Mai was waiting for Rin and Obito as usual since she had arrived very early at the Academy once again. She hadn't been able to sleep last night as she was barely able to contain her enthusiasm. It was also due to the fact that she hadn't wanted to miss Jiraiya leaving, so as to bid him a last farewell.
It had been peaceful and full of love as you could have expected, not like one of those bitter-sweet, or regretful goodbyes as it had been for Tsunade when she had to leave her daughter. No, that time it had been different. At least Mai was sure Jiraiya would come back one day, even if it wouldn't be so soon.
The man had actually told Mai he wasn't leaving for a mission but for a "long spiritual quest" as he had put it hence his planning to travel throughout various places all over the different countries and lands.
To be honest, Mai found it was not so bad of an idea. It looked really thrilling and interesting and she would have loved being by his side in his quest but obviously, she couldn't since she had hardly graduated from the Academy. She had still a very long path to go as the Hokage had pointed out.
But she was sure she would have the chance one day to do the same with or without him, well preferably with him, or with someone else, who knows. And she wouldn't blow it up.
He had also told her that he had waited that moment because now she could easily manage on her own and that she didn't need him anymore since he had taught, showed and told her about most of the things she needed to know. Mai had already become so strong that according to him, it wouldn't be long before she surpassed her mother.
After waiting for several hours on her own, her mind left to wander, Rin and Obito showed up, as well as some others.
For once, Mai waved at them first, before Rin did. She had a faint smile on her lips but was actually very happy to see them.
" Hey! You are still here so early? I wonder how you can even get up at these hours! " Rin said playfully.
Obito remained silent as usual, although with his personality he should've rather been the one to say that instead of Rin. He always seemed to be so shy whenever he was near Mai, except on some occasions depending on the circumstances just like for their final test he wouldn't hesitate to speak up his mind and go back to his usual self. Mai didn't pay very much attention to it though.
" Yeah I know, but I was so looking forward to this day that I couldn't sleep. " Mai answered nonchalantly.
" Oh, yes neither could I! I can no longer wait! I'm even more excited than yesterday! "
" Aren't you too Obito? " Rin added.
".... Y-yes of course I am! What are you thinking? "
Well, actually, he wasn't. He was rather anxious about the team he would be put in. He hoped it would be a good one and not with jerks. More precisely, he hoped he would be on the same team as Rin though he wouldn't tell her out loud, especially not when Mai was there. He had nothing against Mai but if he had to choose one female to be on his team it would be Rin. And the last thing he wanted was to hurt Mai (or make her angry in any way). It would be really rude on his part and fortunately, he had the intelligence to be aware of this though he couldn't explain why.
Mai looked at him carefully. She could feel he was lying but she shrugged it off. He must have had his reasons to do so.
" So, who would you like to have on your team? " Rin inquired eagerly, turning back her attention on Mai.
Mai seemed somehow to be embarrassed at the question. Actually, she had never really thought about it and didn't really care. Whoever would be with her would be fine.
" I don't know... What about you? "
Rin's smile could have lit up a whole room and brightened anyone's day. She clapped her hands together and closed her eyes before sighing happily. She seemed now to be lost in some kind of daydreaming which left Mai and Obito a little bit bemused.
Mai tensed up when she felt someone putting a hand on her shoulder from behind. However, she relaxed quickly when she felt Shizune's chakra.
She turned around to face the black-haired girl, a small but genuine smile appearing on her face as Shizune greeted her warmly.
" Hey! How are you this morning? "
" I'm grand, thanks! And you? Aren't you too overexcited? "
" Well, I'm certainly less than you are. " She responded amused.
Mai felt that she could be completely herself with Shizune, her true self. She had learned to love Shizune as a sister just like she had labeled Jiraiya her father. She felt light and merry in her presence. It was the same thing with Rin but at the same time, it was different. Whether it was because she and Rin were not related, she could not tell. It was as if Shizune had some kind of invisible bond that would link them forever. And it was reassuring for Mai.
