Animaster21
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Hey guys. This is my first fanfiction on the base, but not my first fanfiction; I've got an account on FF.net -
Now...on with the chapter!
But in the past few months, it seemed that things were settling down once again. Even after the unexplained defection of the village’s most promising new Shinobi, Sasuke Uchiha, there hadn’t been any further attacks on Konoha. Life, it seemed, was returning to normal.
The sound of clanging pots and hissing steam issued from Ramen Ichiraku, the local ramen restaurant, as inside the delicious food was cooked. The building was remarkably small for such a place; a bench inside for customers, shielded from the street by a few shades. They were pushed aside as someone entered.
Teuchi, owner of Ramen Ichiraku, looked around at the customer, smiling as he recognised the boy. He was a student from the academy, and an occasional visitor to the restaurant, popping in from time to time. Teuchi had an eye for faces, but the name eluded him.
The boy’s hair was charcoal grey, spiking roughly into the air. He was wearing an academy-issue light flak jacket, coloured the dark green that signified Konoha, and had dark gold eyes. A fishnet shirt stuck to his torso and arms, and a light black rope was tied around his waist.
“Hey, kid,” said Teuchi. “Haven’t seen you for a few months.”
“The academy sure keeps us busy,” said the boy. He stuck out his forehead, the dull gleam of steel apparent. “But it was all worth it.”
“Hey, you graduated!” smiled Teuchi. “Congratulations. The path of the Shinobi isn’t for everybody, I can tell you, so you must have what it takes to protect the village. Don’t let us down.”
The ramen-man served up a large bowl of his trademark food, sliding the bowl over the counter and in front of the boy. He grinned.
“Thanks, sir,” he said, and Teuchi shook his head, laughing.
“Oh, you can call me whatever you want…just not sir. I can’t have that coming from a ninja of the Hidden Leave Village.”
As the kid ate his meal, Teuchi busied himself by scrubbing clean some stubborn marks on old bowls. As he worked, he watched his customer.
“So you’re a genin, huh? We need more people like you. Ninja, that is. The more the better, I’d say. After all, what with the attacks recently…”
He trailed off, and the boy looked up from his meal curiously. Teuchi shook his head. “It’s nothing. The more protection we have, the safer Konoha will be, that’s all I’m saying.”
Finishing the ramen, the boy picked up his bowl and drained the leftover broth into his mouth, swallowing it all at once.
“Mmm-mmm,” he grunted. “That was the best ramen I’ve had in a long time.” The kid tapped his forehead-protector, grinning widely. “Duty calls, sir. I start my new training today. Can’t be late, so I gotta go!”
He slid backwards off his chair, and went to duck under the curtains, but Teuchi called him back.
“Sorry, kid, that meal isn’t gonna pay for itself,” he said, and the boy laughed, digging around in his pockets and pulling out some change.
“Sorry, sir! Here you go.”
Teuchi took the money, smiling at the kid. If everyone was like him, the world would be a much nicer place.
“Thanks for that, son. Say, what’s your name again?”
The boy tapped his headband again, grinning. “I’m Katsuto Naika. Gotta run!”
He ducked away and was gone. Teuchi went back to scrubbing at the stains on his old bowls, thinking to himself.
“Katsuto Naika,” he thought. “Nice kid. He’ll make a fine ninja, I’m sure.”
000
The buildings passed by in a blur as Katsu leapt over the rooftops. The roads through the Village were no fun to walk on, and he was almost running late anyway, so strolling along would only make him miss the start of his new life.
“Genin,” he thought, thinking once more about the forehead-protector tied around his head. “I still can’t believe I graduated. It already feels like the Academy is for beginners.”
In truth, he’d only graduated yesterday, when the other members of his class had taken the graduation exam. Thinking back, Katsu could barely remember the written part of the exam, but had successfully produced three immaterial clones in the practical portion of the test, as well as other such tasks like the Transformation Technique.
Leaping over the final building, he landed outside the Academy doors, wrenching them open and dashing inside. A long hallway faced him, but he quickly made his way down it and slid open another door, revealing the classroom.
The classroom was on a set of tiers, the back of the room being the highest and moving lower until the front of the classroom, where the large blackboard was fixed to the front wall. Desks and chairs were placed on each tier, allowing the Academy students to always be able to see the front of the classroom – as well as for the instructor teaching them to always be able to see them.
Entering the room, Katsu glanced around. Everybody in the room had also passed the exam; any failures had been placed in a different class. Katsu made his way between the desks to the far end of the classroom and sat down, sliding along the bench that served as a seat until he reached the end.
“Katsu, behind you.”
Katsu twisted around in his chair as he heard a quiet voice behind him. There were about fifteen other people in the class already, but only a few were talking.
“So, you made it through as well, did you?” asked the owner of the voice, and Katsu found himself looking at Hideki Gengo. Hideki was about a year older than Katsu, with black eyes and a short grey ponytail. “It’s good to see that so many of us did.”
Katsu looked around at the others. “Yeah, I guess. I heard that only a few people failed, though. I wonder who?”
Hideki shrugged. “It doesn’t matter for those who didn’t pass. Their path has ended.”
Katsu frowned. “That’s a bit heartless. I’d feel awful for failing when most of the others graduated.”
