Some hours away from Konoha in the woody forest that covered much of the Land of Fire, a band of nine genin and three sensei formed what would be their "camp" for the next week or so. Even the members of Team Two were enjoying a training activity for the first time under the tutelage of Uchiha Sasuke. Although that would change soon enough.
In an effort to maximize efficiency Shikamaru assigned each genin a chore to perform in order to not only set up camp quicker but to also school the young charges in the importance of being able to assemble an effective campsite in a timely manner.
The roles were decided easily by the man most known for his sharp mind. The Hyuuga, Ayahi, and Kakashi's son would serve as "scouts". Although the three men had scouted this area specifically before hand, knowing there were no outside threats, the children knew no such thing. The remaining charges were given tasks involving the actual set up of the camp.
Mitsuki sighed as she tried for the umpteenth time to set up the girls tent. Ayahi was away scouting and Shuugetsu busy. The barely friendly terms she was on with her teammates didn't stand to provide much assistance in the endeavor either. It wasn't that they disliked her, it was more of an apathy to her existence. The dark haired girl wasn't sure if that was better or worse.
As the small tent collapsed again she nearly began to lose some composure, tears pricking the backs of her eyes. "Why can't I even put up a stupid tent," she thought, "I really am useless."
She started again and failed again. Hatake Raimei, her teammate's sister, watched boredly having long finished her chore. Eventually the silver haired girl decided that if she was to have a tent to sleep in that night she would have to do it herself. As the tent crumpled again she walked over to the pathetic girl and started to assemble it. Mitsuki stared with wide brown eyes, her mouth lingering open slightly, about to say 'thank you' the other girl glanced her way with a sneer, the word "idiot" rolling off her tongue.
Mitsuki's tears threatened to spill over once again and so she slammed close her mouth, biting hard on her lip to hold back the tears and sulked away for the time being.
While at the same time Shuugetsu Houzuki talked off the ear of one Uchiha Yuu as they collected firewood together. The boy was similar to his parents in that he was very casual, not caring whther his questions came off as insensitive or weird. The awkward silence at the start if their task was very soon filled by Shuu's chatty nature, "So, do you have the Sharingan?" he asked, trying to hide how interested he really was in the dojutsu.
The other boy only shrugged slightly, "No."
Mentally deciding that he could take the him in a fight, Shuugetsu, continued, "Then are you really an Uchiha? I guess you do kind of look like Sasuke..."
"I don't know." he shrugged again.
"I heard you're parents aren't Uchihas. You're mom she's an Uzumaki, isn't she? I saw the red hair..." he asked, aware of the rudeness of his questions but continued on anyway.
"They're my foster parents. My mother said she was an acquaintance of my father, my real father. I don't know who they are. I don't really care." the dark haired boy responded calmly, sending a slight chill down Shuugetsu's spine. "How could you not care?" he wondered. Falling silent and thinking about his own family. His parents were crazy and yelled and acted weird and his little sister was annoying but they were his. Even his chattiness was dampened for the time being.
As the campsite was falling into place, supervised by Shikamaru. Sasuke and Naruto began to institute the real training activities that would come the following days.
AN: Sorry it takes me so long to update and this chapter isn't very interesting to boot. I just started my first year of university so now that I'm settling in I can write a bit more. The lovely and encouraging reviews make me so happy you can't even understand. Let me know your thoughts.