" Hey! Miss Daydreaming, stop thinking about Obito and come with us! It's time to set for class! "
Mai began blushing furiously and closed her eyes tightly. She was left speechless. Anyway, it wasn't as if it were the first time. She tried to regain her composure quickly, praying the Kamis that nobody had heard what Shizune had just said, especially not Obito. Life has no mercy for me... She thought beginning to get a bit depressed.
But as she got a grip on herself and opened her eyes she noticed neither Obito nor Rin were beside her anymore. Only Shizune remained by her side.
" W-where are Rin and Obito? " She couldn't help but ask.
" They led the way. Rin wanted to take you but I told them to go ahead and that we would follow. "
" So what are we waiting for? They will be suspicious if we lag behind you know. " Shizune added as she began walking but Mai didn't move.
" I wasn't thinking about Obito! Stop with that already! " Mai exclaimed almost pouting.
Shizune stopped in her tracks and turned swiftly on her heels to give a devilish smile to her dear cousin.
" Really? Are you suuuure Mai? " Shizune cooed mockingly.
" Okay, I was lying when I said I was thinking about kaa-san yesterday but today I wasn't thinking about him! "
" Yeah, yeah. Whatever Mai. Come on now, I don't want to be late, and neither do you. "
Mai snorted but followed Shizune nonetheless.
******************
" Alright, now that everybody is here I can finally announce the teams. "
" First team... "
" Hey look! Kakashi is here too! " Rin exclaimed overenthusiastically.
" What!? "Obito snapped.
" Where? " Mai asked though she didn't even know why she was asking.
She didn't have any interest in the guy so why should she even care?
" Over there, look! " Rin showed her not so discreetly.
Anyway, Kakashi didn't notice them at all.
Obito looked as well in the direction indicated by Rin. He got angry in a flash and began cursing silently.
" What is he even doing here? He graduated like three years ago! " Obito protested bitterly.
Rin didn't even pay any attention to him this time as her eyes were glued to Kakashi. She seemed to be completely mesmerized by him.
As for Mai, she had her full attention focused on Obito. She felt bad for him. She knew he hated Kakashi with a burning passion. And she understood him totally, in all objectivity, the guy was a real douchebag, so arrogant and so haughty that Mai couldn't stand him anymore either. So she pretended he didn't exist. (Also because he was a better shinobi than her, at least in her opinion).
" Team seven: Hatake Kakashi, Nohara Rin, and Uchiha Obito. "
The three mentioned all twitched suddenly, a startled look plastered on their faces. They seemed to be unable to react for a while, as if time had stopped, leaving them frozen in their spots.
" Uh? WHAT??!! " Obito shouted losing his temper.
Mai unconsciously looked down to hide her disappointment while Rin was holding back a girly squeal. She was happier than she had ever been.
But Kakashi remained unmoved, except for the fact that he seemed to be greatly annoyed.
" And last, team ten: Hyuuga Tokuma, Katō Mai, and Sarutobi Asuma. "
Mai jerked her head back up instantly at the mention of her name. The three of them glanced between each other rapidly, but not in a hostile way.
" Right. Now that we are done, I'll let you be. Good luck in the future and I hope you will get along with your teammates and that your first missions will be successful. I'm sure we'll have the occasion to meet again anyway. "
" Your new senseis should arrive very soon so please wait for them here. Bye-bye. "
" Oh my god! I wonder who we will have as a sensei! " Rin finally spoke again, having snapped out of her trance.
" Hey Mai! How funny we are on the same team! " Asuma approached Mai as everyone was dispersing.
" Yeah... " Mai murmured as she had no idea what to say.
" A good thing I guess. " She added quickly in order to try to give a good impression.
A good impression? Seriously...? Mai thought with disbelief. She couldn't understand at all some of her behaviors sometimes...
It's not as if they didn't know each other... But from now onwards they would have to cooperate and get along so she might as well be sociable with her team members. Above all, she sincerely wished her new sensei would be nicer than her former one.
Asuma smirked slightly as he would always do whenever around others.
" Yep, sure is. " He said overconfidently.
