Hammer Time!
This was the day. The day after everyone graduated. Part of me was unreasonably excited about this. Surprisingly, even Naruto had graduated. Though, I’d heard it wasn’t exactly the standard graduation.
I was sitting in the back of the classroom, waiting.
“Ahhh, graduation day. The day we find out what team we are placed on!” Kiba plopped down in the seat next to me. “I hope I end up on your team.” He bumped my shoulder.
Hinata, already seated on the other side of me, leant around Kiba to smile. “I-I do t-too!”
“Knowing your luck, you’ll be put on Sasuke’s team,” Kiba joked, bumping me again, laughing.
I glared at him, elbowing his side. “Shut up, he’ll hear you!” I hissed, turning my head in the direction of the aforementioned person.
He had his head turned slightly in our direction, so I knew he’d heard what was said. Even if he wasn’t looking directly at us, I knew he’d heard.
Of course, he could also have been paying more attention to us because Kiba was still howling in laughter. I punched his shoulder. “Shut up! Don’t bring unwanted attention to us. We don’t want to be the loud-!”
“Sasuke-Kun, I’m gonna sit by you!”
That noisy outbreak came from Sakura, quite literally trampling poor Naruto to sit by that annoying raven-haired boy. Her outburst had most certainly made her the center of attention, and almost every girl in the room was glaring at her as she scooted her chair closer to him, beaming happily.
I rolled my eyes, turning away from that catastrophe, until I heard a low thump. Naruto had leapt onto the table, and was now glaring straight at Sasuke.
“Oh, Gods, not again,” I muttered, turning toward Kiba. “Don’t you dare try to jinx my chances of getting on a team with him. I will literally-!”
Kiba burst out laughing, pointing. “Oh, whoa! No way! Look!”
I looked, and also promptly burst out laughing. I could barely hear Hinata giggling softly beside me. Kiba, Hinata, and I were the only three full-on laughing. The rest of the class was either seething in anger, or just staring in shock. The angry portion of the class, the girls, were divided almost in half between glaring at us, and glaring at Naruto.
Satsugai-Sha jumped out of his seat as the girls converged on him. All he did was stand beside him, glaring at everyone, but they backed off.
Just barely, I heard Naruto whisper, “Thanks. I thought I was gonna die!”
Satsugai-Sha nodded, and went back to his seat, glaring at anyone who looked too hard at Naruto.
Even I had to admit, Satsugai-Sha was a little intimidating.
Iruka-Sensei walked into the classroom, completely oblivious to what happened. He got to the middle of the front of the room, and turned toward us, smiling, eyes flitting from one student to the next. “Starting today, you are no longer my students. You are real Shinobi. You are Genin, as of today. Your journey from here on out will be even more difficult, and soon, you will begin to go on missions, helping the village. Today, we will be placing all of you onto three man teams. Each team will have a Jounin-Sensei. You will be under your Sensei’s instructions to complete your missions, and that is important for your success.”
“We tried to balance each team’s strengths, and make up for their weaknesses.” There was a small outburst, but Iruka-Sensei kept talking. “So Team 7 will be Haruno, Sakura.”
She sat up straighter. I couldn’t see her face, but I could bet she was glancing expectantly at Sasuke.
“Uzumaki, Naruto!”
Her forehead hit the table while Naruto jumped up from his seat, yelling out happily.
“And Uchiha, Sasuke.”
Their positions reversed.
“It’s funny,” I whispered, “how similar those two are, and they don’t even see it. How don’t they see it?”
“I’ve no idea. You’d think they’d get along because of it.”
“Iruka-Sensei! Why do I, an outstanding Shinobi, have to be on that prick’s team?!” Naruto yelled out, standing straight up, pointing at the boy in question.
Honestly? I was just happy it wasn’t me.
“Sasuke’s grades were the best in all 30 students. Yours, Naruto, were dead last. We did this to balance the teams.”
I didn’t hear whatever Sasuke said, but Naruto’s next words were, “What did you call me!?”
“Give it a rest, Naruto!” Sakura told him. She was already trying to keep the peace. Or stand up for Sasuke. Hard to tell.
