Saved by the Bell

**Date Completed:**
**Next Role-Play**:
**Users Involved:** User:PuddingCups, User:GeminiVIII, User:Bombers12345, User:EmperorSigma, User:GoldenPiece, User:TheCrowMaster, User:EmperorKamui, User:Zironix00, User:Vomitics, User:EazzyMacc User:JahTheMfGhost
**Setting:** Konohagakure
**Characters Involved**:
* **Academy Students**: Suiren Kagami, Samiya Kanari, Kibu, Yoshirou Yamakage, Ijin Uchiha, Jinpachi Senju, Shikatarō Nara, Zai, Hisaya Minikui, Echo Aburame, Kachi Hatake Ueido Uchiha

## To Be, or Not to Be

The Hokage Rock stared out into hidden leaf village, each chieftain carved out of the stone and ensuring every ninja, from Genin to Jonin had something to look up to. Whether it was a starry-eyed child heading towards the academy or a veteran saying goodbye as they began a new mission, they were watching. Embedded into the Land of Fire's history their gaze was spine chilling and their impact even more so.

Peace.

Though even without war or bloodshed, the need for ninja remains and the academy of Konohagakure sought to create just that. To fight against the odds of peace, the fact that easy times create weak men, and weak men create hard times. Unfortunately, it wasn't a battle they were winning anytime soon.

It was lunch time. Most students had their boxes with home cooked meals, a well thought out nutrition plan catered by their loving parents who dreamed of nothing more than seeing their children succeed. Genin gathered in hoards, talking of future missions, grades, and crazy tests. Suiren Kagami found herself, once again, sitting alone. She wasn't particularly popular nor likeable in any way. Many had tried to talk to her and many had failed. Most people didn't enjoy being verbally berated for little to no reason.

A young boy waddled up to the redheads table, he was younger than Suiren. She had been held back a year. As the genin ate her lunch she noticed nothing else, not until that stupid boy had the courage to... set his trey down! She stopped eating immediately, placing her chopsticks down gently as she stared him down. "No." She said plainly, causing the little squirt to run away with tears in his eyes. He forgot his lunch in the aftermath and she continued eating alone. The way she liked it.

Whilst Suiren was busy striking fear into the hearts of her classmates, on the opposite end of the room entered Samiya Kanari. She walked in with a smile on her face and her lunch in hand, wrapped and tied with a bow for a handle. As she made her way into the classroom to find a seat she was instantly greeted with smiles and warm welcomes. Samiya was a recent addition to the class, transfering to Konoha midway into the year. Because of this, she garnered quite alot of attention and affection from most of her classmates.

Upon walking over to join the rest of her classmates for lunch she noticed a lack of seats available. The only available seat being across from Suiren. She'd been warned by the other students to steer clear of the hotheaded girl, but she couldn't help but want to see for herself if she was really beyond her kindness.

As she began to make her way over to Suiren's table one of her classmates stood up abruptly. "You can have my seat, Samiya!" He said bashfully, motioning to the small seat he now stood over.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll just sit here." She responded, placing her lunch down across from Suiren and taking a seat, much to the shock of her other classmates. As they watched in anticipation, Samiya began to unwrap her lunch, undoing the knot to reveal a floral themed bento box set with matching utensils.

Samiya looked up to Suiren and smiled. "Hi there!" She said in a warm tone, waving at the redheaded girl across from her.

Is she... is she... THAT DENSE!! Suiren's eye seemed to twitch, the nerve of some people! First the boy, and now Samiya!? Returning to her calm and collected demeanor she spoke, "Don't you have some instruments to sell or something?!" The newcomers family owned a music shop, just down the road. While to some that was an exciting venture into entrepreneurship, Suiren meant it as an insult no doubt.

Samiya was a bit shocked that the rumors actually proved true, however she wouldn't let Suiren's sour attitude stop them from growing a potential friendship. That, and there were no other places to sit so she might as well try and kill her with kindness. "Well actually, I don't really sell any instruments, my mom handles most of the sales." Samiya remarked, keeping up her smile, trying her best to diffuse the situation with kindness.

"You should come visit the shop sometime, we have a great music selection!" Samiya then popped the lid off of her bento box, revealing a colorful assortment of fried veggies and fish next to a perfect bed of rice. "Itadakimasu!" She chanted before picking up her chopsticks and taking a bite of rice

Suiren Kagami is the nicest girl in school. Suiren Kagami is the best! Suiren Kagami would help you out with anything!

