
Ritsu groaned loudly. "Forget this then, I'm going to sleep!"
"Same here, it's too early in the morning to be dealing with this." Naruto agreed, taking a seat on his pack.
"Probably a good idea. You'll need the energy." Nagare responded quietly.
Soma sighed almost silently. "This is turning out to be a true pain isn't it."
Fuyu smiled lightly. "I'm guessing there'll be a lot of those along the way Soma."
"What do you think the exercise will be?" Sakura asked out of the blue.
Soma and Fuyu shrugged their shoulders in response.
"Kakashi said it would be a test of survival. So I'm thinking it'll be a challenge." Sasuke answered confidently. "Not that I have a problem with that."
"I don't think anything would be a problem for you, Sasuke." Sakura responded bashfully.
Fuyu pouted slightly, jealousy slowly building up in her otherwise kind heart.
Sasuke simply ignored Saukra, and remained on high alert for Kakashi. He shouldn't be too far away since Nagare is already here. He reasoned to himself.
:-:-:
6:25 slowly changed to 6:40, which then changed to 7:30, then to 9:10, then slowly again to 11:40, leaving the Genin both restless and upset.
"12:29." Soma read aloud as he stared up at the sky. "Nagare Sensei, is Kakashi sensei always this late?"
Nagare chuckled nervously. "I guess you could say that. It wouldn't hurt to get used to it."
Sasuke sighed angrily. "This is ridiculous-"
"Good Afternoon!" a chirpy voice greeted "I'm sorry for being so late."
Naruto immediately perked up, "Screw that! You're over 7 hours late Kakashi sensei!"
"I got lost on the road of life." he claimed, raising his hands up lazily "Anyways, let's go ahead and begin the exercise shall we?"
Everyone groggily followed Kakashi and Nagare sensei to a clearing in the surrounding forest.
Fuyu looked around her, taking in everything she could, wanting to be as familiar of her surroundings as possible. 6 wooden posts lined up in a row, a timer set on one of them, and 4 lunches on the ground near another.
She absentmindedly cocked her head slightly to the right in confusion. Only 4 lunches?
"Fuyu." Nagare called, gaining her attention almost instantly. "What are you trying to figure out?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Nothing get's past you, does it?
She looked back over to the lunches before looking back at her sensei. "There's only 4 lunches, but there's six of us." she responded, still confused.
"Exactly." Kakashi said "That's the exercise."
"Figure out why there's only 4 lunches?" Ritsu scoffed.
"No…Try to take these away from either of us," he paused, pulling out 4 bells "the two who aren't able to take one from us, will watch the other 4 eat their lunches happily." he added, handing Nagare 2 of the bells.
So that's why they didn't want us to eat breakfast…The 6 Genin thought to themselves sadly.
"You have a time limit of 30 minutes. Whoever doesn't get a bell automatically fails and goes back to the academy as students once again." Nagare further explained
Everyone's eyes slightly widened.
I don't have time to go back to the academy. Sasuke thought to himself panicked. I have to get a bell, no matter what.
If I get sent back to the academy…I'll be separated from Sasuke! Sakura yelled mentally. That can't happen!
Pssh, this'll be a piece of cake. Ritsu thought to himself, crossing his arms across his chest confidently.
Fuyu clenched her right fist tightly. "Just as long as you try your best Fuyu, I'll always be proud of you." I swear I'll make you proud mama.
"Whatever challenge you get Soma, take it head on!" A light smile formed on Soma's lips as his brother's words rang through his mind, giving him extra motivation towards the excerise.
"The academy?" Naruto yelled "You have any idea how long it took me to pass the Genin exam? Why would we have to go back to the academy if we just went through all that trouble."
Kakashi looked over at Nagare, who gave him an indifferent look.
I'm not going to tell him Kakashi. He is your student after all.
"Well. How do I put this?" Kakashi began, putting a hand behind his neck "You're not exactly Genin yet. I decide if you become Genin or not. But don't worry Naruto, even someone like you will get this exam." Hopefully.
Naruto pouted sadly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Alright, since everyone understands the rules, let's begin! Remember, this is a contest. You may just have to go against your teammate. You'll also have to come at us with the intention to kill, otherwise there's no way you'll get these bells."
Each Genin nodded their head confidently, waiting for the final word for them to begin.
I hope it won't come down to go against anyone though. Fuyu thought to herself. Especially Sasuke.
Nagare rose his hand above the timer. "Everyone ready?" he asked, looking at each of the Genin in their eyes. "…Begin!" he yelled, hitting the timer simultaneously.
Almost instantly, each of the 6 scattered into different directions.
Nagare and Kakashi looked around them, looking for any sign of the Genin.
"Shinobi must know how to conceal their presence." Kakashi began, still looking around him. "Looks like you each understand that much."
Nagare chuckled in agreement, before looking over to his right only to spot: "Naruto?" he asked confused "When I said begin…you were supposed to hide. Or at least try to…"
"Both of you! Against me, right here, fair and square!" he challenged cockily.
Tsk. Sasuke thought to himself.
Oh, what an idiot! There's no way he can take them on by himself. Sakura thought to herself.
"What is he doing?" Fuyu whispered to herself, crouching under shrubbery quietly.
"Naruto? Just being an idiot as usual." Soma answered beside her.
"Soma!" she yelled/whispered "How did you know I was here?"
