Chapter 4: Meet Team 14

Shikamaru casually and slowly walked on the road toward the training grounds. He was still sleepy, so he yawned a lot during the short trip.

"I wonder who will be part of my Team 14?" he wondered, as he sighed at the possibilities of the possible troublesome kids he might end up with. Eventually, he reached his destination.

"Oh my God, you guys should talk more, so once that we are on a super, dangerous, exciting mission, we can communicate a lot smoother and trust each other better. Because right now, I'm not sure if I'm fine with you two guarding my behind, but that can easily change if you're willing to talk more. And did you know that being social, like me, help prevents you from getting certain lethal diseases? I mean, just look at me, I'm healthy and fine because of it. Did you also know….." spoke loudly by a girl's voice.

Shikamaru immediately sighed again once he heard the voice. He knew it was a loud-mouthed girl in his class by the name of Tsuzuku (the girl he met at the food market). He almost wanted to turn around and go home than deal with her again.

"Duty calls…," he convinced himself.

Shikamaru appeared before his three new disciples. The first person who he noticed was, of course, Tsuzuku. She immediately greeted him with joy.

He also noticed a white-haired boy that resembled a lot like Kakashi without the mask, Sharingan, or the headband over the left eye. "Must be his kid…," thought Shikamaru.

Then there was another guy. He looked pretty average without any standing out features. He was just a black-haired, brown-eyed, average kid.

"It is so great having you as our jounin. I thought it would be some stuck-up and extremely mean guy, you know? But luckily for us, it wasn't! This remind of this one time…," Tsuzuku began.

Shikamaru nodded his head and cut in, so this can be quick. "Go ahead and stand in line," he ordered.

Kakashi's son immediately stood up straight, while the others lined up beside him.

"Okay, the only person I know here is Anamorou Tsuzuku. You other two, introduce yourself!"

Kakashi's kid pointed at himself. Shikamaru nodded, so he began to introduce himself. "I'm Hatake Xin. Um…, what else do I have to say?"

"How about your goals?"

"I don't really have any goals yet? Uh, I'm just following this ninja career to make my dad proud…"

"I guess you can say that's your goal then, right?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess so…," Xin replied.

"I see that the son of Konoha's number one ninja isn't very confident of himself. Hopefully, he'll learn to believe in his own abilities…"

Shikamaru pointed at the next kid to tell him to start.

"The name's Ukitate Yin. And my goal is to serve Konoha to the best of my ability!"

"A borned soldier, I see…," thought Shikamaru.

Then Tsuzuku started jumping up and down to get noticed. Shikamaru sighed and waved his hand to signal her to go on ahead with her introduction.

"My name is Anamorou Tzuzuku, like Shikamaru-sensei mentioned. I' am an Aquarius, and today, my horoscope said that I will face something that will be very surprising. Now, that is part true with my former academy teacher being my jounin-sensei and all, but it is nothing over-the-top, off-the-wall, heart-attack surprise I was expecting, you know? Like 100 ninjas ambushing me at the training grounds or...," she told before Shikamaru felt the need to stop her.

"Uh, before anything else, how about stating your goals?"

"Oh okay. My goal is to be the best damn shinobi there is and there ever will be. But probably not all the way to the point where I'm given the title of Hokage, because I heard that job isn't as glorious as it is made out to be. It seems very boring, sitting there and doing office work all day. I want to have an action 24/7 action lifestyle, so my skills won't rust..." Shikamaru immediately interrupted the very talkative girl again.

"Meeting adjourned!"

"Already, you just came." she wondered.

"Yep..., later," he replied as he walked away.

"When's the next time we meet, sir?" asked Yin. Shikamaru stopped and remember he had to test them tomorrow.

"Prepare and come here tomorrow, same time, for a training test," he told them.

"A test? But I thought all those tests were over with in academy school," said Xin in a very concerned voice.

"You'll have to deal with tests all your life. Tests of loyalty, tests of strength, tests of weaknesses, tests of the life that comes with being a shinobi... Better learn to face them head-on or you'll be suffering a lot down the road," Shikamaru advised.

He just left them there, while the three new genins stood there, and not really sure what they should expect or prepare for.

Tsuzuku patted Xin on the shoulder and spoke to him. "Don't worry, whatever happens, we'll face it as a team and win!"

"Unless he plans on giving us separate tests...," joined in Yin.

"Being negative doesn't help anything, you know?" she argued.

"But being too positive leave you open for disappointment," he replied coolly. Xin just got more depressed.

"Don't listen to him, Xin. We'll win for sure," she attempted to cheer him up.

"Well I just want to tell you guys that I won't allow myself to fail this test. If this test is given to us as a team, and you guys aren't capable to do what's necessary to pass, don't butt in..."

With those last words, he walked away. Tsuzuku stuck her tongue out at him, while Xin just stared at the ground, feeling more down than before.

"I guess if it is a team test, I'll try not to screw it up for everybody."