“Team 8 will be,” he checked his notes, “Inuzuka, Kiba.”
He sat up straighter, poking me with his elbow excitedly.
“Hyuuga, Hinata.”
Now he was positively vibrating.
“And Aburame, Shino.”
It was almost comical how fast his mood dropped. He turned, probably to look at Shino.
The quiet boy.
He growled slightly under his breath. “Dammit.”
“Team 10 will be Yamanaka, Ino, Akamichi, Choji,” he again checked his notes, “and Nara, Shikamaru.”
I did a quick count of the others, trying to calculate exactly what team I’d be on, but there were still too many people to guess accurately.
“Team 6,” what happened to Team 11, “will be Yara, Umegi.” A pause. “Izumo, Hasano, and Hoshikuzu-Hyuuga, Seishiryu.”
I gritted my teeth at that last name, but said nothing. I’d stopped fighting it a long time ago. I was actually more caught up on the name, for just a moment, than I was on the actual team members, but once I did, I fought the urge to turn and stare at them.
“Oooh, you got the hyper dude,” Kiba whispered, shivering. “Sorry, man. That’s just great.”
It was told to us to wait for our new Sensei. As it turned out, everyone else’s showed up first. With the exception of Team 7.
So this was how I found myself waiting in the back of the classroom, while Sasuke waited in the middle. I sat in the corner, as far from him as I could get, while also making myself the smallest target I could.
It was quiet, mostly. Naruto kept mumbling to himself, but other than that, it was pretty silent.
I sat staring at my desk for the longest time, chewing on my lower lip. The other two members of my team were just as quiet. Well, except Hasano’s constant chewing on, what was it, bubblegum? Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, pop! I jumped at the pop, and started to turn to glare at the fucker, but as my eyes swept past Sasuke’s still form, I stopped.
He was staring down at the tabletop in front of him. He wasn’t chewing on his lip or clenching his fists, but I could see the tension in him. It was his eyes. The way he was staring at the tabletop, the look in his eyes.
I was suddenly struck with nostalgia, staring at him, staring at his desk. That look in his eyes, he was thinking about his family. That threw me back to thinking about my own family, and I realized exactly what he was feeling. Sadness. Grief. The desire to share this graduation with family, with people that matter. I felt that. I knew he was feeling it hard, because usually he’d feel my eyes on him by now, and turn to scowl at me.
He didn’t turn to look back at me until a good five minutes into me staring at him, and the look he gave me wasn’t a scowl. Just a carefully empty expression.
Knowing he was trying so hard to be neutral, and not wanting to break that concentration, I turned my eyes away, but not before giving him a small, sad smile. The smile had been a reaction, something I really hadn’t meant to do, but it slipped out before I could stop it.
And now he was staring at me, that same carefully empty look on his face. He started to push his chair back, like he was going to stand. I have no idea what would’ve happened then, because the door slid open.
The person standing there could’ve been our age. She had to have been about my height. Maybe a little taller. She was wearing a black pair of form-fitting pants, with brown holster straps on both knees, holsters on her hips, a red, long-sleeved shirt pushed to her elbows, and a black, high-collared undershirt. The collar of the black shirt hit her chin, and the red shirt was unbuttoned slightly more than halfway, and I could see skin where the black undershirt ended just under her breasts. Fingerless gloves, mesh elbow length gloves underneath, covered small, delicate hands. Her dark brown hair was waist-length, thick, and straight as a nail. Eyes were a bright green, and upturned slightly at the corners, standing out in a pretty, narrow face. She definitely looked young, about our age, but the look in her eyes was much older. “Izumo, Hasano.” She was looking at a piece of crumpled paper, one with our names on it probably. “Yara, Umegi, and Hoshikuzu-Hyuuga, Seishiryu.” She looked up from that paper, tossing it to the floor carelessly. “Come on. We’re late.”
Hasano ran down toward her, tripping about five feet away and face-planting on the floor. Umegi, whom I’d never really paid attention to before, skipped down toward her. Me? I hesitated. This was my new group. It wasn’t the group I wanted. Hell, I’d never spoken to either of those kids before. Umegi was too girly, if I was honest, and Hasano was loud, boisterous, and crazy. I avoided them both. Now . . . now, I had to stand and make my way down there, to the people I avoided the most.