Kibu had been suspended for quite a while. A few weeks in reality but to himself it felt like years, decades even. When he came back he was lost asunder from the hierarchy of the school: he couldn't fit in the nerds, he couldn't fit in the jujutsu legends, he couldn't even fit with the librarians clique anymore. His former friends in the popular kids clique showered him with the tales of "the nicest kid in school" Suiren Kagami and ushered him to try join her clique. Of course there was always a chance it was a lie but his friends would never lie to Kibu so he pushed that ridiculous thought to the ghettos of his brain.

Endless chatter in the lunch-hall. Kibu looked down at his watch, still a lot of time left. He went back over the plan: Operation Kagami. He would walk up casual-like, not too much stride between each step but not too little either. Just enough to keep the edge without being an emo. He would sit next to Suiren ,face-to-face, and read her some haiku's as an ice-breaker. After a couple she would immediately think Kibu was cool and let him into her group and they would be in the team and kick ass ninja style. Then after that they would open their own weapon shop and become the most famous in the..

"Uhm, get a move on!" An ignorant and irrelevant bystander broke Kibu out of his thought. While this enraged him, he decided to spare the child from his power. Satisfied with how merciful his ninja-self is, Kibu continued walking towards his goal and eventually he laid eyes on the destination. Wait.. what was that? Was that the famous new-kid Samiya Kanari talking face-to-face with Suiren? NO, NO! Had she heard of the tales too and was trying to snipe her and join the clique before he could? He couldn't let that happen, he couldn't lose his shot already.

He sat next to Samiya accidentally slamming his tray down in the midst of his eagerness. He started to edge even closer to Kamiya, looking like a creep while doing so, and trying to take up half of the face-to-face with Suiren. It was now or never, entrance Suiren with his divine poetry before Samiya can bewitch her with her ancient magic. He had Haiku's prepared but Kibu feared it wasn't enough, it was time to step it up a notch: full poetry!

"Apples are green, tomatoes are red. I like getting tucked into my space-ship bed.

Why don't you take a look at my jutsu files? I am cool, super ninja style.

Every day I look in dismay at the other nobodies and their irrelevant ways.

Isn't that true

to you?"

He bit a part of his apple, his teeth sinking into the.. rotten flesh. The disgust was evident in Kibu's face and it looked as if it were meant for Suiren. He had to save the moment and he was starting to get desperate. He then thought up of a genius idea, an brilliant epiphany from such a esteemed writer like himself. He winked.

Suiren was taken aback, not only by the girls actions but by the boys as well! Usually she didn't have to try so hard to keep everyone away, they did it on their own. However, it seemed a few of the students were ignorant to the Kagami Clans poor reputation and thus, well, this happenmed. "Really? Poetry? That's your approach? Did something change suddenly overnight? Do you two really think this is happening!? The troubadour and the future dropout. I'd rather be deemed a missing-nin than break bread with the likes of YOU." Needless to say, Suiren wasn't the nicest girl in school after all.

What? WHAT?! Kibu's dearest friends..had lied?!

Kibu took another bite of his apple, awkwardly pondering on how to save this moment. There was no way Kibu's friends could of lied, they were even more important to him than his clan-obligated trio. It must of been that his poetry was utterly terrible, even after he switched from a Haiku to his Slam-dunk poetry. Kibu didn't want to come to that conclusion but it very well could of been the case.

Despite the efforts he went to spread his lyrics everyday in class, it seemed nobody vibed with it. It got to the point where the Principal proposed a vote for Kibu's suspension to which every teacher even the lunch lady ,in fact she tried identifying as two people to have two votes but it didn't go pass the board, agreed. Even though they were just soulless husks somehow the board let it go through, Kibu decided that they used some mystic-brainwash jutsu in the end of it.

This was fine, it let Kibu work on his writing more, but Sairen? No, it must of been that he just didn't have enough confidence and love in his words! He didn't have enough confidence! He had to try harder! "Do I really think this is happening? Well, I can't be sure but what I can be sure of is that I just didn't pick the right genre! I should of gone for Haiku's after all, it is really missing nin-ja style like you said."

