"This is such an exciting day! We get placed into our squads! Aren't you so excited?" I yell, punching Naruto playfully in the arm.
"I hope I get put on a squad with Sakura," he says dreamily.
"I don't know what you see in her, Naruto, she's a jerk. She also has a crush on Sasuke, just like every other stupid girl in this town."
"Don't talk about Sakura like that. She's so smart and pretty," he sighs.
"Whatever."
I glance up towards the trees, watching the sunlight filter through the leaves. Sakura Haruno is not my favorite person; she has always been such a jerk to me and Naruto, along with basically the entire village. Over the past seven years Naruto and I have been beaten up, made fun of, insulted and more. I just don't understand why the village hates us so much. It's been even worse for Naruto. I was separated from Naruto when we were born and taken to the village hidden in the clouds. When I got there, the man who took me had the 2 tailed beast, Matatabi, sealed inside of me. I lived there until I was 6, then Grandpa Hokage appeared and brought me home to Naruto. Naruto had to face everything alone before I got here; I wish I could have been here for him since the beginning. Not everyone is bad though, I've become rather great friends with Hinata and Shikamaru.
I quickly walk into the classroom and find my way to the empty seat next to Hinata. She gives me a shy smile that I gladly return.
"Aren't you so excited for today!?" I ask.
"I - I guess - I guess so," she stutters.
"Who are you hoping to be placed on a team with? I'm personally hoping I'm on a team with just you and Naruto, but there are an odd number of kids here so that means someone will be stuck in a group of four," I say, glancing around the classroom.
At the mention of Naruto's name Hinata's face turns a bright shade of red. I giggle and pat her on the shoulder. She has had the biggest crush on Naruto ever since I can remember, the sad thing is that he doesn't even notice. Naruto is too focused on Sakura, a girl he will never have, and not enough on what a great person Hinata is. Boys can be so stupid when it comes to love if you ask me.
"If your face gets any redder you may just turn into a tomato," I tease.
"Oh no! Do you think - you think anyone can - anyone can te-" Hinata begins, when suddenly she's interrupted by loud commotion at the back of the classroom.
"I was here first, Ino-pig!"
"No, I was, billboard brow!"
"Oh great, look who's here," I mutter, watching Sakura and Ino.
"I was here first so I get to sit next to Sasuke!" Ino yells.
"Obviously I was here first so that means I get to sit next to Sasuke!" Sakura yells back.
Tired of listening to the two of them, I grab my things and plop myself down in the single empty seat next to Sasuke.
"Hikari! You can't take that seat!" Ino yells as both of them come clamoring towards me.
"Oh? And why not?"
"Because I was going to sit there!" they both shriek.
"Well I guess that's just too bad, first come first serve if you ask me," I snicker.
"How dare you!" Sakura yells.
Suddenly Sakura pushes me, sending me crashing to the floor. I rub the back of my head and glare at her. I pick myself up off the floor, keeping my eyes focused on Sakura. I'm too busy thinking about my next words that I don't notice the entire room has gone silent, all eyes are on me.
"How did you like that, Hikari?" she smirks.
"You're pathetic," I chuckle.
"What did you just say to me?"
"You heard me, I said you're pathetic. You think that pushing me out of a chair over something as stupid as who gets to sit next to Sasuke makes you all high and mighty? Well let me tell you something, Sakura. I don't care if my brother likes you, or if the whole freaking village likes you, but if you touch me again I won't hesitate to beat you to a bloody pulp. I'm a lot stronger than you are and you know it, heck, everyone knows it. So if I were you I would go find somewhere else to sit," I growl at her.
Her face pales and she quickly scurries away. I glance around the room and see everyone's eyes fixated on me. Let them stare, I think to myself and sit back down in the chair. I glance over at Sasuke, thinking maybe he'll be somewhat grateful for what I've done since he dislikes those two more than I do, but I'm only met with a glare. I sigh and move all my things to the opposite end of the table.
"You don't have to be so mean to Sakura," Naruto says, plopping down into the seat next to me.
