Chapter four: Is this really our Teacher?
Sorry for the long delay; life became very busy. To apologize, I give you this extra chapter!
This was originally part of chapter three, but it was getting too long, so I split it up into two separate chapters.
Enjoy?
...
After the lunch break Akina and Sasuke returned to the classroom together. This had caused a slight stir among the other students since everyone knew the two were not exactly on speaking terms.
Akina picked a seat and Sasuke followed, sitting directly next to her. She didn't bother asking him to move away.
Naruto arrived a little while after. He glanced towards the cousins curiously as he passed by; heading towards the seat Sakura was occupying all by herself.
Akina heard him ask what the deal was with them sitting together, but the girl didn't give the boy any sort of answer; she didn't even look in his direction.
Eventually all of the Jonin mentors had come by the classroom to claim their teams, leaving team seven all alone.
Naruto had begun peeking out the door every two minutes, watching for their new sensei to arrive. "He's late!"
"Naruto! Just sit down!" Sakura scolded from the opposite side of the room; apparently she was feeling better.
Naruto grumbled on about how it wasn't fair that their team was the only one left and that everyone was probably already on some sort of adventure. "Even Iruka sensei's gone! I'm ready to roll, believe it!"
"He's got a point." Akina laid her forehead on the cool desk and sighed. "By the way, Naruto, never say 'believe it' again or I will smack you."
The only response she received was an unintelligible mutter followed by the sound of wood scraping against the tile floors. Sakura suddenly shouted again and footsteps were heard heading for the door.
The violet haired girl sat up and saw Naruto standing on a little table; he was sticking a chalkboard eraser between the sliding doors so that, when the door opened, it would hit the head of whoever was standing underneath. Sakura continued to scold him while Naruto argued that the teacher deserved it for being late, then he jumped down from the table.
Akina sighed. "Naruto…I rate that a two at best."
"Don't encourage him!" Sakura scolded.
Sasuke snickered. "Our teacher's a Jonin. You think he'd fall for that?"
"Even half the Genin here wouldn't fall for that." Akina muttered.
Just then a hand grabbed the door and started to open it. The four Genin all stared, waiting to see what would happen. A masked Jonin poked his face through the open door and the eraser came down, clunking him on the head in a cloud of chalk dust.
"Then again…that was more like a two and a half." Akina muttered, sending the Jonin a sour stare.
Naruto started laughing and pointed at the Jonin "I got him! He totally fell for it!"
Sakura walked up to the Jonin instantly with an apologetic look on her face. She spouted on about how she told Naruto not to do it and how she would never do such things herself.
What a suck up… Akina thought to herself. And is this guy really a Jonin? You've got to be kidding me.
The Jonin picked up the eraser and put his other hand on his chin, looking as though he was smiling under the mask "Hmm…how can I put this? My first impression of this group…You're a bunch of idiots." he said, the smile never leaving his face.
The four Genin all looked at him sourly.
...
Their new Sensei took the group out onto rooftop with trees growing on it; he had said he'd wanted to talk to them in a more relaxing environment. There were three steps leading from an upper section of roof down to a balcony. Sasuke sat in the center of the top step, Sakura sat to Sasuke's right, on the next step down, Naruto was on the same step as Sakura to the left side of Sasuke, and Akina was on the bottom step, directly in front. Their new teacher leaned against the balcony rail.
The Jonin asked the kids to introduce themselves. Sakura, always with all the questions, asked what he would like them to talk about.
"Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that." He shrugged.
Naruto suggested that the teacher go first. Sakura agreed.
"Me?" He asked in fake surprise. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. Things I like and things I hate. …I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future. …I've never really thought about it. As for my hobbies. …I have lots of hobbies." He shrugged lazily.
"Gosh... That sure was helpful, Sensei." Akina snorted, rolling her eyes.
Kakashi sent the girl a minor glare before asking Naruto to start them off.
"Me, right?!" the blond said as he played with his headband. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" The rest was just ramen, ramen, Iruka-Sensei, Ichiraku, ramen ramen ramen.
Akina snickered. Naruto, I swear your brain is made from ramen…and then you would eat it…
Then the blond said that his dream was to become Hokage. Kakashi seemed a little shocked at that. "My hobbies are…Pranks and practical jokes, I guess." The boy finally finished.
Well, that's Naruto for you.
After a short moment of contemplation, Kakashi pointed to Sakura and told her she was next.
"I am Haruno Sakura. My favorite thing is…well, it's not a thing, it's a person. A boy…and that boy is…" She looked over at Sasuke and blushed.
Cough "Sasuke." Cough
Sakura sent Akina a glare. "Uh…let's move on to my dream." She then blushed even more, making tiny squeaking sounds.
Cough "Sasuke!" Cough
Another glare. "My hobbies are…" She mumbled on while looking at Sasuke dreamily.
Cough "Sasuke!"
"Would you stop that?!" the pinkette shouted, her face now red with anger.
Akina stuck her tongue out at the other girl while Sasuke was just sitting there trying to hide his smile and a slight blush that had crept up onto his own face.
Kakashi seemed to be annoyed. "And…what do you hate?"
There was a slight pause. "Naruto and Akina!" She shouted.
Naruto looked devastated. Akina merely shrugged.
Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well, young lady, since you can't seem to keep quiet, why don't you go next?"
Akina straightened and smiled.
"My name is Mizuto Akina. I like animals and sweet foods. What I hate most is fan girls." This, of course, was pointed at Sakura. "My hobbies are reading and drawing. And as for my dreams for the future…well, no…I don't actually have one."
"Nothing at all?" Kakashi asked. "No aspirations or expectations for yourself?"