Kibu in the midst of his own narcissism didn’t seem to have listened at all, and ,instead of changing the topic, he got out his bag and began to press further: eyes alight with inspiration. "You prefer books? No, too book-y" Kibu threw a hand-made novel to the side. "Short stories? Wait ,nevermind, this is too.. short-y" Kibu threw the short story to the side. "Work-out routine? Sculpting advice? Architectural studies? Glass manufacturing?" Kibu proceeded to acknowledge and dismiss every book, one common trait among such prideful writers like himself was.. procrastination.

"Ptew.. you know in hindsight it wasn't helpful at all to only say I was missing nin-ja style! I already know that, you know?!" He stared pens towards the mean girl, determined to make his words reach her.

"Well, that was truly something..." Samiya remarked awkwardly. It was clear the sudden appearance of Kibu at the table came as a shock, but she can't say she wasn't glad Suiren had someone else to direct her anger toward. However, if it was up to Samiya, she would've chosen someone a bit less rowdy. She picked her seat up slightly below her, scooting a bit to the side, putting some distance between her and the boy.

While she was a kind person, she couldn't help but feel like she's made a mistake placing herself between these two. She tried her best to continue on with her meal as the chaos unfolded around her.

"Wow..." Samiya thought to herself in response to Kibu's endless rambling. "Maybe this is punishment for trying to sit across from the big angry tomato over there" A little voice in the back of Samiya's head said snarkily. Samiya was by no means prone to spouts of anger or rudeness, however over the years, Samiya had developed a second conscious of sorts. Being nice all the time had taken it's toll, especially being that it was constantly reinforced by her mother. So over time, she developed a tiny mean voice in the back of her head that seemed to almost have a mind of it's own. It constantly uttered thoughts Samiya was too shy or nice to say aloud.

Samiya clenched her jaw, a vein appearing at her forehead. She silently kept her comments to herself, taking another hardy bite of her lunch, allowing Kibu to take the floor as he seemingly much desired.

"And an inability to read social cues as the cherry on top. For once I think me and Samiya agree..." Suiren waited for just a second before saying the next part, insuring that the words would strike the boy like daggers! "You should have stayed suspended." After that, she took another bite of her rice ball as if nothing had happened.

This was going on the list of reasons she preferred to eat alone.

"Inability to read social cues? What? I literally wrote social cues." He took out another book, this one had an orange binder and a yellow top with a badly scribbled drawing of two parents arguing, most likely stemmed from his parents relationship.

"Chapter One: How to not be a bitch." Kibu began reading the book out-loud. “A bitch, in modernized words, is somebody nobody hangs around.” He briefly side-eyed Sairen before continuing, “while there are some cases of popular bitches, you can always tell a true one by their level of insecurity and tact with others.” He now briefly side-eyed Kamiya before continuing. “If they act bitch-ly, they are a bitch. Bitches commonly will either end up homeless and irrelevant nobodies, or hollow spineless folk without a ounce of value to their name.”

“I think you would like this one. Its a good self-help guide for your guys.. general consensus” Kibu looked up from the book and placed his half-eaten rotten apple down.

Samiya was stunned, not only had the boy continued his endless ramblings, but he'd now graduated to shouting out obscenities in the lunch room. She couldn't believe what she had transferred into. Even her conscious remained silent as she held a bite mere inches from her mouth, at a loss for what to do next.

After a few moments of silence had passed, Samiya placed her chopsticks back into her plate, the unfinished bite still there. She couldn't help but feel countless stares from peers as Kibu made a fool of himself, as if her approaching Suiren alone didn't already turn enough heads.

She turned toward Kibu slowly, the vein still appearant in her forehead as she forced a smile on her face. "Would you mind keeping your voice down?" She stammered in a stern but polite tone. Despite her verbal response being kind, what she was thinking in her head was very much the opposite.

"Does he know no embarrassment?! What kind of idiot would shout such things in a school lunch room just after being let off of suspension?" Samiya thought to herself before lifting her chopsticks once again, swallowing the bite she'd left and going for another one. She hoped that this time Kibu would get the message and take a seat, or at the very least keep his voice down and maintain a safe distance.

