I quietly make my way to the Academy with my hands stuffed in my pockets.
Why did I have that dream? I mumble softly to myself and sigh. I remembered they would be assigning our teams today so my slow walk became a jog and I made it 15 minutes early. Almost all the students were there, except some of the girls. A boy with red hair in a low ponytail and gray eyes swung his arm around my shoulder.
"So...Hotaru, isn't it about time we start dating?" he whispers huskily into my ear, but I show no reaction.
I slowly reach into my weapon bag, my hand resting there in case I needed a kunai.
"For the last time, Tomoe, please stop bothering me. I'm not interested," I replied dully and he smirked.
"You're hard to get, huh. I can play that game too," he mumbled again and I scoffed.
"Don't test me," I replied and held a kunai against his neck. "Now leave me alone."
He backed down, but that stupid smirk was still plastered on his face. This was a normal thing for me, Tomoe has been bothering me since we entered the Academy. He was annoying, but I had to deal with him. Sighing heavily, I slumped in my seat as the girls fought over who's sitting with Sasuke.
Sasuke...I didn't see what was so good or cool about him, he seemed like a normal, stuck up guy.
"Can you guys let him decide who he wants to sit with?" I asked the girls as politely as possible, making their heads turn to me.
"You just want to steal him away, don't you?" they asked angrily.
I shook my head and waved my hands defensively. "No, don't get the wrong idea, I don't want to sit with him at all. Just uh keep doing your things I guess," I mumbled, which shut them up for a while.
I watched as a blonde who wore orange jumped up on the desk and stared straight at Sasuke. I giggled softly at this. No one dared to stare Sasuke down like that. The girls started yelling at Naruto for getting in Sasuke's face, but their anger increased when someone pushed Naruto from behind, making their lips crash together.
I watched as the girls stared wide eyed at Naruto while he and Sasuke wiped their lips. They proceeded to beat him to a pulp. As much as I wanted to help the poor guy, I didn't want to feel the wrath of the fan girls, which happened to be all of the girls in my class. Well, besides Hinata and I.
I didn't know her very much. I knew she was a Hyuga and that she definitely did not like Sasuke. From my observations, I'm pretty sure she has a thing for Naruto.
As for me? I wasn't interested in anyone. I never really got to know any of the guys or girls, so I couldn't really decide whether I had romantic feelings for them or not. Really, the only thing on my mind was coping with life and not being a burden to others.
The fighting and my thoughts came to a halt when Iruka sensei walked in. Everyone sat in a seat. Naruto found a seat next to Sakura and Sasuke, while I was sadly sandwiched between Tomoe and his equally annoying best friend Jing.
Iruka-sensei bowed, and we did the same in return. Once we sat down, Naruto immediately raised his hand.
"We're getting our teams, right?" he asked. Sensei smiled and nodded. "You're right, Naruto. Like Naruto asked, you all are getting your teams. Since we have an uneven number of students, one team will be a team of four. First, Team 7 consists of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno-"
"Yes!" Naruto cheered, while Sakura groaned.
"-and Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka continued. This time, Naruto groaned and Sakura cheered. "Team 7 has the fourth member, Hotaru Hamasaki."
My head perked up to Iruka at the sound of my name. I looked over to the three that were seated together. They were all staring at me with different looks. Naruto was smiling slightly, Sakura was trying to analyze me, probably to see if I'm a threat to her "precious Sasuke" and Sasuke looked uninterested. When our eyes locked, he turned forward to Iruka who started calling the next teams.
"Team 8, Ino Yamamaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Team 10, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. Finally, Team 11, Tomoe Mimozono, Jing Watanabe and Ebiyu Fukushima."
"It's too bad you aren't on our team," Tomoe whispered and I glared at him, pushing him away.
"Now, each team will be meeting at a designated classroom, which is written on the board. After lunch, you will go to meet your new senseis. You are dismissed!" Iruka concluded and we all left our separate ways.
My days in the Academy are finally over and my days as a ninja has begun. Most of us ran outside to eat our lunch and I did the same. I walked to a little bench and opened up my bento box filled with food I made. Once I finished, I went to the classroom and waited. I was a few minutes early, but even after my other teammates arrived, our sensei didn't.
After around half an hour, Naruto decided to pull a prank on him/her. He placed an eraser between the door and wall. He sat back and giggled while Sakura and Sasuke scolded him. I shrugged my shoulders.