All three of them watched my descent with varying expressions. Hasano was excited, bouncing in place, with a blood-streak across his upper lip from where he’d hastily wiped blood off his face. Umegi was blushing, but excited. The woman, who even Hasano was just slightly taller than, watched me with an unreadable face. Blank, empty almost. Nothing.
She’d turned and started tapping her foot before I’d gotten more than halfway down.
I passed Sasuke’s row, and he reached across to grab my wrist, making me turn to look at him. His expression was just as unreadable as my new Sensei’s. “Don’t blow it,” he told me, voice low. “Don’t just blurt it out.”
Earlier that morning, on the way here, he’d come across me sleeping in the forest. He’d awakened me, and I’d come to in a blurry state, cursed at him, then apologized, and explained why I’d been so testy when he’d wakened me. I’d collapsed there last night, after training for hours with Neji, and dreamt all night about my sisters.
Actually, dreamed wasn’t the right word. More like, nonstop nightmares. All night. I’d woken up from that nightmare in an irritated mood, and ended up saying things that not even I would say, and apologized. The apology apparently had made him very suspicious, and he’d questioned me until I’d blurted out the nightmares. He’d convinced me not to ditch the village right there and go look for my sisters and to talk to my future Sensei about it instead.
I nodded, not missing the confused glare from Sakura, and shook his hand off my wrist. “I will. I . . . I promise.” By the time I got to my team members, our Sensei was already halfway out of the building. We had to walk a little faster to catch up to her.
She said nothing. Literally nothing. And even shushed Hasano several times, until we found ourselves deep in the forest. Then she finally stopped, turned toward us, and smiled. It seemed like a friendly smile, but there was something about it that I didn’t really like. “Most Sensei will begin their training tomorrow. I, on the other hand, believe there’s no better time to start than today.” She started walking toward something, with light, sure steps. Her shoulders were straight, held high, back extended, perfectly postured, and her arms waved back and forth as she moved. Five, ten, fifteen steps, then she reached up and began pulling her long, brown hair into a messy ponytail. “I’m not gonna waste time getting to know you, either, because you may not even stick around.”
I glanced at the other two, not sure what she meant.
“See, here’s how this goes.” She ducked behind a tree for a good twenty seconds, then came back out wielding a giant hammer, slung over one shoulder, and that same smile that seemed friendly, but really wasn’t. “You only get to graduate if you impress me and pass my test. If you don’t,” she raised her hand to study her nails, “then it’s back to the Academy you go.”
All three of us then straightened, and we exchanged wary glances with each other. Hasano was the only one to raise his hand, and wait for her to look at him. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, as if not sure if he should speak or not, but then blurted out, “How are we supposed to impress you?”
The smile seemed, to me, to get even more dark. “I’ll get to that in a moment. First, the rules.” She held up three fingers. “I only have three. Rule One; If I tap you with my hammer,” at this, she swung the hammer from her shoulder, and let it drop to the ground, only for it to sink several inches into the earth and kick up dust, “you have lost, and must sit and wait for rescue. If nobody is able to rescue you, then you all lose. Rule Two: The one who gets tapped will not be going back to the Academy.” She paused.
Again, Hasano raised his hand. “Where will that one go?”
“The one who gets tapped will be leaving the world of Shinobi forever. He, or she, will no longer qualify to be a Shinobi. Ever.”
My breath caught. Hasano tensed, and I saw his fists tighten. Umegi jerked, very subtly.
“And what, Sensei, is your third rule?” Umegi asked softly.
That smile widened, turning to a grin. An evil grin. “Rule Three: Run. Run fast.”
And we ran. Into different directions. All three of us darted off into the forest, and I could hear Hasano’s breathing even as I did. I hoped he didn’t panic, but it sounded like he already was.
Today, the forest seemed bright, sunny, and friendly, like our new Sensei’s smile, but only on the surface. Under that, there was a darkness. A mystery.
“I’ll give you thirty seconds!” she yelled into the forest. “Starting at ten! Eleven! Twelve!”