Squatted down, a little boy walked around, desperately trying to catch an animal, a gecko to be more precise, he had been chasing for quite some time. The creature ran under a table, but the kid was so focused that he only noticed it when he bumped his head, making the table shake. The markings on his face made it clear the boy was from the Unyamori Clan even if Zaisan Unyamori had little to no resemblance to the other members of the clan. Rubbing his head, he got up and looked at the table. Noticing the other children sitting at the table, he awkwardly bowed down.

"Sorry! Sorry! Suy-chan! Samy-chan! Kiby-kun! Sorry for interrupting you!" He raised his head and gave a weird smile. The gecko he had been chasing around climbed over to his shoulder. He then moved over and took a seat next to Kibu, placing his arm over his back and resting it on his shoulder. "Welcome back, Kiby-kun. Have you finally dropped poetry or are you giving it another chance?"

"It looks like they're multiplying." Suiren scoffed before turning to Kibu. "You can talk down to me when you become Hokage and the sun sets in the east." Everyone knew it set in the west, she was implying that both of those things were impossible! She didn't feel the need to use harsh language or ugly words, just the cold crushing facts of reality.

Getting up with elegance and grace, she grabbed her lunchbox and began to walk away. She was done eating with the likes of them. A hair flip solidified her decision.

Samiya watched as Suiren strutted off, breathing a slight sigh of relief, now she might actually be able to enjoy her meal in some sort of peace. The vein that was once visible on her forehead slowly faded.

"No no, you're perfectly fine." Samiya responded to Zai, completely unphased by the lizard that scurried about the floors. After all, it wasn't the weirdest thing she'd seen today. That honor was awarded to the boy sitting next to Zai as far as she was concerned.

Despite not being particularly bothered by reptiles, she couldn't help but feel a loss of appetite. Maybe it was the chaos that just unfoled or the eyes that still hovered around Samiya's general vicinity. She put down her chopsticks and put the lid on her half eaten lunch, wrapping it back up with a bow. She placed her hands down on the table before standing up and looking down to Zai and Kibu,

"Well, this has been...a lunch. I think I'm gonna spend the rest of the block training outside, it looks like we're gonna be called to class soon anyway. I'll see you guys later!" Samiya declared, smiling down at the two as she made her way out of the lunch room and out to the training grounds, hoping to work on a few things before being called back to class.

Kibu ,finally, sat down and placed his bag carelessly on the food-ridden floor.

“I think she got scared of my lyrics, Zai. Its alright, I wasn’t in cahoots with her or anything!” Kibu internally screamed. His entire plan was messed up. The operation to join Sairen’s clique was foiled, and he was left asunder with the nobodies. Despite that, he wouldn’t pass up a chance for a compliment on his gold.

“Yes, I’m going to be a big-shot! Hokage? Pfft, she doesn’t know what she is talking about! I am going to be the best writer across the nations.” Kibu proclaimed. “So, what exactly do you like about my poetry Zai?! Name your favourite book of mine! And I’ll warn you, I expect you to be quick as the general of my fan club.” With Kibu newly appointing Zai of his position, he settled more comfortably in his seat.

Zai looked at Kibu with a confused look before smiling and patting him on the back. "I never said I liked your poetry, Kiby-kun... But that doesn't mean I don't support it. I admire your determination, not even a suspension could put an end to your efforts to become the best writer you can be. And let me tell you, I think you're getting... well, better isn't exactly the best way to put it. Less bad?"

He looked down with a pensive expression. After a couple of seconds, he looked back up to Kibu. "Kiby-kun. Can I ask you something? Why are you in the ninja academy? Wouldn't you be better off in a place that could help you with your writing? Soon enough will be put into teams and start going out on missions, we'll need to train even more and that seems kind of pointless if what you really want to be is a writer."

“FUYEHHHHHH!!?”

Kibu was shocked and slightly offended. His fan club general was not only in denial about his role but also.. violently tearing apart his work and telling him he should go to another place of education?

“Well, those vicious comments about my work aside. I'll forgive your ignorance and tell you, ninja’s give my poetry a certain..”

BANG!

Kibu sprawled into the carpet of his childhood home. Stars floated around his view and darkness slowly creeped in, he could feel a finger against his forehead. Damp. Shouts barked in his ears.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!” A soft, feminine voice shouted.

“We are running out of business Sue! Nobody buys flowers anymore because of those bastardised Haikus!” A gruff, masculine voice demanded back. No doubt about it, it was his father.