He shrugged his shoulders looking back out at Naruto, Kakashi and Nagare. "You didn't really hide all that well."
And here I was, thinking that I did. Fuyu thought to herself sadly.
"I think it would be best if we worked together." he suggested quietly, a light blush creeping over his face.
"But Sensei said-"
"I know what he said. But it would make a lot more sense to do this as a team, one Genin against two Jonin isn't exactly logical."
Fuyu thought about what he just said for a moment. "That makes sense." she whispered, looking back at her two sensei's, Naruto and: "Ritsu is out there too?"
"I couldn't let you hog all the spot light Naruto!" he yelled to the blond "Let's see who can get a bell first!" he suggested, charging at Nagare.
"You're on!" Naruto responded, charging at Kakashi.
Those two are definitely going to be the ones not to get lunch. Everyone thought to themselves.
"There's Sasuke." Soma whispered, pointing at a dark figure in a tree not too far off. "I was going to ask him first, but I had a feeling he wouldn't agree to it. He really isn't an approachable person."
Fuyu looked over at Soma. "He has his reasons, Soma. You would act exactly like that if you knew what his circumstances were."
"I'm sorry." Soma whispered sincerely "Let's go over there and ask him anyways." he added, getting up from his crouching position before sprinting under the protection of the dense forestation with Fuyu shortly following suit.
Everyone knows what his circumstances are, Fuyu. Soma thought to himself. It doesn't give him the right to treat everyone else like he does though.
Fuyu looked over to where Sasuke was hiding, almost immediately locking onto the gaze of onyx eyes.
What are you two planning on doing, Fuyu? Sasuke asked himself, carefully watching their every move. I hope you don't plan on going against me? He added, slightly hurt.
He tightened his grip on a kunai he was holding, increasing his guard by ten fold. if that's what you're planning on doing, don't expect it to be easy, or even possible.
I would think you'd be the last person to ever go against me, especially after all we've already been through together.
Fuyu looked back ahead of her at the backside of Soma, both using their training to stealthily approach Sasuke. Working as a team is the only choice we have other than going against each other. We both know, that's not a choice for either one of us with out a valid reason.
:-:-:
First sparing session. A young Fuyu thought to herself happily. I'm so excited.
"Aren't you excited Sasuke?" she asked her friend beside her.
Sasuke quietly looked over at his closest friend before smiling lightly. "I am, Fuyu."
Fuyu simply responded with a bright smile, before bringing her attention back to her sensei.
"Alright class, I'm sure all of you are ready for your first sparing session." Iruka began, looking down at the round faces of his students. "Who'll like to go first?"
Naruto eagerly rose his hand, waving it frantically as if Iruka couldn't see him.
"Sasuke." Iruka chose "You and…"
"Me! Me! Sensei!" Naruto called frantically. I want to be the one to go against Sasuke. I want to prove to people that I'm just as strong-
"Fuyu!" he finally decided.
Fuyu's golden brown eyes looked up at Iruka worriedly. "Maybe Naruto should go." she suggested quietly, before looking over at Sasuke. I don't want to go against you Sasuke.
"It's all right Fuyu, everyone else will be with another sensei. It's just going to be you, me and Sasuke." Iruka reassured, smiling lightly.
She sadly looked down at the dry ground below her, nodding her head sadly.
"Alright! The rest of you go with Mizuki Sensei for the time being."
"Fuyu!" Ino called, surrounded by a group of girls her same age "If you hurt Sasuke in any way, you'll have to deal with us!" she warned, before being shooed to the other sensei.
Finally after the last student filed out towards Mizuki Sensei, Fuyu hurried over to Iruka.
"Iruka Sensei." she called gaining his attention.
He happily crouched to her level, having previously towered over her. "What is it, Fuyu?"
"Please don't make me go against Sasuke." she requested quietly.
Iruka smiled sadly. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise-"
"That's not what I'm worried about. I just don't want to go against him." she explained, looking down at her hands. "He's…my best friend."
Iruka looked back at Sasuke over his shoulder, who was eagerly trying to decipher the words that were coming out of Fuyu's mouth. I guess what her parents said was right after all. he thought to himself, looking back over at Fuyu.
"Now Fuyu, there will be many times where you'll be faced with a situation like this once you become a shinobi. It's better to practice dealing with it now-"
"I don't want to deal with it now!" she interrupted "If that time ever comes, then I'll deal with it then. I refuse to fight Sasuke. And you can't make me." she added firmly, looking Iruka straight in the eyes.
"Fuyu…" Iruka breathed out, surprised at the sudden stance she took. "Why not?"
""Unless you're saving your friend, there shouldn't be any reasons to why you should fight with them." that's what my papa once told me, and that's why I won't fight Sasuke. I'm more than willing to go against someone else…just not Sasuke."
Iruka sighed quietly. "Alright Fuyu." he finally said. "but I'm going to have to talk to your parents about this."
Fuyu smiled sadly, before bowing respectfully. "Thank you, Iruka sensei." she said sincerely before heading off towards Mizuki Sensei and the rest of the class.
Before she passed him though, she went over to Sasuke and gave him a light hug. "Good luck on your first spar Sasuke." she bided before hurrying off.
Sasuke smiled lightly. I guess we won't be going against each other Fuyu…ever.
Thank you so much for reading! Every read that my story gets means a lot to me. :)
Please leave a review/comment about what you think about this chapter, and what I can/should work on. I'd really appreciate it!
-EZ