Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Rewarding Assignment ❯ Squads Received ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kotame Kiyo sat with his back against the tree for at least an hour. The hot summer sun beat down on him, but he paid no attention to anything but the object in his hand. His headband.

I'm a ninja, thought the boy. A shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Kiyo became aware of the fact that his hand was shaking. He looked down at his wavering image, reflected in the polished metal of his headband.

He saw a boy of average height and build. He had blue eyes, and light brown, neat hair. He let out a sad smile, knowing that his parents probably wouldn't even recognize him if they saw him today.

Suddenly, he remembered the source of the shaking. The flames, the burning… He shook his head. He did not intend to let memories ruin this day, but he intended to remember. To remember the reason he became a ninja.

What happened to my family will never happen to anyone under my protection, Kiyo promised to himself, as he had countless times since that fateful day.

The youth's recollections were cut short by the sound of Iruka's voice ringing across the schoolyard.

“Genin, come here to receive your squad assignments,” boomed the chuunin. Kiyo jumped up. He was ready to find out the names of the two genin, and the jonin instructor that he would be with for the next several years.

I only hope, thought Kiyo,that I don't get paired with some baka…

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Naruto rested his forehead on the counter at Ichiraku Ramen. He let out a sigh, and finally turned to speak to his companion.

“How are you going to do it, Shikamaru-kun?” The lazy shinobi looked at him for a moment, and then sighed.

“I suppose I'll start from Asuma-sensei's approach,” he said. “Of course, what worked for me, Ino, and Choji might not work for the genin I receive, but I'm sure that I will be able to make my own judgments based on their personalities.” Naruto let out a groan.

“I knew it!” The orange-jumpsuited man once again collapsed his face into his arms. “You're smart enough to do this! You can just figure out what they need, and then do it!” Naruto let his arms fall to his sides, and stared dejectedly at the ground. “I am going to do terribly.”

Shikamaru looked up at Naruto. This wasn't the hyperactive guy he had known for most of his life. He detected a sadness in Naruto that hadn't been present before Sasuke's coma. Already the young man's mind was thinking of the possibilites.

With a slight smirk, Shikamaru pushed away his ramen bowl.

“I suppose you're right,” he said, not even bothering to look at Naruto. “My team is going to crush yours. Won't even be interesting.”

Naruto stared at Shikamaru, an incredulous look on his face.

“What?”

“You heard me,” said Shikamaru, still smirking. “I got promoted to chuunin and jonin before you, and I'm a better squad leader. I guess I'm just better than you at this.”

Naruto began visibly smoldering at Shikamaru's remarks.

“That's it, Shikamaru,” he said angrily, “My team is going to crush yours. I don't care if I have to use every trick in the book, or even use Ero-Sannin's teaching methods! We are going to WIN!”

Shikamaru leaned towards Naruto, and let out a conspiratorial whisper.

“You might want to get going, then,” he said with a grin on his face. “The genin receive their assignment in four minutes.”

Naruto looked at the clock. He froze for a moment or two. Shikamaru calmly stuck his fingers in his ears, knowing what was coming.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Naruto began yelling, and scampering around in a panic. “I've got to get going! Thanks for the ramen, old man! Crush you later, Shikamaru-kun!” Shikamaru kept a smirk on his face as Naruto ran off into the distance. As soon as he was out of sight, however, a more sober look took the grin's place.

That seemed to work, for now, thought Shikamaru as he drummed his fingers on the countertop absentmindedly. I knew that Naruto couldn't resist a competition. However, Shikamaru knew that this solution was almost certainly only temporary. If Naruto didn't get over Sasuke's loss soon, Shikamaru knew there wouldn't be any positive effects on his squad.

After reflecting another moment, Shikamaru stood up, and began walking towards the Academy.

“Hey!” Shikamaru turned around. Ichiraku Teuchi was leaning over the counter. “You and Naruto forgot to pay!”

Shikamaru froze, remembering the thirteen bowls that had disappeared down Naruto's seemingly bottomless gullet. With a resigned sigh, he reached into his wallet and pulled out a stack of bills that was, by his reckoning, far too large.

That guy owes me, he thought as he continued towards his new genin squad, and his new future.

Troublesome…

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“Team 3,” called out Iruka. “Hyuuga Hanako, Raizen Hikaru, and Daisuke.”

Hikaru looked to his left and right, and saw two students already moving to fill the vacant seats next to him. He let out a groan as he recognized their names.

Why, thought the boy,why did they give me the insane Hyuuga girl? And Daisuke can barely make a bunshin(Clone. Not Shadow Clone, just clone)Hanako took the seat on Hikaru's left, and Daisuke the seat on his right.

The Hyuuga girl looked sad as she sat down.

“I don't get to be with Haruka-chan,” she said with a dejected sigh. She seemed to perk up almost immediately, however. “But I'm sure you guys will be lots of fun!” Hikaru tried as hard as he could to put a smile on his face. Honestly, he did. Still, he couldn't help but think inside, Someone, please save me…

Hikaru turned to his left, hoping that Daisuke would at least behave normally. He nearly leaned into the other boy's extended hand.

“Hello, Hikaru-kun, I'm Daisuke,” said the white-haired boy a little too energetically.