" You couldn't have found someone better than me. "
Mai couldn't help but twitch uncontrollably at that statement. However, she managed to remain composed and calm, telling herself it would be useless to play along with him.
Because, as you probably didn't know, Mai had a very, very bad sense of humor and felt very uncomfortable whenever she would be teased or anyone would make some kind of joke.
Pretty bad, huh? Anyway, I don't care. We are shinobis, not clowns.
*****************
Team seven and Team ten were the only ones left and Obito was now getting impatient.
" What are they doing? Don't tell me they've forgotten us! "
Everyone looked at him except Kakashi who was reading a book, not caring about anyone as usual.
" Shut up baka. That's not an appropriate behavior for a shinobi. " The silver-haired boy said after a little while, cold and emotionless.
Obito turned around to face him as if he was ready to attack him. He was definitely blowing a fuse now.
" YOU BASTARD!!! SHUT UP YOURSELF!!! " Obito poorly shot back.
" Please, stop this, you're not going to fight, are you? " Rin demanded, beginning to panic.
" I hate you. " Obito muttered but the others still heard him, including Kakashi who simply ignored him.
Anyway, all of them turned their attention to the door as it was being opened, revealing a blond-haired young man with spiky hair and stunning blue eyes.
Oh no.
" Hey, guys! For those who don't know me my name is Minato Namikaze and I am in charge of team seven. " He said warmly, locking eyes with Obito, Rin, and Kakashi as he spoke the second part of his sentence.
Everyone eyed him attentively with what seemed to be awe in their eyes, except for Kakashi who seemed to be wary somehow and Mai who was internally relieved. For an instant, she had really thought that he would be their sensei. Not that she had anything against him of course.
" And you guys must be team ten. " He stated still in the same tone looking at them.
A light shade of pink adorned Mai's cheeks as he locked eyes with her, smiling. Hopefully, no one noticed it. She looked away quickly, trying to act normally as if this had not happened. She really needed to stop blushing for anything. It was always so embarrassing for her. She was meant to be a shinobi now, not a poor little girl anymore.
" Your sensei should arrive anytime now, so don't worry. I believe he had some business to deal with before coming to meet you. "
Everyone was mute, unable to say anything for some unknown reason, certainly because they were too captivated by the man's presence.
" Shall we go then team seven? "
Obito and Rin nodded determined as Kakashi stood up from his spot without saying a word either.
" Well, see you later then guys! " He said as he left in a flash, his team trying to catch up with him as fast as they could.
" Woah... This guy is really cool.. It's such a shame we don't have him as a sensei. " Asuma commented in sheer awe.
Mai and Tokuma glanced at him briefly but remained silent before turning back to the door.
" What do you think he's gonna be like? " Asuma questioned, ignoring their deliberate silence.
" Much to your liking, I hope. " A man's voice took the liberty of answering for them.
The three of them looked back intently in the direction of the door which had remained wide open. A tall man, about Minato's height, was leaning against the door frame casually. His hair was kept in a high ponytail and he had dark hair as well as dark eyes.
They all looked dumbfounded as if they had been expecting a completely different jounin.
" What is it? Am I so low compared to your expectations? I'm sorry if I don't fulfill them but I hope nevertheless that we will be able to work well all together. " He said simply with a subtle hint of humor in his grave voice, smiling at them slightly.
" Not in the mood to talk then, huh? Well, I grant you this is not the best place to have a nice long conversation so what about we go to a more peaceful place so that we can introduce each other and then begin what we have to do? " He suggested in a kind of playful tone.
They all nodded slowly, not feeling confident enough to voice their respective opinions. Even Asuma who usually was so laid back and talkative which was all the more surprising. They seemed somehow puzzled at their new sensei's attitude.
" Let's go then, folks. "
****************
" So, I guess it would be more polite to introduce myself first since I did not earlier. Sorry by the way about it. I did not mean to be rude. "
" My name is Shikaku Nara and as you already know I am a jounin. And so you will be in my care until you all become chuunins. "
" Let me guess, your names are Asuma, Mai, and Tokuma. " He added as he looked at each of them carefully as if he were examining them thoroughly.
