Sasuke was never a person to be fashionably late. Instead, he would always be fashionably early by about an hour. Today was a prime example of this; it was only 7:00 AM when he arrived in the classroom, looking around with a hand in the pocket of his white shorts. No one was there yet. Not even his Sensei, Iruka. Having nothing to do, he took a seat at the desk. He sits straight and arrogant, with a scowl plastered on his face.
As time went on, students began to come in, some practically starting to harass Sasuke, much to his displeasure. He was quite popular in the Academy as everyone begged to sit next to him or get a reply other than "Hn." Even then, to the girls, that was hot of him to do. For Sasuke, it was quite difficult to get out of this.
Two girls in a blue of pink and blond sprinted through the doorway, squeezing to get in. Sasuke recognized the pinkette to be Sakura Haruno and the blond to be Ino Yamanaka. Those two were so-called rivals- each trying to win him over. Like everyone else, though, they fail. Sasuke was not interested in securing a girlfriend but instead of securing his older brother's head on a silver platter, a pitchfork, anything. The pinkette walked up to Sasuke first, and she smiles and waved.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" she greets and stood at the front of his desk, smiling as she flipped her pink hair, trying to show off its longness. There has been a rumor spreading around about Sasuke having a thing for long hair. Sasuke had to admit that this was partially true. He did prefer long hair over short. Now that Ino and Sakura were growing their hair out for him, he might have to change his interests... Maybe instead lie about liking baldness, just to see how many of his classmates eagerly shaved their heads to please him. It was an amusing yet stupid thought.
"Hn," he replied, crossing his arms, turning his head to the left at a window, and looks outside. He did not find anything particularly interesting about the outdoor scenery. He just did not want to converse with Sakura. The blond, Ino walks over to Sasuke as well, practically shoving Sakura to the side to talk with Sasuke. He did not make eye contact with either of them.
"Can I sit with you Sasuke-kun? You just look so lonely!" Ino exclaims with a concerned pout on her face. It almost seemed fake. Sasuke said absolutely nothing and continued to stare outside the window. He tuned the two girls out. To him, everyone at the Academy was weak and pathetic. The girls did not care about their training but only about him while the boys were just not a challenge to Sasuke.
'I need to get stronger,' Sasuke thought to himself, subconsciously drumming his fingers on the desk with one hand. He just hoped his new Sensei would teach him something, unlike his current instructors. He already knew his teammates would be useless no matter who he would be grouped with. He just hoped his Sensei would be somewhat useful.
More people began piling in. Shino Aburame, a creepy kid with an obsession with bugs. Kiba Inuzuka, a loudmouth, prankster, and a dog for his sidekick. Choji Akimichi, a pudgy boy who always had a bag of chips with him. Hinata Hyuga, a shy stutterer who was always scared of everything. The last to enter the room was Shikamaru Nara, a lazy cloud gazer. There were another eighteen graduates but Sasuke did not care enough to remember their names. They would be even more useless so why bother learning their names, anyway?
More time passed and people began to find their seats. Reluctantly, his two most loyal fangirls left to find seats of their own, finally realizing he was not going to let anyone (especially them) sit by him. Hinata and Kiba sat together, and so did Shikamaru and Choji. Shino, Sakura, and Ino sat with the other graduates. Sasuke, being the loner he was, sat by himself. The seat next to him was the only empty seat in the classroom. Besides the Sensei's chair, of course.
Minutes before the 8:00 AM bell rang, an unfamiliar girl walked into the classroom. Some of the chattering died down in the classroom, but it was not eerily silent. Sasuke looked over at the new arrival and could not help but gaze.
The girl had long waist length sun-kissed blond hair that faded to a Chinese orange color at the ends. She had thick strands of hair framing the sides of her face, going down to her armpits. She had heterochromia, with her left eye being scarlet red and with her right being a rich cerulean blue and had long voluminous lashes. She had a peachy skin tone with whisker like scars on her cheeks. Three on each side, to be exact. Sasuke wondered how she got them... Something he could not help but stare at was the thick orange scarf she wore. It looked familiar... The teen girl wore a black shirt with a thick dark grey jacket over it with plenty of confusing buckles and storage. She wore black shinobi pants (with lots of buckles and storage as well) and sandals. The thing that caught his eye the most, though, was that she wore two ninja headbands, one on each shoulder. The right one had a slash in it. It must have been a missing-nin's.
Once the girl turned Sasuke's way, he immediately broke eye contact and focused on the window again as if he was not just staring at her. The girl walked over to him and by now the entire class has noticed the new appearance. It was dead silent in the classroom as everyone just watched her. One graduate coughed to end the awkward silence. The new teen slid the wooden chair out that was next to Sasuke, sat, and scooted herself forward against the desk. Ino and Sakura watched the scenario unfold, probably wishing they were in the teen girl's situation.
Sasuke shifted, and no longer stared at the window, but now at the girl again. Specifically, the headband that had the slash in it. He simply could not keep his eyes off of it.