“Yeah, I know,” said Hikaru, hopes of normalcy quickly fading. Daisuke seemed oblivious to Hiraku's lack of enthusiasm. To his Daisuke's credit, though, Hikaru had to admit that the boy did seem relatively normal, if a bit too friendly for the standoffish boy's tastes. The fact that Daisuke had done terribly on almost all of his tests didn't necessarily mean he couldn't improve.

Kiyo was quickly reminded, however, of his less normal teammate.

“Who do you think our jonin will be?” said Hanako with an inquisitive look on her face. “I hope he's really strong, or smart. Or maybe it's a woman…”

Daisuke leaned around Hikaru to engage her in conversation.

“I wouldn't get your hopes up, Hanako-chan,” said Daisuke. “There are many more male jonin than female.” This comment sparked a long conversation about the qualities that each of the genin wanted to have in their instructor. Throughout the discussion, Hikaru attempted to lean away from his teammates and focus on something besides the torment that appeared to be his future. He was only vaguely aware of Iruka calling out the members of other squads. Other students, however, were still paying attention.

“Team Nine is Aburame Haruka, Yagami Goren, and Kotami Kiyo,” called out Iruka.

Kiyo wasn't sure what to make of this. He knew who Haruka was, he had seen her in class. He knew that she was a bug-user, and had even heard her speak before. However, he had no idea what her actual personality was like, and try as he might, he couldn't remember who Yagami Goren was.

Suddenly, Kiyo heard a chair scraping on the floor to his right. He turned and saw a blond haired boy with glasses taking a seat next to him.

“Um….” Kiyo was trying to figure out a way to avoid being rude. “You're Goren, right?” Fortunately, the boy didn't seem to mind not being recognized.

“Yeah, that's me.” The wiry boy extended his hand, and Kiyo shook it. “You probably haven't noticed me before, it's okay. I sit in the back.” Now that Kiyo had a face to associate with the name, he could recall images of this boy sitting in the back of the classroom, his nose always buried in a book. Slowly, more memories of his impressions of Goren came back to Kiyo.

He grimaced inwardly. For lack of a better term, Goren was a nerd. Kiyo had heard about students like Goren before, who did perfectly in the classroom and fell to pieces in a real situation. He could only hope that Goren would not be one of those people.

As Kiyo turned to look at his other teammate, who was now sitting on his left, he knew that she wouldn't be the type to panic in battle. Haruka showed no intention of communicating with, or even acknowledging her teammates. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, thought Kiyo,but I don't think she's a team player. Kiyo knew that a loner on the team could cause problems. A team had to have flawless teamwork to function, and Kiyo just couldn't see himself or Goren working well with the silent Aburame girl.

After Goren sensed that Kiyo didn't want to talk, the three genin lapsed into an awkward silence as Iruka waited for the rest of the class to quiet down. After he had all of the students' attention, the chuunin spoke.

“All right, everyone, your jonin are about to come inside and take you to a place where they can begin training you to their liking,” said Iruka. “Be good for them, and remember that I'm proud of all of you.” As soon as he finished speaking, several people wearing jonin vests entered the room. One by one, they each picked out their squads, and left with their new entourage.

Goren spoke up on Kiyo's right.

“There aren't enough jonin.” Kiyo turned to look at him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Haruka do so as well.

“What do you mean,” Kiyo said curiously.

“Seven jonin walked into the classroom,” explained Goren. “That leaves two squads without a jonin.” Kiyo's brow furrowed. A squad without a jonin? That didn't make any sense.

However, Goren's observation was proved to be correct. In just a few moments, the room was empty, except for Team Three, Team Nine, and Iruka. The chuunin seemed surprised to see them there.

“That's odd, who is your jonin supposed to…” Iruka glanced at a sheet on his desk and smiled. “Ah, that explains it.” He looked up at the obviously worried genin, and gave them a reassuring grin.

“Don't worry,” he said. “You'll get your jonin in just a few minutes. They tend to be late sometimes.” Footsteps could be heard in the hallway seconds after Iruka spoke. His grin deepened even farther.

“That would be them.”

The door to the classroom opened, and two men stepped in. One of them wore a typical jonin vest, over a netted shirt. He also sported black pants. He looked annoyed with his companion, who was dressed quite differently. The second man wore no vest of any kind, instead favoring an orange jumpsuit with a red swirl on the back. The two were in the middle of a conversation as they walked in.

“I told you, you should have worn the thing,” the first man was saying.

“I'm a jonin of Konoha, with or without my vest,” the other replied. “I could be in this jumpsuit, or even my pajamas, and that wouldn't change!”

The first man sighed, and turned to Iruka.

“Sorry we're late, Iruka-san,” he said. “We stopped for ramen.”

“I might have guessed,” said the chuunin with a laugh. He turned to the six genin in the room. “Children, you may recognize these men. We were learning about them just yesterday.” He gestured towards the man in the jumpsuit. “This is Uzumaki Naruto, and he is going with Team Three.” He pointed towards the other man, in the jonin uniform. “This is Nara Shikamaru, and he is going with Team Nine. These are your jonin instructors.”

The six genin were speechless. Their instructors were two of the most famous of the Rookie Nine!

A/N: There you have it, Shikamaru and Naruto have their teams. I intend to develop some of the characters a bit more in the next few chapters. If all goes according to plan, none of them will be unimportant.

Coming up: How will Naruto deal with his new responsibilites? What training and tests does he have in store for his genin?