Hideki shrugged for the second time. “They’re not cut out to be ninja if they can’t pass the graduation test, everyone knows that.” He looked at the clock hanging from the wall. “Class starts in five minutes; from here on out, our training is a complete mystery. Who knows what will happen, so we’d best be prepared.”
“You’re right,” said Katsu, subconsciously tightening the thin rope around his waist. “Say, Hideki? How did you find the exam, anyway? Was it difficult for you?”
Hideki thought to himself. “Not really, although there were a few areas where I feel I personally failed. For example, my fifth clone was rather deformed. I didn’t have enough chakra left to complete it.”
Katsu was shocked. “Fifth? You mean you managed to create four perfect clones and still tried for a fifth?”
“He’s better than I thought…I only managed the three that I needed, let alone four.”
While chakra control and concentration were by no means Katsu’ weak point, he knew that such a feat was beyond him without preparation. For Hideki to be able to achieve it before even graduating sent alarm bells running through Katsu’s mind. Either Hideki was above average…or Katsu was below.
“I’d better work on that some more,” he thought. “That’s it; whenever I have free time, I will be practising my jutsu, mark my words!”
Hideki looked disinterested in his own achievement. “From what I have heard, it’s not such a big thing compared to another in the class. I have not yet found out whom, but one of us created six flawless clones.”
“Six?! No way, who was it?”
Hideki looked balefully at him. “Didn’t I just say that I don’t know who it was? You know all that I do about it.”
The sheer magnitude of this new revelation drove Hideki’s response from his brain. Dumbstruck, Katsu ignored the other boy and took a quick glance around the classroom, at the rest of his classmates. His eyes lingered on a few; Nano Donabume and Sumio Otogi among them, but he discarded them from the potential list. Nano was far more skilled at Taijutsu than chakra control, and Sumio…he seemed too quiet, detached, and harmless to be able to produce six clones at once.
As he gazed the room, his gold eyes narrowed as a particular person entered his field of view. A few inches taller than him (much to his great annoyance), with dark hair somewhere between navy blue and purple, Nachi Takaho was surrounded on both sides by her fellow kunoichi. Katsu scowled as he saw her.
“Great…” he thought. “Just my luck, Nachi made it through as well. Now, there’s one person I wouldn’t have minded to have failed.”
“But it does not matter anymore,” said Hideki quietly, drawing Katsu’s attention, and the genin saw that the pony-tailed boy had also been scanning their classmates. “The exams have come and gone; they are in the past. What matters now is what we’ll be able to do in the future.”
Katsu nodded confidently, attempting to push both Nachi and the six clones from his head. “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll head down a whole new path now. Because now we’re genin, after all!”
He jumped as there was a loud scraping noise, followed by a loud bang, as the door of the classroom was hurled open, and a figure stepped in. Almost everybody in the room looked over at the noise.
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed a loud voice, belonging to the newcomer. Short shaggy hair covered his head, and he wore his new forehead-protector around his waist like a belt. “Heads up, people! The tornado has entered! You’re all going to be swept aside by me, the newly appointed Head Genin, Daiki Sosa!”
A stunned and somewhat disbelieving silence followed his words, broken as several loud groans sounded across the room.
“In your dreams, Sosa…”
“Head Genin, yeah right.”
“He made it through?” groaned Hideki quietly, and Katsu sat back on his seat, grinning widely and laughing. He raised his arm and called across the room, catching Daiki’s attention.
“Hey, knucklehead, over here! I saved your seat!”
Daiki scratched his head, smiling sheepishly, and scurried past the other desks to where Katsu sat, sliding in next to him.
“Hi there, Katsu,” he grinned. “Boy, am I glad to see you here, I can tell you that! I only just passed, so you can bet that I was worried about you making it through.”
Katsu rolled his eyes. Daiki had some of the worst scores in the year. Katsu – and most of the other academy students – easily outstripped him. If Daiki had anyone to worry about, it would only be himself.
Hideki gave Katsu an exasperated look over Daiki’s shoulder, but Katsu only grinned. Luckily, while most of the class found Daiki annoying and his various antics ridiculous, Katsu had quickly made friends with the failure, and Hideki had also never shown outright animosity.
“You’re an idiot, Sosa. How you made it through, I’ll never know!”
Daiki turned bright red as a cocky and doubtful voice interrupted them. Katsu looked past Daiki to see Nachi Takaho standing in the aisle between the desks on their tier, hands on hips. She was grinning.
“Nachi!” hissed Katsu under his breath, bunching his fists, as Daiki frowned at her.
"I passed the exam because I’m a great ninja, Nachi Takaho!” he said indignantly, and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “How did you make it through?”
Nachi threw back her head and laughed, her blue-purple hair swishing behind her back. The girl’s spiky fringe covered one side of her headband, and she wore steel-backed gloves to protect her hands when she punched. Katsu couldn’t stand her, nor could she him.
“I passed easily,” she bragged. “A loser like you, Daiki Sosa, must have cheated somehow.”
“Hey, lay off him!” said Katsu angrily, standing up. “How could someone cheat on a practical exam, anyway, you smarmy walrus?”
“WALRUS!” screamed Nachi, flaring up immediately. “You can talk, you fishnet ferret!”
Hideki sighed wearily as Katsu and Nachi threw increasingly bizarre insults at each other, growing louder and louder until most of the class was listening in. Just in time, as they were right in each other’s face with fists raised and sparks flying between their eyes, a stern voice shouted through the classroom.