"Why do you have that?" Sasuke asked quietly with a scowl on his face as he stared and beckoned a hand at it. It reminded him of his brother, of why he hated him, how he dreamed of taking his life, the usual. Eventually, the class began talking again in hushed whispers, most likely about the girl. The girl shrugs.
"Because I can. It makes me look more intimidating," she replies. Sasuke scoffed, drumming his fingers on the desk again.
"More like a weirdo." Sasuke smirked, and the teen frowned, annoyed.
"The only thing weird here is your haircut," the teen said beckoning at Sasuke's hair. "It looks like a duck's ass," she insulted, smirking as Sasuke's smirk faded away into his usual scowl as he crossed his arms, his face turning slightly red.
"Who do you think you are saying that to me? Do you have any idea who I am?" No one had the right to insult him, the Last Uchiha. One of his hands was on his lap underneath the desk and clenched it, making a fist. The girl shook her head.
"No, I have no idea who you are. You seem quite weak to me," she dryly said, now examining her nails, completely uninterested. Sasuke glared from her remark. For surely she was joking.
"Me, weak? I'm the most powerful graduate here. I don't know who you're supposed to be, but I do know you don't belong here," he rudely remarks, staring at her different colored eyes intensely.
"As if you belong here. It seems like to me you're nothing but an arrogant dude with a giant a tick shoved up your—" The teen couldn't finish her words before the bell loudly rang and the teacher, Iruka walked in making everyone silent.
"We'll continue this later," Sasuke whispered and the girl just rolled her eyes, now staring at Iruka. Sasuke rolled his eyes and finally stared at the desk, lacing his fingers together, elbows resting on the table, and his chin rested on the back of his hands. He closed his eyes and awaited Iruka's statement.
"Good morning, everyone!" The Chunnin Sensei greeted. The class greeted the Sensei back before going silent. Iruka stares at the girl. "Who are you?" He asked with a confused frown on his face. He has never seen her before.
"I am Natsumi Saido," she began and Sasuke scoffed.
"What a basic name," Sasuke muttered quietly, just loud enough for her to hear as he opened his eyes. Natsumi looked like she was about to say something, but continued to direct her attention toward Iruka.
"Lord Hokage recommended me last night. I believe you received a file, correct?" She asked blandly. Iruka nodded.
"Yes, I have," Iruka replied, and he held up a file that was in one of his hands. He must have just received it. "The list of the teams are also in her as well," he announced to the entire class. He sat down at the deck that was at the very front of the classroom. He set the file down and smiled at the class. "As of today, you are all ninja. 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 Genin will be grouped into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a Jonin, an elite ninja."
Ino and Sakura glanced at Sasuke and then at each other. Since a squad had three people, that meant at least one of them could get paired with their dear Sasuke.
"Well, someone's got to be in Sasuke's group. I wonder who," Ino whispered at Sakura, smirking at her. Sakura glared at Ino, annoyed at the blond.
"I don't know," was all she said. She continued glaring at Ino and gritted her teeth. She appeared to be thinking about something. Meanwhile, Sasuke narrows his eyes at Iruka, also thinking as he let out an inaudible sigh.
'Three man squads, eh? That will only slow me down...' The Uchiha thought. Some slight chatter began in the classroom again and Iruka did a punch into his fist to quiet the class down.
"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths a abilities, so that's how we set them up." He waves the file around and pulls a paper out of it. "I will now announce the new squads!" He began announcing the squads and Sasuke only began listening when he heard his name. "Squad Seven! Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno—" Sakura began cheering and making faces at Ino, mainly just sticking her tongue out.
"Ha! Take that Ino-pig!" Sakura laughs at her, smirking and giggling.
Ino let out a, "hmph!" And crossed her arms, glaring at Sakura feeling a bit enraged Sakura got put on a squad with her Sasuke.
"—and Nesami Saito!" Iruka announces and then Nesami and Sasuke lock eyes. It almost looked like they had something for a minute before they glared at each other.
"Try to keep up, loser." Natsumi raised a brow at the insult.
"I'd be more concerned about yourself. You seem to be lacking. Did you ever hit your head as a child?" She asked in a bored tone. Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"You're the one with the crazy eyes."
"And you're the one whose hair looks like a duck butt," she says as they argue, whispering at each other. Iruka let out a cough that was most definitely directed at the two. They stopped the insults and avoided eye contact with one another.
"Squad Eight!" Iruka began again. "Hinata Hyuga!" The shy heiress jumped slightly at the sound of her name. "Kiba Inuzuka!" The boy with the dog cheered, seeming rather fond of the Hyuga. He grinned and chuckled. "And Shino Auburame!" Shino adjusted his black shades and seemed to be quietly talking to a bug on his finger. Iruka announced Squad Nine and then moved on to Squad Ten. "Squad Ten! Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara—" Ino gasped in horror and Shikamaru let out a laugh.
