Chapter 5: New Teammates
With the previous day flying by, the group spent their free time figuring out how quickly Yuri was able to learn things. She got the fire ball justu down and she had shadows down. It was the Byakugan that was giving her a hard time.
It puzzled her… maybe she should talk to Jirya after he comes back. He tends to know more about clans. She hadn't had a chance to ask Jirya anything since he had his hand full with teaching Naruto. Or… trying to parent Naruto.
She and Shikamaru arrived in the class together. They sit in the back and hang out. As far as they know Naruto didn't pass, which makes her wonder how Jirya was going to reach that. He was due back tomorrow now. Jirya wasn't an overly strict person… but he was trying to guide Naruto into a better path.
Yuri and Shikamaru are perfectly fine with sitting in silence. Shikamaru had his head down on the table while Yuri was looking around the classroom. Seeing that Saskue was sitting in front of her, he has been acting weird lately, Yuri thinks it's because of the fanclub having been more possessive about him. Until Yuri tastes cotton candy, she elbows Shikamaru and tilts her head to Naruto. Shikamaru frowns as he takes in Naruto being in the classroom.
"What are you doing here Naruto? This isn't for dropouts. You can't be here unless you graduate." Shikamaru's comments.
Yuri tilts her head and smiles a little. Seeing that Naruto made it. But she has to wonder how he managed to do so. She hadn't had the chance to tell Naruto about the weird power she has. She should do that soon… but she is also going to be talking to Jirya as well. She could tell Naruto at that time as well.
"Oh ya? Do you see this? Do you see this? Open your eyes Shikamaru. It's a regulation headband. We're going to be training together. How do you like that?" Naruto points to himself and she notices the headband.
Shikamaru huffs. Yuri shakes her head, a smile coming across her face. Now she doesn't have to worry about Naruto hiding at her house when Jirya comes back.
"Let me put it to you this way. I look great in this headgear, like it was made for me. Believe it." Naruto chuckles.
Yuri can't help but glance at Hinata as Shikamaru comes and sits by her. She nods her head over to Hinata. Seeing Hinata staring at Naruto once again like she normally did. Yuri smiles and shakes her head.
"Looks like Hinata likes Naruto more than we thought." Yuri whispers to Shikamaru.
He hums. "Probably. Though, all these people having crushes on others at this age is such a drag."
Yuri gets a grin on her face and leans closer to Shikamaru. "Oh? You don't have any kind of a crush? What if I said I like Saskue too? I was just shy like Hinata?"
With her being so close, she can see Shikamaru blush and gulp. Yuri being dense doesn't realize how badly this gets to Shikamaru. She even leans her cheek on her hand, not fully nose to nose with Shikamaru but close enough. Even he turns his eyes away from Yuri. A smirk on her face as she moves back and leans back in her seat. Giggling.
It takes a moment for Shikamaru to even answer her. "Um… why would you? Not like Saskue's your type though."
Yuri narrows her eyes at him. "Oh ya? And what's my type?"
Shikamaru doesn't get the chance to answer Yuri as Sakura and Ino enter the class, all huffing, but Yuri doesn't hear what they say. She frowns and shakes her head. Over the years… she has little patients with the girls.
"Of course… They ran here and are arguing." Yuri comments. Causing Shikamaru to look over to the two girls.
With a shake of her head, Yuri turns forward but keeps the girls in her vision. Seeing a faint red in Shikamaru's cheeks. To which she pokes at them and causes Shikamaru to look at her. Causing her to laugh a little more.
Until she sees that Naruto notices them and blushes. Yuri rolls her eyes, Naruto knows how awful the girls are to Yuri and he still has a crush on Sakura. She hopes he will grow out of it. Though… by how Naruto is she doubts it. Yuri sees Sakura finally notice Saskue and runs over to where Naruto is sitting.
"Hey Sakura, how's it going?" Naruto starts as he stands up to greet Sakura.
"Move it." She pushs Naruto out of the way. "Good morning Saskue."
Silence from Saskue. Yuri lets out a sigh as she watches the events unfold before her. She notices Shikamaru putting his head down on the table.
"Mind if I sit next to you?" Sakura asks.
Yuri can already tell that Saskue is annoyed with the girls. She glances back and forth between Sakura and Saskue. While Yuri admits… they might be a cute couple… Saskue hates Sakura so much. Well… more finds Sakura and every other girl who isn't Yuri and Hinata annoying.