“Katsuto, Nachi! Get back in your seats right now!”
Katsu glanced to the front of the classroom, where a scowling ninja stood. A chūnin, he was their academy instructor, with a standard Konoha flak jacket and a high brown ponytail.
“Sorry, Iruka-sensei…” he mumbled, and sank into his seat, glaring at Nachi. The girl was still for a moment, veins pulsing in her forehead, but she turned and walked back to her desk, but not before drawing a finger across her throat at Katsu.
“You’re ssssoooooo gonna die later,” the gesture said, and Katsu poked out his tongue. As the class settled down, he felt that he definitely wouldn’t have minded a rumble with Nachi right then and there. She’d had it coming for a while.
“That’s more like it,” said Iruka. “There’s no fighting in this classroom.”
He ruffled the papers in his hands, looking around at the class. “Now, everybody. As of today, you’ve all been promoted to the rank of genin, a first-level ninja, and begin your official ninja careers. I hope you know; it won’t be easy. A Shinobi’s life is a difficult one, but I’m sure you can all advance in your lives and grow stronger.
“To help further your individual skills, you will be split up into several three-man squads, and assigned an elite jōnin to lead you and teach you.”
“Huh? Three-man squads?” murmured Katsu. “We’re not all going to be together?”
Hideki leaned forward behind him. “You didn’t know we were being split up? Of course we are.”
But as Katsu looked around the room, he saw that he wasn’t the only one unaware of that fact. Several of his classmates were looked worriedly at each other and holding small conversations. Daiki almost fell off his chair.
“Oh man, this is gonna be rough…” he groaned, and looked nervously at Katsu sitting next to him. “I hope we’re together.”
“So,” said Iruka, and the class fell silent. Tension was in the air as their instructor looked down at the sheets in his hand. “I will now read out the squads, so pay attention. You’ve been sorted based on your skills and talents to create a balance.”
The class waited with baited breath as Iruka began announcing their squads. With each group he also told them where to assemble to meet their new jōnin sensei.
“Who do you want to be with?” whispered Daiki, and Katsu shrugged.
“I don’t care so much, as long as it’s not with bloody Nachi…”
Daiki began to laugh quietly, but stopped when he heard his name.
“Now for Squad E: Daiki Sosa…”
Daiki sat up straight in his chair, looking around worriedly as Iruka began to read his team-mates.
“…Nano Donabume…”
Daiki swallowed as Nano turned to look at him. Nano was the most proficient in the class, but rarely conversed with anyone and preferred to stay alone. His headband was on a slant, covering his left eye, replacing the bandage that used to be there. His remaining black eye was fixed on Daiki, and a slight smile reached his mouth.
“…and the third member, Chinukani Gengo.”
Hideki chuckled, a few shorts ha’s. “Good luck dealing with my sister. She looks nice, but she can be a real hag sometimes.”
Chinukani wore a light purple short kimono covering her torso and lower body, and had two pigtails, one on either side of her head. She smiled warmly at Daiki, and he sighed in relief.
Iruka told them where to meet afterwards, and continued reading.
“Squad F: Nachi Takaho.”
The proud girl sat up in her chair, smirking as she looked around at the rest of the class. Then she laid eyes on Katsu and they scowled at each other.
“…Sumio Otogi…”
Katsu looked at the second member of Nachi’s squad. Sumio was small and frail-looking, with a short haircut that looked like it was glued to his head and wrappings covering his arms. He was pretty quiet, but was quite the smart one.
“…and lastly, Katsuto Naika.”
“ME?!” Katsu gasped, almost having a heart attack.
“WHaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAT?!” shrieked Nachi. “You?!”
“Iruka-sensei!” shouted Katsu loudly, slamming his hands on the desk and standing up violently. “There must be a mistake. You’ve read the wrong name, haven’t you? I’m not in Squad F.”
“He can’t be on my squad!” protested Nachi, and acting on the same impulse, they squeezed out from behind their desks and met in the aisle, pushing and shoving each other side as they ran down to the front of the classroom.
Iruka awaited them with a furious expression as they came to a stop in front of him, each jostling to be the first to speak.
“Sensei!” declared Nachi. “I refuse to work with this troll!”
“She’s insane, Iruka-sensei!” grunted Katsu, elbowing Nachi out of the way. She responded with a heavy punch to the jaw, knocking Katsu into a daze. He went cross-eyes, swaying on the spot.
“HEY, STOP IT!” yelled Iruka, and stepped between them. The instructor sighed, as Katsu shook out of his trance and stared daggers at Nachi. “Listen to me, both of you. This childish rivalry is exactly why you were put on the same team.”
He smirked, lifting a finger and wagging it. “After all, a true Shinobi has to learn to work with people they don’t like. And they also have to learn….TO NOT ACT LIKE IDIOTS! NOW GET BACK IN YOUR SEATS!”
Hideki shook his head. “Whoever their jōnin sensei is…He’s gonna have a reeeaaal rough time…”
000
Katsu cursed his luck as he walked. Beside him, Nachi sniffed poshly, and looked away stubbornly, arms folded. Katsu scowled.
“Who does that walrus think she is?” he thought spitefully. “I can’t believe that Iruka-sensei put us on the same squad!”