" Yes. " They all said in unison though in a low tone.
This earned them another smile, a genuine one.
" Well, then before I begin assessing you, tell me more about you. "
They all looked at each other confused, not having anticipated this at all, thinking they would directly begin the 'serious stuff' as Obito had phrased it after this short introduction.
" But what do you want to know exactly? " Asuma was the one to speak up for all of them.
" Anything. Anything you find interesting to tell for the others to know about you that they don't already know. "
" Like personal stuff? " Asuma continued, not sure about what the purpose of it was, or if it was useful at all.
" Does that disturb you that much? " He asked still in that playful tone.
Asuma was still staring at him as if he were some kind of alien. Couldn't he be more serious as a sensei? Would he behave always like that? He wondered if team seven's sensei was just like him. Even if that Minato guy hadn't looked much serious either with his warm personality radiating, Asuma still felt he seemed to be different as if he had more the stature of a leader, unlike their sensei.
" No, it's just that we have nothing much to say. Well, at least, personally I don't. " He replied indifferently, shrugging.
Shikaku smiled again. This would be very interesting to work with them.
" No problem, it's alright if you don't have anything to say. And I highly doubt that you are interested in knowing more stuff about me anyway. "
" So let's make a start now, shall we? "
" Hai. " They all said in unison again but with determination in their voices this time.
" Fine. So as I haven't had the occasion yet to see how you fight here is what we're going to do: you will have to fight me together so that I can assess your level in practice. Do you have any questions about this? "
" Is this a kind of test? " Asuma asked somewhat skeptically.
" Well, if you're into competition and that kind of stuff then I guess you may say it is. "
" But what if we fail? "
This time Mai was the one speaking up.
Shikaku looked at her from head to toe.
" Are really all of you guys into competition that much? "
" No, it's not that. I mean our success will determine if we are worthy of being your students, won't it? " Mai answered.
" Well, we are a bit nonetheless, aren't you Mai? " Asuma interfered.
" Hey, relax. You're not at the Academy anymore. You have already taken and passed successfully your final exam so if you 'fail' this exercise I'm not going to send you back at the Academy if that's what you were assuming. I just want to see with my own eyes what you're capable of as I don't really know you. And you're just newly graduated genins so don't put too much pressure on your shoulders, okay? You are here to learn and make progress so it's normal in the beginning if everything is not perfect or if you 'fail'. "
They all seemed to be astounded again.
" Are you all ready now? "
" Hai. "
" Good. And don't forget, for this exercise you have to work as a team. If you want to make things easier, imagine that I am an outsider to the village that wants to fight you. "
" Alright then. Are you ready team ten? "
" We just said we were like a minute ago. " Mai said.
" But I say it as we are a team now. "
" Ever since our names were called, we've been a team. "Mai countered.
" Yeah I know! But as I've never had the occasion to say it it's the right time now! "
" Mmm... "
" Let's move away to go to that tree over there to put into place a strategy. " Asuma suggested, or rather demanded.
As they reached their destination Mai spoke up again.
" What is it with that tone? "
" What? There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Why? " Asuma replied, self-confident as ever.
" Please, even our sensei is much cooler than you? "
"Huh? Cooler? Oh come on, no one is cooler than me. "
" First, you are not cool, you're just a big head, and second you are not our sensei so don't start to act like this. "
" But this team needs a leader besides our new sensei. " He replied nonchalantly, ignoring what Mai said first.
" You. Are. No. Leader. Got it? " Mai protested though not threateningly.
" Hey, don't be jealous, I'm the most fitted one for this role, it's not my fault if you aren't. "
" What are you even talking about? We are a team, and that means we are all equal. Does that ring a bell? "
" Yeah, yeah, whatever. "
" Please, guys stop arguing, what will Shikaku-sensei think if he hears us? We are a team, remember? " Tokuma tried to reason calmly, though he was a bit worried.
" Yeah I know, but try to make understand it to that idiot. " Mai said gravely.