And it doesn't help with Ino storms over. "Back off, Forehead. I'm sitting next to Saskue."
"I was here first." Sakura counters. With a sigh Yuri puts her cheek in her hand and continues to watch the show unfold.
"I walked into the classroom before you did. Everybody saw it." Ino gets a little louder.
"Dream on." Sakura gripes.
Sadly, this begins to attrach most of the other girls in the class. While Yuri would love to ignore all the girls… she can't. Deep down Yuri loves this drama. While she didn't talk to a majority of girls in class, she wonders if they would all grow out of it. In the end… only one person can end up with Saskue.
For all they know it could be Yuri.
She shudders at the thought she just had. Ya right… like she and Saskue would work out. She doesn't even find him cute or anything like that! Though… she can't help but let her brain wander a little. Would she and Saskue work out? Maybe… especially when they were at his home and he was interacting with his family. She shakes her head and refocuses.
A girl she doesn't even know speaks up first, "Actually, I got here before either of you."
"So did I. I'm sitting next to Saskue." Another girl speaks up. Causing Yuri to roll her eyes.
Yet another girl speaks up. "No I am."
Saskue just sits in silence, not even paying attention to the girls. While they all fight about who gets to sit next to him. Yuri doesn't even listen to them any more. It's pretty sad that they fight about this all the time. All the boys in the class don't even pay attention to it anymore, which only shows how much the girls fight about Saskue.
Naruto groans and goes to squat right in front of Saskue. Pretty much nose to nose. To which Yuri thinks things are about to change. She doesn't know why, but she elbows Shikamaru.
"What was-"
"Naruto! Hey, Stop glaring at Saskue!" Sakura yells, cutting Shikamaru off.
"Oh… you think something is going to happen?" To which Yuri only hums.
Naruto looks at them and goes back to glaring at Saskue. All the girls start to argue. Yuri can't help but smile at them going crazy. It was no secret that Saksue and Naruto hated each other, Saskue thought Naruto was a loser and worried that Hinata had a crush on him. Saskue would ask her questions and they all realized Hinata remembered a lot about Naruto from the conversations they have had. But that didn't stop Saskue from being a little protective of Hinata.
Yuri hears a random guy exclaim. "Whoa. Heh, this is great!" Causing him to bump into Naruto, throwing him off balance. "Sorry, did I bump you?"
To which Yuri continues to poke and poke Shikamaru. Causing him to look as his mouth hangs open. Yuri begins to giggle as she sees all the girls stunned, her eyes drift to Hinata and the expression on her face makes Yuri feel a little bad. She knows Hinata likes Naruto… and seeing her crush kissing someone else has to hurt.
"What the-" Sakura starts.
"I, uh-" Ino trails off as Yuri looks back to the scene in front of her.
Everyone seems to have noticed the silence in the room and Yuri can see in the corner of her eyes everyone looking this way. She sees Kiba laughing in his seat and Choji eating some chips. Naruto and Saskue break away and gag. While Naruto turns to see the girls about to fight him.
"Huh, they are vicious" The guy that bumped into Naruto states.
"Naruto, you are so dead." Sakura mutters, raising her fist up.
"Hey, whoa. It was an accident." Naruto puts his hands up and tries to smile.
"You're finished." Sakura cracks her knuckles.
"Hold on." Naruto doesn't even have time to move.
Yuri looks at Saskue and sees he has the smallest smirk on his face. One that tells Yuri for once Saskue is glad the fan club is around. While Yuri normally would help him, she waits a moment. Jirya is right, Naruto needs to learn to grow up. Though she fears it won't happen overnight.
"Man… Naruto is an idiot. Should we help him?" Shikamaru asks.
Yuri nods her head. "Probably."
Standing up, Yuri clears her throat. Causing all the girls to look at her and step away from Naruto. "We've all graduated right? Stop being childish."
Everyone goes to their seats when they realize Yuri isn't going to back down. Somehow, Sakura manages to sit next to Saskue, Yuri thinks she ran to the spot in the confusion. She takes her seat next to Shikamaru with Ino sitting on the other side.
Finally Iruka sensi steps up to the front of the class. Getting everyone to settle down and be quiet as he begins the lesson for today.
"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you're only genin, first level ninja. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads. Each squad will be led by a jounin, an elite ninja."