They had been told to meet their sensei at the gates out of the village, where they were heading now, walking down the only path to the gate. Behind the two rivals walked Sumio, the third member of the squad. His dark blue half-gi was tied at the front with a band, stretching around his stomach and stopping the gi from falling apart.
Sumio tilted his head curiously as they passed a bench on the side of the path. “If you two hate each other so much, then why are you walking next to each other?”
Katsu corrected him. “Actually, Sumio, I’m not walking next to her; she’s walking next to me.”
“Wrong, Katsuto. Wrong!” replied Nachi. “I was here first, so you’re walking next to me, not the other way round.”
“Sorry I asked…” muttered Sumio, as his two teammates began bickering.
Squad F reached the gate, and Katsu looked around. The square in front of the gate was completely deserted.
“Where’s our sensei?” he asked bluntly. “I thought we were meant to meet him here.”
Nachi rolled her eyes. “He’s not here yet, genius. We’re early.”
Sumio sat at the edge of the square in the shade of some buildings, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. Katsu glanced at him, then began to pace impatiently. Nachi’s dirty look grew more and more loathsome, before she finally screamed.
“Stop pacing, you idiot!”
Katsu stopped, but only to glare at his rival.
“Why, oh why did I get put with the biggest loser in the class?” lamented the dark-haired girl, staring at the sky, and Katsu cracked his knuckles.
“I bet I scored better than you, walrus,” he said confidently. “I scored higher than you on the test, remember?”
“Yeah, on the written test,” insisted Nachi. “But in the practical exam, I came top in the class. Six clones, beat that!”
A vein in Katsu’s forehead throbbed as he registered what she’d said, and then connected it to what Hideki had told him earlier. “It was YOU?” he exclaimed. “OOWWRR, I cannot stand this!”
He lunged at Nachi, who rapidly flashed her hands back and forth, making various shapes with her fingers.
“Hand-signs!” thought Katsu. “She’s using a jutsu…but not if I get her first!”
The genin swung his arm and slugged Nachi across the face, knocking her flat on her back. But even as Katsu stood over her, smirking, there was a loud poof, and she vanished in a cloud of smoke, which eventually cleared to reveal a small log lying where Nachi had been.
“He had to have been blind to not see that coming…these two are total psychos…” thought Sumio from where he meditated. Even though he was meant to have both eyes closed, he couldn’t resist watching the fight that was no doubt about to break out.
“What?” gasped Katsu. “Oh no!”
“How’d you like my substitution technique?” sneered Nachi’s smug voice, and Katsu spun to see her leaning against the gate, a cocky smirk on her face. The girl held a kunai knife, spinning it around by the loop in its hilt. “Now, let’s see you do better!” She flicked her wrist and the kunai hissed through the air towards Katsu, its razor sharp point glinting under the sun.
“She’s insane!” Katsu thought desperately, frozen to the spot. The kunai was going way too fast from too close a distance to dodge.
And just as it was about to stab into him, a hand flicked out of nowhere and caught it. Katsu let out a deep breathe, and staggered backwards.
“Come now,” said an unfamiliar voice, and Katsu looked at the man who had appeared from nowhere next to him. He’d snatched the kunai right out of the air between his index and middle fingers.
The man had short brown hair, his fringe held back by the forehead-protector that he wore. He smiled airily, black eyes sharp but joking at the same time. He was excessively tall, with a firm build and powerful-looking legs.
The man swaggered over to where Nachi stood and stabbed the kunai into the gate next to her, the blade spearing the wood easily. He leaned in uncomfortably close, and Nachi looked freaked out as the man’s face closed in to a few centimetres from hers, their noses almost touching. She leaned back sharply, but he followed, until Nachi was almost bent back at right-angles with the ground, and the older ninja was almost on top of her.
Suddenly he smiled widely, eyes closing. “You’re Nachi Takaho, aren’t you?”
“Y-yeah…” she said uncomfortably, and the man stood up, moving away. Nachi sighed in relief; it had been a weird experience.
“And I’ve heard from a close friend of mine – one Iruka Umino – that you have quite the rivalry with another. He even said that he’s never seen a thing quite like it, the way that you and your arch-rival constantly argue. Isn’t that right, Katsuto Naika?”
Katsu scowled. “You got that damn right! Did you see that? She could have killed me!”
The newcomer laughed. “Not much thanks for saving you, I see. Oh well.” He raised his voice. “Sumio! Come and join us!”
Katsu had completely forgotten about Sumio, the quiet boy not making a sound as he and Nachi had fought. He looked over at the shady area where their third member had been sitting, to see Sumio walking over. When he reached the man, he bowed deeply.
“I’ve looked forward to meeting you, sensei,” he said breathlessly and formally.
Katsu tilted his head. “Huh? What are you talking abou-” The genin cut himself off, looking doubtfully at the man. “Are you…?”
The Shinobi laughed heartily, and spread his arms wide. “Hello, students. My name is Taichi Bako, highly ranked ninja and jōnin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves! Oh, and did I forget to mention…team leader of Squad F, and your new sensei!”
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- and I've got some DBZ and Pokemon fanfics on there if you want to check them out. Anyways, back to business. I've had this fic on hold for a while but I'm gonna pick it up again. The first three chapters are already written, so I'll post all of them.Now...on with the chapter!