So . . . twenty seconds? But why say thirty then? Either way, I ran, then scaled a tree as quickly, and silently as I could, just so I could have a place to see everything.
Then I heard something crashing through the bushes. Not in my general direction, but close enough that I moved backward until my back was flush against the tree trunk, hard enough that I could’ve become part of the tree.
Just barely, I saw her sprint past, with that hammer held back over her head. She was taking wide, huge steps as she ran through the forest, and that smile on her face–well, if I survived today, that smile would haunt me forever.
The tree had been quite literally nothing to her, and she’d swung that giant hammer so hard, it cut through that tree like knife through butter. How one could swing a blunt hammer through the air and cut a tree in half, I’d never know. I knew one thing, though: This woman was not one to play with.
So I was on the run again. This time, literally. I’d barely made it to the ground without her hammer finding my head, and now I was running. My feet barely touched the earth as I ran.
Umegi was running behind me, almost screaming in her panic, and I was sure she was going to end up passing out.
How do we win this? What is it we had to do to win?
She suddenly screamed, and I saw her throwing herself to the side to avoid the hammer that streaked through the air to land inches from her. She landed on her ass, holding her hand up to ward off the blow she knew was coming. Pure terror spread across her face.
I hesitated, but she looked terrified and helpless, and I felt bad for her. So, without thinking about it, I darted across toward her, stood over her crumpled form, and covered my face with my arms, waiting. The wind from the hammer whooshed around me, but nothing actually touched me. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened, and I opened my eyes just slightly. My breath froze.
The hammer wasn’t even an inch from my face. The only thing stopping it from touching my forehead was a single breath.
“Huh.” It finally was pulled away from my face, then dropped to the side of me, hard enough to sink into the earth. Kita was studying me with her wide, green eyes. “Why’d you do that?”
I gestured toward Umegi. “She looked terrified.”
“So you decided to take the blow, knowing if you got hit, I’d send you out of the world of Shinobi forever.”
Actually . . . I’d forgotten that part. I’d totally forgotten that part. I hadn’t even thought about it before running between her hammer and Umegi. The only thing I’d been thinking was that I could take the hit better than she could.
“And you,” she called out, turning her head just slightly, “in the trees. Readying yourself to attack, right?”
Hasano dropped down from a tree, setting himself into a fighting stance.
She laughed. “You can relax, child. We’re done here.” She’d let go of the hammer and backed away slightly from it, raising her hands as if in surrender. “I’m surprised. I wasn’t expecting you guys to pass the first time around. I was gonna give you a few trial runs first. But y’know what? I kinda like you guys. So.” She surveyed the three of us. “Let’s get on with this. We’ll do a quick training session, then get some food, and we’ll be done for the day.” She pulled something from her pocket, tossing it to me. “Here. Catch.”
I studied the thing she’d tossed me. A long, thick, dark strip of cloth. “Blindfolds?” I asked, watching her toss a second one to Umegi.
Kita tossed a third blindfold to Hasano. “Don’t put them on yet. I need to give you one more thing.” She disappeared into the trees for a good five minutes, came bakc, and tossed something else at our feet–something that hit the ground hard, kicking up a cloud of dirt. “Those are leg weights. Put those on first. Once you’ve gotten used to those, we’ll graduate to arm weights. Then weighted training clothes. And we’ll keep doubling the weights as we go.”
The leg weights felt heavier once they were wrapped into place. I picked up each foot once the weights were on, left first, then the right, and put it down in what I assumed was a gentle way, but it ended up sinking my foot into the dirt. “These are . . . really heavy.”
“They’re not that heavy. Blindfolds. Hurry it up, will ya? We don’t have all day.”
I tied my own thick, black blindfold on. I saw nothing through it, but knew, if I activated my Byakugan, I could see through it easily.
“And you, the Hyuuga brat, don’t you dare cheat. This is a very good training exercise, and will benefit even you to cooperate with it.”
I nodded, kind of wandering if she was a mind reader. “Now what?”
“Now, we train. Hard. Without sight. That’s what.” She paused. “Hasano, you first.”