"Naruto, just because you're in love with her doesn't mean I have to like her too," I grumble, watching Sakura from the corner of my eye as she takes the empty seat between Naruto and Sasuke.
"All right, class, settle down. I'm going to call out each squad one by one, just listen for your name," Iruka sensei calls from the front of the classroom.
I sit patiently, waiting for my name to be called, but as the number of students begin to dwindle I have a growing sense of dread. Right now Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke haven't been placed on a squad yet, if I calculate the odds of them being placed on the same squad as me based on how many students are left, it is extremely likely that I'll get placed on a squad with at least two of them. And let's not forget that there is an extra student, so it's possible I could be placed on a team with all of them. Oh no, please, anything but that, I groan inwardly.
"Squad seven will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Hikari Uzumaki."
"Aw yeah!" Naruto yells, throwing his fist in the air.
"In your face Ino-pig!" Sakura shrieks.
"Why me," I groan, slamming my head on the table.
"Everyone get in your groups and wait here, your sensei's will be here shortly. It's been wonderful teaching all of you and maybe we'll see each other again in the field. Best of luck to you all," Iruka says.
Soon after his departure, squad leaders begin to trickle through the classroom, taking teams as they go. This continues for about an hour until the only people left in the classroom are me, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto. We sit here for what feels like hours, waiting for our sensei to show up.
"Do you think maybe he forgot today was the day squads were being chosen?" Sakura asks, breaking the silence.
"I don't know, but this guy better show up soon, I'm starving," I say, clutching my stomach.
"This guy needs to be taught a lesson, no one messes with us!" Naruto yells, making his way to the classroom door.
"What do you think you're doing you idiot?" Sakura asks.
"I'm setting a trap for our sensei, see how smart he really is."
"This guy is a jounin, there is no way he would fall for such a stupid prank. It's the first one in the book," I say.
Naruto ignores us and places a blackboard eraser in between the door and the wall; he runs back to his seat when he's finished and I shake my head, this idiot I sigh. There is no way a jounin would fall for this trick.
As if on cue, a hand reaches for the door; a man with silver hair and a mask covering half his face pokes his head in. The eraser lands on his head and bounces off, landing on the floor in front of him. He glances down at the eraser and back at the four of us.
"My first impression of all of you is that you're all idiots," he says.
"That's what you get for being so late!" Naruto blurts out.
"Everyone meet me on the roof," he says, vanishing.
"Great going Naruto, now our sensei thinks we're all idiots!" Sakura yells.
I roll my eyes and quickly make my way to the roof. I like to avoid listening to Sakura complain as much as I can. I take a seat across from our sensei and the others follow suit.
"Okay, now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves," he says.
"You first," I say.
"Fine. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many likes and dislikes and I do not have any plans for the future. Ok, who's next?"
"Well that was informative," I mumble.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I love Ichiraku ramen and instant ramen that comes in a cup and Sakura of course. I hate Sasuke and one day I'm going to become Hokage!"
"My name is Sakura Haruno. I love, well, Sasuke of course and I hate Hikari and Naruto. And one day I plan on marrying Sasuke," she swoons.
"My name is Hikari Uzumaki. I like reading and ramen. I dislike Sakura, Ino and Sasuke to name a few. And I don't have any dreams for the future yet."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I also have many likes and dislikes which I do not feel the need to waste my breath talking about. As for the future, the only thing I have to say is that I plan on killing a certain someone."
"Uhh.. ok then. Now that everyone has been introduced we will start our training tomorrow. Meet at the training grounds at seven o'clock am, we're doing a survival training exercise. Oh, and don't eat anything beforehand or you'll throw up."
And with that he's gone as quickly as he came. I glance over at Naruto, giving him a weird look; this sensei of ours seems a little eccentric if you ask me.
"Well, let's head home, Naruto," I say.
"I can't believe he doesn't want us to eat breakfast tomorrow morning," Naruto groans.