000
The morning sunlight radiated down into the Village Hidden in the Leaves. After the taxing invasion of Otogakure, the Sound Village – led by the legendary rogue ninja Orochimaru – and Sunagakure, the Sand Village, numbers and missions had been stretched thin. The newly appointed Fifth Hogake, Tsunade had certainly made an impact on the village since then, expertly organising the clean-up of the village, re-establishing treaties between countries, and forming good relationships with the people of the village.But in the past few months, it seemed that things were settling down once again. Even after the unexplained defection of the village’s most promising new Shinobi, Sasuke Uchiha, there hadn’t been any further attacks on Konoha. Life, it seemed, was returning to normal.
The sound of clanging pots and hissing steam issued from Ramen Ichiraku, the local ramen restaurant, as inside the delicious food was cooked. The building was remarkably small for such a place; a bench inside for customers, shielded from the street by a few shades. They were pushed aside as someone entered.
Teuchi, owner of Ramen Ichiraku, looked around at the customer, smiling as he recognised the boy. He was a student from the academy, and an occasional visitor to the restaurant, popping in from time to time. Teuchi had an eye for faces, but the name eluded him.
The boy’s hair was charcoal grey, spiking roughly into the air. He was wearing an academy-issue light flak jacket, coloured the dark green that signified Konoha, and had dark gold eyes. A fishnet shirt stuck to his torso and arms, and a light black rope was tied around his waist.
“Hey, kid,” said Teuchi. “Haven’t seen you for a few months.”
“The academy sure keeps us busy,” said the boy. He stuck out his forehead, the dull gleam of steel apparent. “But it was all worth it.”
“Hey, you graduated!” smiled Teuchi. “Congratulations. The path of the Shinobi isn’t for everybody, I can tell you, so you must have what it takes to protect the village. Don’t let us down.”
The ramen-man served up a large bowl of his trademark food, sliding the bowl over the counter and in front of the boy. He grinned.
“Thanks, sir,” he said, and Teuchi shook his head, laughing.
“Oh, you can call me whatever you want…just not sir. I can’t have that coming from a ninja of the Hidden Leave Village.”
As the kid ate his meal, Teuchi busied himself by scrubbing clean some stubborn marks on old bowls. As he worked, he watched his customer.
“So you’re a genin, huh? We need more people like you. Ninja, that is. The more the better, I’d say. After all, what with the attacks recently…”
He trailed off, and the boy looked up from his meal curiously. Teuchi shook his head. “It’s nothing. The more protection we have, the safer Konoha will be, that’s all I’m saying.”
Finishing the ramen, the boy picked up his bowl and drained the leftover broth into his mouth, swallowing it all at once.
“Mmm-mmm,” he grunted. “That was the best ramen I’ve had in a long time.” The kid tapped his forehead-protector, grinning widely. “Duty calls, sir. I start my new training today. Can’t be late, so I gotta go!”
He slid backwards off his chair, and went to duck under the curtains, but Teuchi called him back.
“Sorry, kid, that meal isn’t gonna pay for itself,” he said, and the boy laughed, digging around in his pockets and pulling out some change.
“Sorry, sir! Here you go.”
Teuchi took the money, smiling at the kid. If everyone was like him, the world would be a much nicer place.
“Thanks for that, son. Say, what’s your name again?”
The boy tapped his headband again, grinning. “I’m Katsuto Naika. Gotta run!”
He ducked away and was gone. Teuchi went back to scrubbing at the stains on his old bowls, thinking to himself.
“Katsuto Naika,” he thought. “Nice kid. He’ll make a fine ninja, I’m sure.”
000
The buildings passed by in a blur as Katsu leapt over the rooftops. The roads through the Village were no fun to walk on, and he was almost running late anyway, so strolling along would only make him miss the start of his new life.
“Genin,” he thought, thinking once more about the forehead-protector tied around his head. “I still can’t believe I graduated. It already feels like the Academy is for beginners.”
In truth, he’d only graduated yesterday, when the other members of his class had taken the graduation exam. Thinking back, Katsu could barely remember the written part of the exam, but had successfully produced three immaterial clones in the practical portion of the test, as well as other such tasks like the Transformation Technique.
Leaping over the final building, he landed outside the Academy doors, wrenching them open and dashing inside. A long hallway faced him, but he quickly made his way down it and slid open another door, revealing the classroom.
The classroom was on a set of tiers, the back of the room being the highest and moving lower until the front of the classroom, where the large blackboard was fixed to the front wall. Desks and chairs were placed on each tier, allowing the Academy students to always be able to see the front of the classroom – as well as for the instructor teaching them to always be able to see them.
Entering the room, Katsu glanced around. Everybody in the room had also passed the exam; any failures had been placed in a different class. Katsu made his way between the desks to the far end of the classroom and sat down, sliding along the bench that served as a seat until he reached the end.
“Katsu, behind you.”
Katsu twisted around in his chair as he heard a quiet voice behind him. There were about fifteen other people in the class already, but only a few were talking.
“So, you made it through as well, did you?” asked the owner of the voice, and Katsu found himself looking at Hideki Gengo. Hideki was about a year older than Katsu, with black eyes and a short grey ponytail. “It’s good to see that so many of us did.”
Katsu looked around at the others. “Yeah, I guess. I heard that only a few people failed, though. I wonder who?”
Hideki shrugged. “It doesn’t matter for those who didn’t pass. Their path has ended.”