Everyone gasps at different realizations. Yuri looks at Shikamaru. Realizing there is a chance they won't be on the same team. Even with her and Naruto and Saskue. She doesn't know why… but that scares her even more knowing she might have to trust new people and explain her powers to people when she barely understands them herself.
Ino speaks up to Sakura, "Well, someone's got to be in Saskue's group. I wonder who."
"I don't know." Sakura replies.
Yuri decides to tease them. "It'll most likely be me, seeing as you two could never keep up with me." This gets glares from both Sakura and Ino.
"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads." Iruka continues, skipping squad one seeing that number is still taken. He goes through and Yuri notices all the clan children are near the bottom of the list. Which surprises her. "Squad seven. Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Saskue Uchiha" Naruto celebrates being on a team with Sakura, but Sakura celebrates being on Saskues team. Which gets a chuckle out of Yuri as she glances at Hinata. Seeing her look of disappointment. "Next squad eight. Hinata Hyūga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. Squad nine, Isamu Haruno, Kenji Okawa and Yuri Chibana."
Shikamaru turns to Yuri and gives her a look. To which Yuri can only shrug her shoulders. She doesn't know the other two well enough. Kenji was a loner minus Sakura and Isamu had his own friend group that were in different squads.
Sakura turns around to Ino and gives her the peace sign. Cause Yuri to roll her eyes. Leaving it to Sakura to rub it in Inos face she got on Saskues team. But… that only leaves three people left by Yuri's count. And she cracks a smile after all.
Ino is upset. "Ah. How did you get in his group?" Sakura doesn't say anything which just frustrates Ino more.
Before Ino can seeth anymore, Shikamaru speaks up which grabs Yuri's attention. "I don't get it. What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special."
Yuri can't argue with Shikamaru. And she wants to interject about how having Saskue on a team would be a stratigical advantage much like Shikamaru. Saskue thought out moves and outcomes, though on a lesser scale than Shikamaru. It showed in their spars, Which Shikamaru was famous for giving up when he knew he was trapped.
"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru. Don't you get it?" Ino places her chin on her hand. Yuri knows she's acting coy and baiting Shikamaru.
"No, I don't get it, because I'm not a girl." Shikamaru counters.
"Ugh, you're so full of yourself. Jealousy's a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your squad." Ino remarks.
Shikamaru doesn't say anything and only looks at Yuri. He realized the same thing she did. Ino and Shikamaru were to be on the same squad, especially given their families. Ino was in for it.
"Now squad ten. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara…" Iruka continues.
"Ugh!" Ino puts her hand on her head. Causing Yuri to laugh a little.
"Heh. Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?" Shikamaru teases, earning a glare from Ino.
"And Chōji Akimichi. Those are all the squads." Iruka finishes.
"Iruka sensi. Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Saskue?" Naruto speaks up, with Sakura glaring at him.
There is a pause as Yuri leans over to Shikamaru. "Wanna make a bet?"
"Sure. How long team seven last?" Shikamaru snorts. Yuri nods her head.
But Iruka speaks up before they can finish. "Hm. Saskue had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores." Some of the class laughed at Narutos expense. "To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student."
Naruto groans as Saksue speaks. "Just make sure you don't get in my way, loser."
"I'm going for three months. Enough time for them to fight enough." Shikamaru says. "I win… you have to go on a date with someone of my choice."
Yuri snickers, but Naruto of couse keeps talking. "Hey, what did you say?" Naruto yells.
"Hard of hearing?" Saskue comments quietly.
And Yuri realizes something. They will have to work together. No way would the village let clan children, especially one that had a huge killing, fail. Yuri knows that while they hate each other. It might be good for both of them to learn from each other. After all… Yuri noticed a few similarities between them.
"I think they make it. I have a feeling they will. Oh, I win?" Yuir looks back to Shikamaru, not realizing how close their faces are. "You lazy bones have to pull a prank of some kind with Naruto, no matter what."
Shikamaru groans a little as he leans back, and his cheeks are a little red. Yuri tilts her head as she notices Ino looking between the two of them. A strange look comes over her face. Of course, Yuri ignores it. Nothing Ino does bothers her, and Ino shouldn't be concerned about anything.
"Knock it off Naruto. Sit down." Sakura pulls Yuri out of her thoughts.
"Ahem." Iruka clears his throat. "After lunch. You'll meet your new jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."
Yuri gets up and looks at Shikamaru. "Final lunch together?"
"Sure. Let me grab my team and you grab yours." Shikamaru turns and sees Ino shaking her head.
