𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 | 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 [HEAVY EDITING]

𝟏𝟎 | 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧

I look back up at Kakashi-sensei and catch that he'd been staring at me. Not just paying attention to me, like I first thought. It's the kind of look... where you're trying to see if you've seen that person before. I frown. Then, he speaks up again.

"Alright, next?" With a bright smile, Sakura starts.

"I'm Sakura Haruno!" she says. "What I like, u-uh... I mean, the person I like i-is..." Somewhat not very subtly, she glances over at Sasuke, who's doing his best to mind his own business. "U-Uh, my h-hobby is, uh..." And again. "My dream for the future is..." And once more, but this time she squeals, almost instantaneously slapping her hands over her mouth. I sigh inwardly.

"And?" Kakashi-sensei says. For someone so stoic, it's unfortunately obvious to me that he'd gotten a little annoyed at how slow moving this was going. "What do you hate?" Pulling her hands away, her previously excited expression turns into one of disgust.

"Naruto!" she says, with no hesitation. He springs forward on his hands and screams.

I frown. Even though I'm not very good at telling what people are thinking, I've always been good at sensing their emotions. It's very clear that Naruto values what Sakura thinks of him, even though she thinks the world of Sasuke and doesn't really think of Naruto much, otherwise. And, I don't think Sasuke likes anyone, as far as I've been able to tell. I've made friends with almost everyone I've spoken with since I've gotten here, and now that Sakura and Sasuke are in a group with me, I'm even more determined to befriend them.

Kakashi-sensei sighs at her. "Last one," he calls out. With no change in his expression, Sasuke begins.

"My name... is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." The redness on Sakura's cheeks fades completely. "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."

Things get... very quiet when he finishes. But, from what I've learned since my arrival, he's the only one left from the Uchiha Clan. Apparently, someone named Itachi killed everyone except for Sasuke... I can't even imagine something like that happening. It's so sad. I wonder if that's who he wants to destroy so terribly. I'm not going to pry—why would I risk ever being put into the same category as that "certain someone"?

"Good," Kakashi-sensei finally says. "Each of you are unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asks excitedly, sending him a one-handed salute.

"Seeing as we have an extra member on this team, certain things will have to be fixed and adjusted," he explains, "but it's a task that the five of us will do together."

"What? What is it?!"

"A survival exercise," he answers.

I deflate. "So... it's not a real exercise," I say, "just more practice...?"

"This isn't like your previous training," Kakashi-sensei says.

"So, uh, what kind of training is it, then?" Naruto asks. And then, very suddenly, our Sensei starts to laugh, sending a nervous chill down my spine.

"Hey, hold on a minute," Sakura rests her chin on her knees and frowns. "That was a normal question. What's so funny?"

"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it," he chides with a laugh. Then, he gets serious. "Out of the twenty-seven students – now, twenty-eight graduates – who came here, only three groups will be accepted as Genin. The remaining 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 fail is at least sixty-six percent."