Katsu frowned. “That’s a bit heartless. I’d feel awful for failing when most of the others graduated.”
Hideki shrugged for the second time. “They’re not cut out to be ninja if they can’t pass the graduation test, everyone knows that.” He looked at the clock hanging from the wall. “Class starts in five minutes; from here on out, our training is a complete mystery. Who knows what will happen, so we’d best be prepared.”
“You’re right,” said Katsu, subconsciously tightening the thin rope around his waist. “Say, Hideki? How did you find the exam, anyway? Was it difficult for you?”
Hideki thought to himself. “Not really, although there were a few areas where I feel I personally failed. For example, my fifth clone was rather deformed. I didn’t have enough chakra left to complete it.”
Katsu was shocked. “Fifth? You mean you managed to create four perfect clones and still tried for a fifth?”
“He’s better than I thought…I only managed the three that I needed, let alone four.”
While chakra control and concentration were by no means Katsu’ weak point, he knew that such a feat was beyond him without preparation. For Hideki to be able to achieve it before even graduating sent alarm bells running through Katsu’s mind. Either Hideki was above average…or Katsu was below.
“I’d better work on that some more,” he thought. “That’s it; whenever I have free time, I will be practising my jutsu, mark my words!”
Hideki looked disinterested in his own achievement. “From what I have heard, it’s not such a big thing compared to another in the class. I have not yet found out whom, but one of us created six flawless clones.”
“Six?! No way, who was it?”
Hideki looked balefully at him. “Didn’t I just say that I don’t know who it was? You know all that I do about it.”
The sheer magnitude of this new revelation drove Hideki’s response from his brain. Dumbstruck, Katsu ignored the other boy and took a quick glance around the classroom, at the rest of his classmates. His eyes lingered on a few; Nano Donabume and Sumio Otogi among them, but he discarded them from the potential list. Nano was far more skilled at Taijutsu than chakra control, and Sumio…he seemed too quiet, detached, and harmless to be able to produce six clones at once.
As he gazed the room, his gold eyes narrowed as a particular person entered his field of view. A few inches taller than him (much to his great annoyance), with dark hair somewhere between navy blue and purple, Nachi Takaho was surrounded on both sides by her fellow kunoichi. Katsu scowled as he saw her.
“Great…” he thought. “Just my luck, Nachi made it through as well. Now, there’s one person I wouldn’t have minded to have failed.”
“But it does not matter anymore,” said Hideki quietly, drawing Katsu’s attention, and the genin saw that the pony-tailed boy had also been scanning their classmates. “The exams have come and gone; they are in the past. What matters now is what we’ll be able to do in the future.”
Katsu nodded confidently, attempting to push both Nachi and the six clones from his head. “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll head down a whole new path now. Because now we’re genin, after all!”
He jumped as there was a loud scraping noise, followed by a loud bang, as the door of the classroom was hurled open, and a figure stepped in. Almost everybody in the room looked over at the noise.
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed a loud voice, belonging to the newcomer. Short shaggy hair covered his head, and he wore his new forehead-protector around his waist like a belt. “Heads up, people! The tornado has entered! You’re all going to be swept aside by me, the newly appointed Head Genin, Daiki Sosa!”
A stunned and somewhat disbelieving silence followed his words, broken as several loud groans sounded across the room.
“In your dreams, Sosa…”
“Head Genin, yeah right.”
“He made it through?” groaned Hideki quietly, and Katsu sat back on his seat, grinning widely and laughing. He raised his arm and called across the room, catching Daiki’s attention.
“Hey, knucklehead, over here! I saved your seat!”
Daiki scratched his head, smiling sheepishly, and scurried past the other desks to where Katsu sat, sliding in next to him.
“Hi there, Katsu,” he grinned. “Boy, am I glad to see you here, I can tell you that! I only just passed, so you can bet that I was worried about you making it through.”
Katsu rolled his eyes. Daiki had some of the worst scores in the year. Katsu – and most of the other academy students – easily outstripped him. If Daiki had anyone to worry about, it would only be himself.
Hideki gave Katsu an exasperated look over Daiki’s shoulder, but Katsu only grinned. Luckily, while most of the class found Daiki annoying and his various antics ridiculous, Katsu had quickly made friends with the failure, and Hideki had also never shown outright animosity.
“You’re an idiot, Sosa. How you made it through, I’ll never know!”
Daiki turned bright red as a cocky and doubtful voice interrupted them. Katsu looked past Daiki to see Nachi Takaho standing in the aisle between the desks on their tier, hands on hips. She was grinning.
“Nachi!” hissed Katsu under his breath, bunching his fists, as Daiki frowned at her.
"I passed the exam because I’m a great ninja, Nachi Takaho!” he said indignantly, and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “How did you make it through?”
Nachi threw back her head and laughed, her blue-purple hair swishing behind her back. The girl’s spiky fringe covered one side of her headband, and she wore steel-backed gloves to protect her hands when she punched. Katsu couldn’t stand her, nor could she him.
“I passed easily,” she bragged. “A loser like you, Daiki Sosa, must have cheated somehow.”
“Hey, lay off him!” said Katsu angrily, standing up. “How could someone cheat on a practical exam, anyway, you smarmy walrus?”
“WALRUS!” screamed Nachi, flaring up immediately. “You can talk, you fishnet ferret!”