Akina scrunched her face. "No…it seems rather pointless, doesn't it? I was born and raised to be a Kunoichi, so obviously that is what I will be."
Sasuke snorted. Akina glared.
Kakashi sighed and looked to Sasuke. "Okay, fine…now for the last one."
Sasuke nodded "My name is Uchiha Sasuke." He drawled in that depressing mood that seemed to constantly surround him like a thick fog. He continued on about how he hates everything and doesn't believe in dreams and how he will restore his clan and kill someone.
Blah, blah, blah… Akina blinked. Wait a minute… Restore the clan…how exactly?
Kakashi nodded and crossed his arms. "I believe we all understand one another. Formal training begins tomorrow."
"There's something I certainly don't understand." The violet haired girl mumbled.
"And what is that, Akina?" Kakashi asked cheerfully. "Do you have a question?"
She hadn't thought anyone would hear her. "Um…well…no…that is…"
"What kind of mission are we going to have?!" Naruto interrupted excitedly, raising his arm in the air.
Thank you, Naruto! I'll share my lunch with you next time, I promise! "Yeah! That's exactly what I was going to ask! Thank you, Naruto!" Akina smiled, nervous sweat still lining her brow.
Naruto smiled back cluelessly. "No problem!" he then looked back up at Kakashi. "So, how 'bout it? What's our mission?"
"Our first project involves only the members of this cell." Kakashi replied without further explanation.
"What is it? What?" Naruto asked impatiently.
"Survival exercises." He answered simply.
"Survival exercises?" Naruto repeated.
Is there an echo?
Sakura pointed out that their school days were full of survival training. Akina nodded in agreement.
"But you'll have to survive…against me. It won't be your typical practice." Kakashi explained.
Naruto urged him to elaborate and Kakashi merely started laughing.
"It can't possibly be that funny..." Akina muttered, giving their teacher a wary glance.
"It's just if I told you, then you might chicken out." He replied humorously.
"Try me." The girl challenged, staring him down.
Kakashi shrugged, but still held a smug look to his masked features. "Of the twenty-eight members of your graduating class, only nine or so will actually be accepted as junior-level Shinobi. The others must go back for more training. The test we are about to perform has a 66% rate of failure."
"What the heck? Not even half of our graduating class will pass?" Akina questioned, perplexed by such staggering odds.
Kakashi laughed again. "See? You're chickening out already!"
Naruto shouted about the graduation test and how they worked so hard to pass. Kakashi merely pushed it off as "Weeding out the failures", which, of course, angered the blond.
Akina thought for a while and it did make sense. Their school exam was far too simplistic.
"In any event, we'll meet tomorrow morning on the practice field so that I can evaluate each of your skills and weaknesses. Bring all of your Ninja tools and weapons. And don't have breakfast beforehand…unless you enjoy throwing up."
Kakashi pulled out some papers and handed them to the Genin. "The details of your assignment are in this handout, memorize it…and don't be late!"
"Throw up? How hard is this exercise going to be?!" Sakura panicked.
...
"Ours gave us the exact same spiel." Shikamaru snorted, flopping onto his bed. He laid his head on Akina's lap, staring up at her. "Hey. You're not worried, are you? Your practical exam scores rival Sasuke's and your written exams aren't too bad, either."
Akina shook her head, sending the feathery waves of violet hair into motion. "That's not what I'm worried about."
Shikamaru reached up, touching a strand of her hair. "Then what are you worried about?"
The girl sighed and glanced down at him. "I'm worried that my team won't act like a team. We don't get along at all. I don't know what they were thinking pairing the four of us up together."
"Good point." Shikamaru grimaced. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now."
"Thanks..." Akina reached down and tugged on the boy's ponytail. "Jerk."
"Oww!" He slapped her hand away. "Come on, you know I was kidding."
"I know." She smiled wickedly then reached for the ponytail again, this time releasing the hair from the tie holding it up. Akina then proceeded to ruffle the boy's hair until it was a messy mop.
"Hey... Why don't you grow your hair out?" Shikamaru asked, still playing with the strand of hair he'd been touching before.
"It's a hassle to have long hair. This is much more manageable." She replied curtly.
He tugged her hair gently. "You and Sasuke appear to be getting along better, by the way."
Akina blinked down at the boy. She was always shocked by his mild possessiveness. Maybe it was because they were best friends. "Not really... He just started following me after..."
"After what?" Shikamaru sat up, staring her in the eyes.
Akina turned to stare out the window, watching rain pelt the glass. It had started raining just after dinner. "Sakura said something really nasty during the break. Worse than usual. I hit her."
The boy's eyes widened. "You hit Haruno? Congrats?"
The girl scoffed, pushing him off the bed. "Don't congratulate me for that, though she definitely deserved it."
"So violent." he chuckled, picking himself up from the floor. Akina tossed a pillow at his face.
The two tossed the pillow back and forth until there was a knock on the door. Yoshino opened the door, peeking her head inside. "Akina dear, will you be spending the night?"
"Oh! No... I should probably go home. I have to meet my team early in the morning." the girl replied.
"Alright. Have Shikamaru lend you an umbrella." the woman sent her son a warning glance before leaving.
The boy groaned and went downstairs to find an umbrella, returning a few moments later.
"Why, thank you. Such a gentleman." Akina giggled.
Shikamaru muttered something under his breath and handed over the umbrella and watched as Akina went to open the window. "Why don't you just use the front door?"
"What's the fun in that?" She smiled and stuck the umbrella outside, opening it up. "See ya." she waved and hopped out onto the roof, disappearing into darkness soon after.
Shikamaru sighed. "Such a frustrating woman."