"Didn't you say something about not wanting to be in my squad earlier?" Shikamaru asked, smirking as he lazily rested his cheek on his hand. Ino let out a slight growl, clenching her fists.
"—And Choji Akimichi!" Ino groaned and Shikamaru smiled happily. Shikamaru and Choji were known to be the best of friends.
"Ughhh! Not Fatty too!" Ino whined and Sakura just laughs again, sticking her tongue out.
"True love conquers all!" Sakura exclaimed at Ino, making a peace sign.
"Those are all the squads," Iruka says, putting the paper back in the file again before laying it on his desk. "After lunch, you'll meet your new Jonin teachers. Until then, class dismissed!" With that being said, the students left the classroom with only a few remaining. Sasuke and Natsumi being some of them.
"Want to spar, loser?" Sasuke asked, getting up from his chair and sliding it against the desk. And then leaned against the wooden window frame. Natsumi shrugs.
"If you wish. Just don't blame me when you get your sorry butt kicked," she said, now standing up and sliding her chair in. Sasuke rolls his eyes, scoffing.
"Let's just go," Sasuke said and began walking out and Natsumi did the same. Both of them shoved their hands into their pockets as they walked side by side.
The two decided to settle their quarrels on Training Ground Seven. Once the two reached the spot, they walked to the middle and stopped.
"Try not to break any of your bones," Natsumi said to Sasuke, facing him with her hands still in her pockets. Sasuke let out a slight scoff.
"Don't embarrass yourself, loser," he replied back. Natsumi just shrugs and turns away from the Uchiha.
"Let's just get this started." Sasuke nodded and the two walked in opposite directions. Once the two got some distance in between each other, they stopped walking and turned around now facing each other.
"Ready..."
"Set..."
"Go!" For the first few seconds, neither one of the genin moved. Sasuke, however, started to run up towards Natsumi. She waited until he got closer to sidestep out of the way when Sasuke aimed a punch at her face. Sasuke lunged forward and then used that momentum to sweep at her legs as he spun and then stood. Natsumi quickly jumped out of the way to the side. Her shoulder brushed up against a tree and she moved to the other side.
"Is that the best you got, Uchiha?" She asked, putting her hands together, ready to do some hand signs. Sasuke did the same.
"Of course not. I'm just going easy on you," he retorted. He took a breath and yelled out, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" He took an even deeper breath and blew hard and fire erupted out of his mouth and towards Natsumi. Natsumi had to roll out of the way so she did not get burnt to a crisp. As she rolled, Sasuke turned so his body faced along with the fire. She had to stand up and quickly broke out into a run with her hands still together. She did a sign.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Just like five other versions of her appeared as Sasuke's fire died down until it disappeared entirely. He stared at the clones and narrowed his eyes cautiously. He has not seen these before. He pulled out several shuriken and threw them at the clones; however, every single one of them dodged. Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration. The clones all charged Sasuke, ready to attack.
Once the clones reached Sasuke, they began to unleash a fury of strikes on him. Sasuke was doing quite well and even managed to make four out of the six versions poof. Sasuke grabbed a kunai and began slashing at the two. The Natsumis just dodged, however, so they were backing up and soon both of their backs pressed against a tree trunk. They were now cornered. Sasuke smirked. He got them now. He slashed at one, making them poof, but the real Natsumi kicked Sasuke in the gut, sending him flying and landed a few yards ahead of her.
"I expected more out of an almighty Uchiha," Natsumi said as she approached him with a triumphant look in her eyes.
"Shut up!" He hissed and quickly staggered to his feet. He sprinted up to her, and she moved to the side. This time though, she was not fast enough to dodge Sasuke's second charge. The second time he charged, he tackled her, sending each other into the grass and he landed on top of her. He pinned her arms with his hands but she knees his stomach. He got up enough for her to be set free as he hunched over to the side, wheezing. This time Natsumi tackled Sasuke to the ground. She was on top of him and quickly ignored his hard stomach as she aimed a punch at his face. Just as she began to swing it, something grabbed her arm—correction: someone.
"Now, now, no need to get so fired up," said a man, his tone nearly mocking. He had spiky silver hair and his ninja headband covered his left eye. To add to his mysteriousness, he also wore a black cloth mask. About seventy-five percent of his face was covered. "We're all on the same side, aren't we?" the man asked, staring at the two intensely. Natsumi just shrugged and Sasuke glared at the man.
"Who the hell are you?" Natsumi asked, standing up no longer on Sasuke. Sasuke stands up as well, dusting off his shorts and shirt.
"Oh, me?" The man points to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake, Squad Leader for your group: Squad Seven," the man explained. Natsumi glared at Kakashi and her eyes were suddenly full of hate towards the man. Kakashi stared back, blinking once and then shrugs. "I have already met with your pink-haired friend. She's on the roof. Follow me." Kakashi beckoned the two to follow him and the duo complied, glaring at each other and giving a look that clearly said the following.
'This isn't over.'
AN:
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