Hideki sighed wearily as Katsu and Nachi threw increasingly bizarre insults at each other, growing louder and louder until most of the class was listening in. Just in time, as they were right in each other’s face with fists raised and sparks flying between their eyes, a stern voice shouted through the classroom.
“Katsuto, Nachi! Get back in your seats right now!”
Katsu glanced to the front of the classroom, where a scowling ninja stood. A chūnin, he was their academy instructor, with a standard Konoha flak jacket and a high brown ponytail.
“Sorry, Iruka-sensei…” he mumbled, and sank into his seat, glaring at Nachi. The girl was still for a moment, veins pulsing in her forehead, but she turned and walked back to her desk, but not before drawing a finger across her throat at Katsu.
“You’re ssssoooooo gonna die later,” the gesture said, and Katsu poked out his tongue. As the class settled down, he felt that he definitely wouldn’t have minded a rumble with Nachi right then and there. She’d had it coming for a while.
“That’s more like it,” said Iruka. “There’s no fighting in this classroom.”
He ruffled the papers in his hands, looking around at the class. “Now, everybody. As of today, you’ve all been promoted to the rank of genin, a first-level ninja, and begin your official ninja careers. I hope you know; it won’t be easy. A Shinobi’s life is a difficult one, but I’m sure you can all advance in your lives and grow stronger.
“To help further your individual skills, you will be split up into several three-man squads, and assigned an elite jōnin to lead you and teach you.”
“Huh? Three-man squads?” murmured Katsu. “We’re not all going to be together?”
Hideki leaned forward behind him. “You didn’t know we were being split up? Of course we are.”
But as Katsu looked around the room, he saw that he wasn’t the only one unaware of that fact. Several of his classmates were looked worriedly at each other and holding small conversations. Daiki almost fell off his chair.
“Oh man, this is gonna be rough…” he groaned, and looked nervously at Katsu sitting next to him. “I hope we’re together.”
“So,” said Iruka, and the class fell silent. Tension was in the air as their instructor looked down at the sheets in his hand. “I will now read out the squads, so pay attention. You’ve been sorted based on your skills and talents to create a balance.”
The class waited with baited breath as Iruka began announcing their squads. With each group he also told them where to assemble to meet their new jōnin sensei.
“Who do you want to be with?” whispered Daiki, and Katsu shrugged.
“I don’t care so much, as long as it’s not with bloody Nachi…”
Daiki began to laugh quietly, but stopped when he heard his name.
“Now for Squad E: Daiki Sosa…”
Daiki sat up straight in his chair, looking around worriedly as Iruka began to read his team-mates.
“…Nano Donabume…”
Daiki swallowed as Nano turned to look at him. Nano was the most proficient in the class, but rarely conversed with anyone and preferred to stay alone. His headband was on a slant, covering his left eye, replacing the bandage that used to be there. His remaining black eye was fixed on Daiki, and a slight smile reached his mouth.
“…and the third member, Chinukani Gengo.”
Hideki chuckled, a few shorts ha’s. “Good luck dealing with my sister. She looks nice, but she can be a real hag sometimes.”
Chinukani wore a light purple short kimono covering her torso and lower body, and had two pigtails, one on either side of her head. She smiled warmly at Daiki, and he sighed in relief.
Iruka told them where to meet afterwards, and continued reading.
“Squad F: Nachi Takaho.”
The proud girl sat up in her chair, smirking as she looked around at the rest of the class. Then she laid eyes on Katsu and they scowled at each other.
“…Sumio Otogi…”
Katsu looked at the second member of Nachi’s squad. Sumio was small and frail-looking, with a short haircut that looked like it was glued to his head and wrappings covering his arms. He was pretty quiet, but was quite the smart one.
“…and lastly, Katsuto Naika.”
“ME?!” Katsu gasped, almost having a heart attack.
“WHaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAT?!” shrieked Nachi. “You?!”
“Iruka-sensei!” shouted Katsu loudly, slamming his hands on the desk and standing up violently. “There must be a mistake. You’ve read the wrong name, haven’t you? I’m not in Squad F.”
“He can’t be on my squad!” protested Nachi, and acting on the same impulse, they squeezed out from behind their desks and met in the aisle, pushing and shoving each other side as they ran down to the front of the classroom.
Iruka awaited them with a furious expression as they came to a stop in front of him, each jostling to be the first to speak.
“Sensei!” declared Nachi. “I refuse to work with this troll!”
“She’s insane, Iruka-sensei!” grunted Katsu, elbowing Nachi out of the way. She responded with a heavy punch to the jaw, knocking Katsu into a daze. He went cross-eyes, swaying on the spot.
“HEY, STOP IT!” yelled Iruka, and stepped between them. The instructor sighed, as Katsu shook out of his trance and stared daggers at Nachi. “Listen to me, both of you. This childish rivalry is exactly why you were put on the same team.”
He smirked, lifting a finger and wagging it. “After all, a true Shinobi has to learn to work with people they don’t like. And they also have to learn….TO NOT ACT LIKE IDIOTS! NOW GET BACK IN YOUR SEATS!”
Hideki shook his head. “Whoever their jōnin sensei is…He’s gonna have a reeeaaal rough time…”
000
Katsu cursed his luck as he walked. Beside him, Nachi sniffed poshly, and looked away stubbornly, arms folded. Katsu scowled.