And Yuri sees Saskue bolt out of the room. She goes over to Kenji first as he is still sitting in his seat. She might as well learn about her team, seeing as she was hoping she could be with maybe people she already knew… but that doesn't mean she can't make new friends, right?
"Hey Kenji. Want to eat lunch together?" Yuri gives him a smile. "We are eating with team ten too. Since we all might work together in the future."
Kenji looks at her and sighs. He stands up and only stands there. Yuri only stares at him while he stares back, and it takes her a moment to realize that he is going to follow her. She nods and looks for Isamu… but she doesn't see him anywhere. With a frown she looks around with Kenji following her. But she can't seem to find him.
She turns to Kenji. "Well, maybe we can just have lunch with team ten. We are on the same team."
Maybe Isamu wanted to eat lunch with his friends one last time. It was what she was doing with Shikamaru today. Seeing the next few days she didn't know if she would even see any of her friends.
Regardless, Yuri and Kenji walk in silence to the spot she was sure Shikamaru was going to be eating. They walk out and she taste Shikamaru and she knows Saskue is in the area as well.
Sadly, they walk in as Ino is going on a rant. "Alright. If we're in the same group you're going to have to follow my lead. That's the only way it'll work."
"Ya, ya" Shikamaru mumbles as Yuri goes and sits next to Shikamaru.
Kenji walks to the other side and leans against the railing. Yuri looks at Shikamaru and sees him rolling his eyes. Telling her that Ino has been going off for a while about how she is in charge and things have to go her way. Which… Yuri already knows that's going to cause a lot of issues.
"Why don't you lead us to some barbecue, Ino?" Choji comments. Getting a giggle out of Yuri.
"I think that is a good idea. A good leader listens to their group and does what's best." Yuri chimes in. She looks at Kenji. "Don't worry, I don't want to be a leader."
But Kenji doesn't even look up and she wonders what is wrong with that guy. He hasn't said a word to her or even smiled. And Yuri thought she was pretty funny.
Ino facepalms. "Hopeless!" Getting Yuri to shake her head.
Shikamaru notices Naruto sneaking up to Saskue and pokes Yuri. She tastes the cotton candy and turns her attention to Naruto. She wonders what stupid thing he is about to do now.
"Naruto." Shikamaru says, grabbing Ino and Choji attention
"Huh?" Ino turns her head around to face the correct way.
Yuri glances and sees Kenji leaning against the rails closest to her. She guesses everyone is curious about Naruto doing this. Naruto jumps through the window and attacks Saskue. But the window closes so they aren't able to see what is happening.
Kenji speaks low enough only for Yuri to hear, "That Naruto is an idiot, but he must have skill to have passed. All he can do is improve."
With a smile Yuri nods. Being in last and the same team as Saskue, Naruto can improve faster than everyone else. Yuri knew he was determined to do so. Especially to get attention and respect. While many people didn't respect him and ignored him, Yuri could see him doing the dumb things for attention. But even she doesn't think this is the way to go.
"Naruto! If you so much as scratch him, you're on my enemy list forever." Ino comments.
Yuri rolls her eyes. She leans over to Shikamaru. "I think Ino not being in the same gorup as Saskue will be good for her."
Shikamaru doesn't answer as he is watching the window. There is more fighting in the room. While Yuri wished she could see what was happening in there, Shikamaru warned her that showing her powers could be bad for her in the long run. So she remains silent as none of them seem to want to talk with her. Which… She isn't too happy about it.
Suddenly everything stops.
"Hm, wha- what happened?" Ino asks.
Liek they would have the answer to that. All five look at the window. Wondering who would come out of it. Eventually Saskue comes out, or a Saskue looks alike. Yuri can't tell.
"He beat Naruto without even breaking a sweat" Shikamaru comments. Leaning back as Saskue moves away.
"What's you expect? Naruto against my boy Saskue? No contest." Ino gloats.
She turns around and goes back to her lunch. But Yuri notices something. The cotton candy taste is leaving. The broth taste isn't. Yuri tugged on Shikamaru to whisper.
"That wasn't Saskue leaving." She leans back and finishes her lunch. "Kenji and I should head to the classroom."
Shikamaru looks at her. "You sure about it?"
"I would never lie about that Shikamaru." Yuri smirks and stands up. Walking away, not even checking if Kenji is following her.
Note: Here is another chapter! Sorry I've been busy and haven't had a lot of time to post.
