"Alright. Why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time."
Team 7 had made their way to the top of one of the buildings. Ayakashi sat close to Naruto as the rest of them sat on the stairs, facing their new teacher.
"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura repeated, tilting her head to the side. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"
"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies." their teacher said, folding his arms across his chest. "Things like that."
"What if you tell us stuff first, before we talk? So we know what to say?" Naruto said, leaning forward with his arms dangling between his legs.
"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake." he replied. "Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."
Sakura looked over at the other three, an irritated look on her face. "That was totally useless. All he told us was his name."
Naruto nodded in agreement as Kakashi rested his hands on his knees. "Okay, your turn. You on the right, you first."
"Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" he raised his hand, pushing his headband up and down. "I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Ramen shop! But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them! And my future dream is to become the greatest Hokage, then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"
Kakashi's visible eye widened momentarily before he looked at Sakura. "Alright, next."
"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like, uh… I mean, the person I like…" she raised her hands to her face, looking over at Sasuke. "Uh, my hobby is… My dream for the future is…" she let out a loud squeal, causing Ayakashi to cover her ears and duck under Naruto's arm, trying to block out the sound.
"And?" Kakashi said, sounding bored. "What do you hate?"
"Naruto!" she exclaimed as Naruto let out a noise of surprise, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. Ayakashi peeked around to Sakura, glaring at her with her ears still covered. Kakashi stayed quiet as he looked at Ayakashi, nodding for her to go.
"I-I'm Ayakashi Mahato. I like looking at the stars and spending time with Naruto. Things I hate are people who are mean to others." she shot a glare over at Sakura, causing her to lean back slightly as she saw it. "My hobbies are singing and taking walks. My dream for the future is to someday return to my home village and show everyone I'm not the monster they think I am."
Her ears flattened as she turned away from them, avoiding the questioning eyes she got from Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi sighed quietly as he turned to Sasuke. "Last one."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." he said, causing Sakura to stutter in disappointment. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."
Everyone was silent as Naruto and Sakura stared at Sasuke. Ayakashi's ears twitched as she listened for sound, still turned away from the group.
"Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." Kakashi said, breaking the silence. Ayakashi turned back towards him as Naruto spoke up.
"What kind of mission are we going to have?"
"It's a task that the five of us will do together." Kakashi replied.
"What, what, what, what?" Naruto pressed excitedly.
"A survival exercise." Kakashi said.
"Survival exercise?" Naruto repeated.
"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission!" Sakura said. "Not more practice! We already did this stuff at the academy, that's how we got here."
"This is not like your previous training."
"So what kind of training is it then?" Ayakashi spoke up, her attention snagged like a fish on a hook. Kakashi replied with a laugh, causing Ayakashi to flatten her ears again.
"Hey, wait a minute. That's a normal question, what's so funny?" Sakura asked, her chin resting on her arms.
"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." Kakashi waved a hand, his eyes closed as he smiled. "Of the 28 graduates who just came here, only 10 will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 19 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass/fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%."
Ayakashi's face twisted into a snarl as the Naruto's face fell into shock. Sakura stared at Kakashi with an annoyed look as Sasuke retained his blank expression.
"See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?"
"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here, believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Oh that? That was just to select candidates that might become Genin." Kakashi replied. "Or not."
"What!?"
"That's how it is. I decided if you pass or fail." Kakashi said. "Be at the designated training spot at 5 a.m. and bring your ninja gear."
Ayakashi looked at Naruto as he twitched in anger. She placed a hand on his arm, a worried look crossing her face as his look switched from annoyed to determined.
"That's it, you're dismissed." Kakashi said as he stood up. "Oh. Tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else you'll puke."
Kakashi left, leaving the four of them sitting shocked from his last words.
"He can't be serious." Ayakashi said quietly. "Can he?"
"It's best not to take any risks. Just in case he's telling the truth." Sakura replied, standing up. "Naruto! Do not be late tomorrow!"
Naruto's face fell as she left, causing Ayakashi's expression to change to one of annoyance. Sasuke stood and walked away without a word, leaving Naruto and Ayakashi alone.
"Naruto, are you okay?" she asked after a few minutes. He hadn't moved since Sakura spoke to him and it was making Ayakashi nervous. "Hey, Naruto-kun."
He snapped out of his trance, looking at her with wide eyes. "Yes, Kashi?"
"Let's go, everyone else left." Ayakashi stood up, tugging him along with her.
"Oh, alright." he stumbled after her, falling in step with her as they reached the streets. "So what do you think about all of this?"
"I think we have a crazy Jonin as a teacher." she replied, leading him to the weapons shop. "I have to buy new gear, I left all of mine in Sunagakure."
Naruto nodded as she bought new kunai and shuriken. She paid the lady sitting behind the counter and left, heading to the scroll shop afterwards.
"You don't have anything with you?" he asked as she bought a couple blank scrolls and a brush with an ink jar. She stared into her pouch as she pulled out the money, handing it to the shopkeeper.
"No, I was forced out of my village after an accident." she replied as they left. She stuck the scrolls in her pouch as they went back to their place.
"What happened?" Naruto asked quietly. Ayakashi remained quiet, the memories flashing through her mind as she thought about it.
"Not today, Naruto." she replied, her voice almost a whisper as she fought back the tears.
"Alright, Kashi. Whenever you're ready." he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they neared the apartment. He pulled out his keys as they stepped up to the door, unlocking the door and opening it. Ayakashi stepped inside as Naruto followed, pulling the door shut and relocking it.
"Are you hungry?" he asked as he went to the kitchen, pulling out a ramen cup for himself. Ayakashi nodded as he glanced back, pulling a second one out. He tore the tops off halfway, pouring hot water in the cups and replacing the lid as they waited.
"How have you dealt with the way people treat you?" Ayakashi said quietly, pulling her headband off of her head and placing it on the table. Naruto looked at his place from the kitchen, a worried look crossing his face.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, stepping over to her.
"You just seem to get treated so badly but you always keep a positive attitude about things." she replied, her voice cracking as she thought about how she was treated in her old village. Naruto kept quiet as she sighed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. She smiled up at him, her different coloured eyes semi-glossed over. "Naruto, I think the ramen is done. let's eat and get ready for bed. We have a big day ahead of us."
Naruto hesitated before nodding, pulling his chair around and setting it next to her. She reached across the table, pulling out two pairs of chopsticks as Naruto grabbed the ramen. They broke their chopsticks apart, digging into their last meals for the night.