" Please come on. " Tokuma almost pleaded as Mai was looking at Asuma waiting for him to apologize.
" Hey, no need to make such a big deal for this. "
" Fine, I'm sorry Mai no one is the leader and we'll work as equal, is that alright? " Asuma eventually gave up and was now ready to cooperate.
" Okay, it's fine. Does anyone have any idea to defeat Shikaku-sensei? "
" Yeah, I think I have one. " Asuma replied, a smirk on his face.
***************
Team ten had been fighting their sensei for about thirty minutes but nothing seemed to work against him. Which sounded pretty logical since they were only genins.
" Okay, Mai you go and try to distract him while Tokuma and I will attack by surprise from behind. "
" But we won't defeat him with this kind of tactics, we've already tried something similar and it didn't work. " Mai pointed out.
" Because we didn't do it properly before; it was rather a way to see his skills and observe him carefully, but now it will be different. It will be much more efficient. "
" I'm telling you that it's not the right way to defeat him. "
" Do you have a better idea? "
" No, he's simply too strong for us right now. We will have to train very hard until we reach his skill level. "
" So are you suggesting we should just give up? "
" Well, that's probably the wisest thing to do, isn't it Tokuma? "
" Yes, I think Mai is right. We should wait until our next fight. Anyway, we will lose even if we do our best. We're just genins and he is an experienced jounin so there is no way we can match him in sparring, even if we are three against him. " Tokuma agreed.
" But can't you use your byakugan? That would be a great help to us. " Asuma insisted, unwilling to give up already without having trying again.
" You are so stubborn. Quit trying already. It's no use. " Mai tried to have the last word.
" Come on guys! Will you say that when we come face to face with an enemy and have no other choice than fight him if we can't escape? "
" We are a team and have to stick together, no matter the difficulties we may encounter, so who's with me? "
Mai and Tokuma exchanged a quizzical look before looking back at a determined Asuma.
" Fine, but it will be our last attempt, after that, we give up, okay? " Mai finally yielded.
" Yep. "
" And don't complain afterward, I won't even bother telling you 'I told you so'. "
" Yosh, here we go then! "
So the two boys went to hide in the nearest tree waiting for their turn to strike while Mai went to attack her sensei directly as told but as she was trying to get to him, running as fast as she could, suddenly she couldn't move anymore. It was as if her foot were glued to the ground.
" What- "
Mai looked down trying to figure out what had just happened while Asuma and Tokuma were observing her in shock. She looked up again to see her sensei was still in the same position as he had been, not ready to defend himself or strike back in any way. Mai should have known it would be some kind of trap.
What a fool...
She couldn't even turn around. Anyway, her sensei who had been standing casually in front of her disappeared suddenly.
Huh? A kage bunshin? How?
" You weren't alert enough Mai. You shouldn't have lowered your guard so easily. It may be really dangerous in a real fighting situation. Always be careful. "
Asuma and Tokuma got by her side swiftly.
" But this is... A shadow jutsu? But how? " Asuma spoke in utter amazement and surprise.
" Alright, I have seen enough. You have sparred very well in spite of this. I'm really impressed, you have such a good level and obviously work easily and naturally as a team and that's a very good thing. " Shikaku said satisfied, releasing Mai from his jutsu.
" Really? " Asuma asked for a confirmation.
Shikaku nodded.
" Of course. Let's call it a day then. We will have many more things to do tomorrow. So, have a good night sleep. So, I'll see you all in the morning. "
" See you tomorrow Sensei. " They all said simultaneously, before they parted ways with their Sensei, each taking a different way to go to their respective homes.
Mai was still very much puzzled. What was that jutsu her sensei had used on her? It intrigued her to no end.
She would have to ask him tomorrow.
**************************
Hey lovely readers! Here is the new chapter!
What do you think about it? And more specifically what do you think about Mai's new team? Did you expect something different? (I'm sorry if you did by the way)
I don't have really much else to say but if you have anything to suggest, please don't hesitate!
Thanks for reading and have a good evening! (or day depending on where you live)