“Who does that walrus think she is?” he thought spitefully. “I can’t believe that Iruka-sensei put us on the same squad!”
They had been told to meet their sensei at the gates out of the village, where they were heading now, walking down the only path to the gate. Behind the two rivals walked Sumio, the third member of the squad. His dark blue half-gi was tied at the front with a band, stretching around his stomach and stopping the gi from falling apart.
Sumio tilted his head curiously as they passed a bench on the side of the path. “If you two hate each other so much, then why are you walking next to each other?”
Katsu corrected him. “Actually, Sumio, I’m not walking next to her; she’s walking next to me.”
“Wrong, Katsuto. Wrong!” replied Nachi. “I was here first, so you’re walking next to me, not the other way round.”
“Sorry I asked…” muttered Sumio, as his two teammates began bickering.
Squad F reached the gate, and Katsu looked around. The square in front of the gate was completely deserted.
“Where’s our sensei?” he asked bluntly. “I thought we were meant to meet him here.”
Nachi rolled her eyes. “He’s not here yet, genius. We’re early.”
Sumio sat at the edge of the square in the shade of some buildings, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. Katsu glanced at him, then began to pace impatiently. Nachi’s dirty look grew more and more loathsome, before she finally screamed.
“Stop pacing, you idiot!”
Katsu stopped, but only to glare at his rival.
“Why, oh why did I get put with the biggest loser in the class?” lamented the dark-haired girl, staring at the sky, and Katsu cracked his knuckles.
“I bet I scored better than you, walrus,” he said confidently. “I scored higher than you on the test, remember?”
“Yeah, on the written test,” insisted Nachi. “But in the practical exam, I came top in the class. Six clones, beat that!”
A vein in Katsu’s forehead throbbed as he registered what she’d said, and then connected it to what Hideki had told him earlier. “It was YOU?” he exclaimed. “OOWWRR, I cannot stand this!”
He lunged at Nachi, who rapidly flashed her hands back and forth, making various shapes with her fingers.
“Hand-signs!” thought Katsu. “She’s using a jutsu…but not if I get her first!”
The genin swung his arm and slugged Nachi across the face, knocking her flat on her back. But even as Katsu stood over her, smirking, there was a loud poof, and she vanished in a cloud of smoke, which eventually cleared to reveal a small log lying where Nachi had been.
“He had to have been blind to not see that coming…these two are total psychos…” thought Sumio from where he meditated. Even though he was meant to have both eyes closed, he couldn’t resist watching the fight that was no doubt about to break out.
“What?” gasped Katsu. “Oh no!”
“How’d you like my substitution technique?” sneered Nachi’s smug voice, and Katsu spun to see her leaning against the gate, a cocky smirk on her face. The girl held a kunai knife, spinning it around by the loop in its hilt. “Now, let’s see you do better!” She flicked her wrist and the kunai hissed through the air towards Katsu, its razor sharp point glinting under the sun.
“She’s insane!” Katsu thought desperately, frozen to the spot. The kunai was going way too fast from too close a distance to dodge.
And just as it was about to stab into him, a hand flicked out of nowhere and caught it. Katsu let out a deep breathe, and staggered backwards.
“Come now,” said an unfamiliar voice, and Katsu looked at the man who had appeared from nowhere next to him. He’d snatched the kunai right out of the air between his index and middle fingers.
The man had short brown hair, his fringe held back by the forehead-protector that he wore. He smiled airily, black eyes sharp but joking at the same time. He was excessively tall, with a firm build and powerful-looking legs.
The man swaggered over to where Nachi stood and stabbed the kunai into the gate next to her, the blade spearing the wood easily. He leaned in uncomfortably close, and Nachi looked freaked out as the man’s face closed in to a few centimetres from hers, their noses almost touching. She leaned back sharply, but he followed, until Nachi was almost bent back at right-angles with the ground, and the older ninja was almost on top of her.
Suddenly he smiled widely, eyes closing. “You’re Nachi Takaho, aren’t you?”
“Y-yeah…” she said uncomfortably, and the man stood up, moving away. Nachi sighed in relief; it had been a weird experience.
“And I’ve heard from a close friend of mine – one Iruka Umino – that you have quite the rivalry with another. He even said that he’s never seen a thing quite like it, the way that you and your arch-rival constantly argue. Isn’t that right, Katsuto Naika?”
Katsu scowled. “You got that damn right! Did you see that? She could have killed me!”
The newcomer laughed. “Not much thanks for saving you, I see. Oh well.” He raised his voice. “Sumio! Come and join us!”
Katsu had completely forgotten about Sumio, the quiet boy not making a sound as he and Nachi had fought. He looked over at the shady area where their third member had been sitting, to see Sumio walking over. When he reached the man, he bowed deeply.
“I’ve looked forward to meeting you, sensei,” he said breathlessly and formally.
Katsu tilted his head. “Huh? What are you talking abou-” The genin cut himself off, looking doubtfully at the man. “Are you…?”
The Shinobi laughed heartily, and spread his arms wide. “Hello, students. My name is Taichi Bako, highly ranked ninja and jōnin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves! Oh, and did I forget to mention…team leader of Squad F, and your new sensei!”
000
I'll post chapters 2 and 3 over the next few days xd See you then 