"I think he deserves it for being late. Go for it, Naruto," I said, supporting him. Sasuke seemed annoyed by our actions and probably thought he was superior or something. Whatever it was he was thinking about us, he was wrong.
We heard footsteps coming towards the classroom and Naruto seemed giddy. The door slid open and a head poked into the classroom, but the eraser fell on it. Naruto cackled.
"You idiot, you fell for it!" Naruto laughed and I slightly giggled along.
"Sensei, I'm sorry about what Naruto did. I had nothing to do with it, in fact I told him to stop, but Hotaru kept encouraging him to do what he wanted," Sakura said in an attempt to save herself. I glared.
So she's throwing Naruto and I under the bus to save herself, eh? Fine. When the day comes that you need me to protect you from something, I'll remind you of this.
Our new sensei stared at us, and I stared back. I had to say, he was weird looking. He had gravity defying silver hair, a skin tight mask that covered his mouth and nose, and his headband covered one of his eyes. I had to admit, he did not look like most people, but who am I to judge? He's a Jonin, who cares how he looks if he's strong. But then again, he fell for the eraser trick...
"My first impression of you is...you're a bunch of idiots," he said and I blinked.
Everyone's face fell in disappointment in themselves, including mine. In a way, we deserve that for pulling a prank on him, but then again he deserves it for being late.
We went up to the roof to start our introductions, which I appreciated since it was nice outside.
"Alright, so why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time?" out sensei instructed.
"Introduce ourselves? What would we say?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, you know. Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies. Stuff like that."
"Well, why don't you tell us first to kind of give us an idea of what we should do and learn about you," I told him and he sighed.
"Me? Well, I'm Kakashi Hatake. As for what I like and hate...I don't feel like telling you that. Dreams for the future? Never really thought about it. And hobbies...I have lots of hobbies," he said and I sweat dropped.
"Well, that was totally useless. All he told us was his name," Sakura said and Naruto nodded in agreement.
"Alright, now it's your turn. Blondie, you can go first."
"Believe it. My name's Naruto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen and I really like the ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop. I hate the three minute wait after you put the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different types of ramen and comparing them. And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage, then the village will stop disrespecting me and I'll be known as somebody important!" Naruto introduced.
"Alright, next."
"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like, well, the person I like...and my hobby is uh...and my dream for the future..." Sakura giggled for all of the things she talked about and glanced at Sasuke.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, clearly impatient with her responses.
"Naruto!" she yelled, which made Naruto cry out in emotional pain. Poor guy.
"Alright, next."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan and defeat a certain someone," Sasuke said, all of which was very dramatic. I sweat dropped at his introduction. He's so emo...
"Okay, last one."
"My name is Hotaru Hamasaki. I like the sky, especially stars. I hate being a burden to others...and my hobbies are training and watching the sky. My dream for the future is to be a strong kunoichi and be an adequate head for my clan," I said with a sheepish and shy grin.
"Good. Everyone is unique and has their own ideas. Tomorrow morning we'll have our first mission," Kakashi informed us.
"What kind of mission is it?" Naruto asked happily.
"It's an exercise between the four of us. A survival exercise," he replied.
"What do you mean? We went through all of that stuff at the Academy. That's how we got here," Sakura asked and Kakashi sighed.
"It's not like your previous training."
"Well, what's this training going to be like?" Naruto asked, and Kakashi unexpectedly started laughing. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
"Why are you laughing? It wasn't a funny question," I told Kakashi.
"Well, if I tell you the answer, you won't like it," he said in a sing-songey tone.
"What is it?" Naruto asked impatiently.
"Out of the 31 graduates here, only 13 will be accepted as Genin. The remaining 18 will be weeded out and be sent back to the Academy. This is a make it or break it, pass or fail test that will determine whether you become Genin or not, and there's at least a 66% chance that you fail," he explained. I glared at Kakashi, but a look of determination remained on my face. I wasn't going to let him scare me.
"I told you you wouldn't like it," he said matter-of-factly.
"What?? That's crazy! We worked hard to get here, believe it! Why was that stupid graduation test for anyways?" Naruto yelled.
"Oh that? That was to select candidates that might become Genin- or not. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the training grounds at 5 am and bring your ninja gear," Kakashi instructed and I sighed heavily.
If we were told that he was going to decided whether we became Genin or not beforehand, I would've tried to make a good first impression...but now it's all down the drain.
"That's it, you're dismissed. Oh, and one more thing. Tomorrow, skip breakfast or else you'll puke," he said, and with that, he disappeared.