"All you ever think about is food, you dork. Come on, if you beat me home I'll make homemade ramen for dinner."
"You're on!"
The next morning, I find myself running through the woods alone in search of Sasuke. This exercise started as a simple one, get the bells from Kakashi sensei and we would be considered good enough to stay on as his students. It has now turned into quite the bothersome exercise. All of my teammates decided it would be a good idea to go off on their own and try to get all the bells by themself. I tried to tell them that the only chance we would have of getting those bells was if we worked together, but does anyone like to listen to me? Now Sakura is passed out in the woods, Naruto is tied to a post and Sasuke is lost somewhere in the forest. I'm hoping that I can find him and convince him to help me take down Kakashi so we can get the bells and be done with this mess.
As I pass over a small clearing I can make out a shape on the ground. Upon closer inspection, I realize it's Sasuke's head; he's been buried in the ground up to his shoulders. I stifle a laugh and land softly on the grass in front of him.
"Hey Sasuke, need some help," I tease, "because it seems to me like you've got quite a load on your shoulders."
I burst out laughing, unable to contain myself. Sasuke just rolls his eyes and glares at me.
"Oh shut up and help me out of here," he says.
"Fine, but when I get you out of here I need your help. We both need to take on Kakashi together if we want to get those bells. Like I tried to tell all of you before, we can't take him on alone," I say.
"Fine, I'll help if you just get me out of here."
I grab Sasuke's head and begin to pull.
"Ow, what the hell!" he yells.
"What do you want from me!? Just take it like a man and be quiet," I mumble.
I manage to drag his shoulders free and begin to pull him up by the armpits. Gosh this guy is heavier than he looks, I pant. With one last grunt, I manage to pull him free, sending us both to the ground. Sasuke gets up and stretches himself out as I lay sprawled on the ground.
"Alright, what's this plan of yours?"
"Hey, Kakashi sensei!" I yell, landing on the soft grass behind him.
"Hikari! Help me! I've been tied to this post for hours!" Naruto yells from behind me.
"Ah, Hikari, I was wondering when you would make an appearance. You know, time is almost up, you only have fifteen minutes. It also seems that the rest of your team is tied up at the moment."
I smirk, I hoped he would think that all my teammates were down for the count. Now I know for sure my plan will work.
"Yeah, I noticed. The funny thing is, I told them that this was a team building exercise, but none of them wanted to listen to me. They paid the price for that; poor Sakura, why'd you go so hard on her? She has such trouble figuring out genjutsu."
"I would stop procrastinating if I were you, you're losing time as we speak."
"Don't worry, I'll have those bells before we're through."
"And how do you plan on doing that?"
"I plan on doing this," I say, lifting my hand slowly into the air.
Kakashi gives me a questioning look and gets into a fighting stance, ready for anything I may throw at him, except for this. I give him a thumbs up and he gives me a strange look, getting back into his normal stance.
"That was it? What is a thumbs up supposed t-"
Sasuke is quick as a flash and is on top of a bewildered Kakashi in seconds. I quickly grab the rope I had hidden in my pants before Kakashi sensei has a chance to get Sasuke off his back. We wrap the rope around Kakashi and he struggles to break loose, giving us enough time to pluck the bells from his belt. I pass a bell to Sasuke, untie Naruto and hand him a bell, then hand Sakura a bell as she joins us in the clearing.
"I see you finally made it, Pinky," I say.
"Oh shut up," she grumbles.
"Well Kakashi sensei, do we pass?"
"Thanks to Hikari, you all pass," he says, wiggling out of the loosely tied ropes.
"What about me?" Sasuke grumbles.
"You may all go home, we begin missions tomorrow," and with that he poofs away.
"Hey, anyone want to get some ramen with me and Naruto?" I ask, doubtful they'll say yes.
"Yes! I'm starving!" Naruto yells, pumping his fist in the air.
"I guess I'll tag along," Sakura mumbles.
"Sasuke?" I ask.
"Hn."
"I'm going to take that as a yes. To Ichiraku's!"