Story of 'Sai'jo Atsuki: No Longer Faceless

Chapter 2

Saijo Atsuki returned to his bedroom after taking a shower to wash off the sweat from his early morning run. He already had rice cooking on the stove a room and a half away, so he swiftly pulled on his boxers and grey pants that he would wear for the day before moving to get the rice before it burned. Atsuki took his rice to the small, wooden table in the center of the living room in his one bedroom apartment and began eating.

He took a moment to scan the area, looking for things that were out of place, not that there was much to see for anyone that did not know where to look. There was the kitchen, with all of the appliances one would expect to find in one and nothing more, save a single unwashed pan. There was the table Atsuki was eating at and an additional wooden chair across from him, in case he had a guest. There was another writing desk situated in the corner of the living room that looked so battered and worn that it could have been the veteran of some war. There were three doors: one to his room, one to the bathroom, and one leading outside. No lights were on as Atsuki figured that the sunlight streaming in form the windows provided more than enough illumination. There were also dozens of traps and secret compartments, but Atsuki only gave them a passing glance for now.

Yesterday was an odd day for sure. At Genin Orientation, this year's graduating students of Konoha's shinobi academy were divided into Genin squads consisting of three Genin and one Jounin sensei. Atsuki's classmate, and daresay friend, Tenten, a brunette that tended to wear her hair in buns and liked Chinese clothing, was sorted into Team 9 under Maito Gai, who was apparently the go-to guy for Taijutsu. Her teammates were Hyuuga Neji, the rookie of the Year, a meaningless title, who is an arrogant prick who is always going on about fate, and Rock Lee, the 'official' dead last, if only because he is unable to access his own chakra. Atsuki didn't know whether to feel bad for Tenten, or jealous of her. She will probably end up being the third wheel of the team, ending up only supporting Lee and Neji, but at least they are competent, unlike Team 7.

Team 7 is lead by Hatake Kakashi, who apparently has no respect for timetables as he did not bother to show up until three hours after all of the other teams had left. Of course, he could have been watching his would-be students the entire time just to see how they reacted to his tardiness. Atsuki spent the time drawing, and then later, as he ran out of space to draw, attempting to animate the drawings with chakra and failing miserably. His female teammate, Shiho, was a girl with long, frizzy, blonde hair and wore thick glasses with odd swirl patterns on the lenses. She has no aptitude for any of the physical aspects of the shinobi, but at least she knows that. She stated that she wants to someday be a part of the cryptology department. She spent the three hours reading, until she noticed Atsuki attempting to animate his artwork. She then brainstormed ideas to help him out with no success. Atsuki's male teammate, Shin, the 'true' dead last due his near failing grades despite not having a handicap like Lee, whose only defining feature was his oddly colored gray hair, grew very impatient, very quickly and expressed this very loudly for several minutes, and then he sulked at his terrible fortune. Just as he was about set up a prank for their tardy sensei, Atsuki suggested that Shin should go and bring them all some drinks from the teacher's lounge as it was not likely that there would be anyone there at the time.

`The three Genin had just finished off the drinks that Shin had acquired for them as the door to the classroom opened to reveal Hatake Kakashi, a very tall man dressed in an ordinary Jounin uniform of a flak jacket and jumpsuit. He also wore a matching blue facemask and had his hitai-ate tilted to conceal his left eye. This made his gray hair stand up at nearly gravity defying angles. He gave a glance at the three Genin and stated his opinion of them.

"My first impression of you three is that I don't like you very much. You didn't even get me a drink" he mock-sulked. Shin proceeded to face vault and blamed Atsuki for not telling him to get four drinks.

The black haired boy merely shrugged in response. Shiho chastised Shin by lightly smacking her book against his head. He angrily glared at her.

Kakashi interrupted the silent banter in an authoritative tone, "Alright, you three, meet me up on the roof in five." He then vanished, much to the fascination and/or frustration of the Genin, leaving behind only a few swirling leaves.

Five minutes later, Atsuki finally made his way up to the rooftop with four cans of lemonade in hand only to find himself the recipient of two nasty glares. Shiho and Shin were rather displeased with him taking the full five minutes to actually make his way to the meeting.

It was then that Atsuki found his flashback interrupted by the lack of rice in his bowl. Lightly annoyed by not having enough rice to finish the flashback, he got up and began to wash his bowl and pan. Rather than continuing to remember the events of yesterday, he instead chose to contemplate what would be happening today.

In less than an hour Kakashi's survival exercise would begin unless he decided to be several hours late again. He had suggested not eating breakfast today or the exercise might be so intense that the Genin might throw up. Atsuki did not wish to risk it, especially if Kakashi's tardiness was a regular occurrence, as he was already beginning to suspect. To counter act this, Atsuki had ground up a soldier pill, which supposedly packed such a punch that it allows a shinobi to work for three days without rest or additional nutrients, into the rice he just ate. He had his doubts, but he trusted Tenten, who recommended it.

Atsuki glanced by the door to the apartment and saw the simple katana and the wooden practice sword he had bought at the shinobi weapons store that Tenten works at when he dropped by after the team meeting yesterday. He debated on whether or not the bring to the survival exercise today, before eventually shaking his head and mumbling about weapons he didn't know how to wield and terrible ideas. He made his way back to his room to finish dressing and arming himself.

When Atsuki was dressed, armed, and ready, he made his way out the front door, giving the blade in the corner nary a glance.

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Author's Note

Ch2 already out! Good for me!

I felt that writing out the introduction with Kakashi would be redundant as Saijo already gave a fairly good assessment of his teammates as they were introduced in the flashback.

Also, did you see what I did thar?

Anyway, next chapter is the bell test and you will finally get some action.

Please R&R

Eye of the Blizzard over and out