Sai waited patiently in the classroom. Iruka sensei was looking at them, making sure the new genins didn't do anything stupid. Sai was talking with some other kids. He felt stressed but hid it like most of his emotions. Root was dismantled for years now, but Sai still found it difficult to express himself, even when he was happy. Iruka sensei hadn't been able to break that habit of his yet.
Sai saw Yamato enter the class and immediately felt hope. Could he be his sensei? So far, Sai had only recognized Asuma, but it was no secret which team the son of the Third Hokage got. Sai tried remaining calm and looking normal. Everyone was looking at Yamato, waiting for him to announce the name of his genin.
"Sai, Tsubane and Uzumaki Arashi, I'm your new sensei, follow me."
Sai stood up, shrugging. He knew Tsubane very well. Sai had been living in the orphanage before Root, and then for a little bit until Shin could take Sai with him in an apartment. Tsubane had lived there all her life. They naturally became friends, escaping from the people working at the orphanage once in a while with each other as company.
Two orphans and one of the sons of the Fourth Hokage, it was a weird mix. Sai noticed Tsubane blushed when Arashi approached.
"I'm glad you are in my team, you two. I think we'll get along well," she said, with a shy smile.
Sai tried smiling back. He didn't mind anyone but considering all the Rookie Nine was out of his league, it could have been much worse. Tsubane was quite good. Always doing exactly what the teacher wanted from her. A clone? It was perfect. Hitting a target? She hit it precisely. Chakra control? Top notch. Sometimes Sai was jealous. He wasn't as perfect. And he had been impressed when she had accidently used a Wood Release jutsu without even wanting to. Iruka sensei had freaked out.
And Arashi, well… Sai found Arashi to be a nice person. He was a normal kid who didn't care a single bit his dad was known by everyone in the Land of Fire and beyond. Humility at its finest. He was the calmer twin, when it came down to him and Naruto. The one to bring Naruto to reason when he needed to. He was the rational one, while Naruto was very emotional. It would lead to an interesting team, because his new trio were all rational. Maybe too rational. The only way it could be even more rational is if they had a fourth member – and what kind of genin cell would need a fourth member, that totally hasn't happened before – with that member being Shino Aburame.
Arashi looked back at his twin. He seemed sad. Sai assumed he wished Naruto was in his team. Naruto gave Arashi a 'good luck' with his thumbs up, while screaming it aloud.
Yamato brought them to a small apartment.
"Tsubane, now that you'll be a genin with a salary, you won't live at the orphanage anymore. So you either have the choice to live alone here, or move in with Sai and Shin. They have a spare room."
Sai's mouth opened wide. What? Since when? Did Shin know about this? He wanted to complain, but then he realized Shin had mentioned it was getting harder to pay rent lately. His brother figure was getting sicker every month, and was going on less and less missions. It was a good thing that Sai was graduating now. Because Root had messed him up, he had been held off a year before being sent to the academy. He was one year older than Arashi and Tsubane. While it would have helped on the money, Sai wasn't sure going to the academy when he should have been was a good idea. He was not doing well at all regarding his attitude that year. Besides, he didn't have enough knowledge to skip too many academic years. He had been pleased with being in the class with the Rookie Nine .
Tsubane seemed to think about her living arrangement. "We'll be on low-ranked missions for a long while, I assume. I don't think I could pay for something by myself. Sai, is it ok with you and Shin?"
"I don't love it because I won't have much space for my art supplies, but money's tight, so whatever."
It was brutally honest, but he didn't care. He didn't like changes, especially ones he didn't expect. Sai wished Shin had told him. But since he had to let Tsubane move in, he'd take his art supplies into his bedroom and clean his messes up everyday instead of just leaving them to be. He had never lived with a girl before, he didn't know what to expect. He always seemed to say something he shouldn't have.
Yamato nodded. "I'll get the paperwork sorted for you guys later, then. Let's go training."
They followed Yamato in the deep forest. Yamato brought some targets that had the form of humans in front of them.
"I want you to use anything you like to bring it down. You have one each."
Sai decided to take his pen out and draw something to attack it. Arashi went with kunai and shuriken. Tsubane seemed to think a little too much. She then noticed her friend and did exactly the same. Yamato approached.
"I've been told you could use Wood Release?"
"Well, only once, not on purpose. But I didn't really try after that. It used so much of my chakra that the next day, my caretaker at the orphanage refused to send me to the academy, because she thought I had caught the flu or something."
Sai concentrated on his mission and didn't hear what she said next, but at some point, Yamato seemed to take her aside and guide her in finding out how to use it with consistency. An hour later, Sai and Arashi were exhausted, and Tsubane was still trying, sweat dripping down her face, but with no success. Sai hoped she'd succeed and practice the jutsu when she did. It seemed cool the time she was able to manipulate wood.
Yamato seemed satisfied with their training and called it a day. Tsubane followed Sai to find out where his apartment was. She looked exhausted from training, so Sai told her to rest on the futon. They'd get to the orphanage after dinner to pick her things up. She didn't have much at the orphanage to her name anyways.