“You.. I can’t put up with this anymore!” Kibu’s body began being carried, he could feel each movement upon the stairs. He felt the sheets as he was placed in them. The soft voice whispered in his ear.

“Remember this tune, when I go.
To another place.
To another home.
Remember this tune in your heart.
And we will never part.
Hold onto this pen of mine.
Till we meet again.”

What a weird memory. Kibu chalked it up to another idea for one of his books ,working title: Beat The Bandit, and noted it down for later on so he wouldn’t forget it. He then turned towards Zai, continuing his broken speech.

“Well actually Zai ,since you are the general of my fan club, I’ll give you a proper inside scope. Make sure to save this for my autobiography!” Kibu stood up on Zai’s lunch on the table, not that he was trying to be mean he just didn’t care enough about other people to take notice of such small things in his way.

“PUBLIC!” Kibu yelled out through the lunch hall, he wasn’t one to turn down his behaviour. “LET THIS BE KNOWN! I ,KIBUTAGAI MATSUO, WILL BECOME THE GREATEST NINJA-WRITER IN ALL OF THE NATIONS! I WILL WRITE A BOOK CONTAINING EVERY JUTSU TO EVER BE CREATED, SO THAT NINJA’S MAY NEVER HAVE TO FEAR AGAIN! SO THAT THESE STUFFY HIDDEN VILLAGES WON’T EXIST, AND EVERYONE CAN WRITE IN HARMONY REGARDLESS OF SUSPENSION BY FATTY TEACHERS!”

Kibu sat down again, satisfied with his monologue. “So, is that good enough for the newspaper? Headline wise I’m thinking ‘Heroic Boy Makes Girls Swoon, Boys Regret It’.” He held his hands up, framing the image and looking on admiringly in the air.

Seeing his lunch ruined, Zai grabbed Kibu by the collar. His hands shook for a while, but he calmed down and let go of the grip. "Kiby-kun. What have you done to my lunch? I know I said I didn't like your poetry but I never thought you'd react like this. This is going too far. I'm gonna starve because of you."

“Oh, crap.. ZAI! Why did you put your food under my foot.. now my shoes are all messy!” Kibu sat down on his seat and began to mope, single tears falling from his eye. “I paid good money for these shoes and spent effort on my poetry.. and all you are worried about is your “hunger”? What a terrible friend.. WAAAAH!” Despite being twelve he was very.. toddlerish.

"Ahn?! How is that a problem?! You can clean your stupid shoes! And the effort you spent on your poetry clearly wasn't enough. What you can't do, is fill this hole in my stomach, Kiby-kun. My food's been there the whole time, why would I put it under your foot? If I pass out during class, it's your fault! " Zai couldn't believe kibu's total disregard for his lunch. He tried to salvage everything he could, but most of if was ruined.

“So you are saying.. you don’t care about me?! I thought we were friends.. WAAAAAA!!” Kibu had gone from small temper tantrum to full-scale freakout, he started wiping his nose on his sleeve to battle the increasing amount of snot. “And what’s this about passing out, are you trying to make me stressed? I already deal with enough labour as a writer you know! Its so hard.. being so g-great…”

His cries turned into loud squeals but unfortunately for Kibu, they garnered attention in more than just the lunch-hall and it wasn’t from fans.

Junko had stepped away from the other teachers in order to approach a rapidly escalating scene. As soon as she could make out who was causing such a ruckus, the woman could only sigh. It seemed like every day Kibu was doing something wrong, pestering another student, making a scene, or both.

A tap on his shoulder sought to gain his attention, her foreboding aura and tired eyes waiting behind him. "Ohh, kibuuuuu..." She called out softly, a warning shot. A voice that Kibu had almost certainly heard a million times before, a friend of his mother and a sensei who had taken a special interest in the boy; or more so what he could be if he wasn't so stupid.

“Zai. Its been a pleasure knowing you my old friend. I know we have had our odd moments, but I hope you will remember me.” He turned and whispered sorrowfully towards his friend before his final moments. “Hello.. Junko. Come to delight me with your lectures today? Don’t worry I’ll let you go back to your enclosed shed where you usually hang about dreaming of an old man to sought after and I can reprimand myself! Sounds like a deal?” Despite his confident voice, Kibu wouldn’t face Junko in the eyes. He knew the unspeakable wrath she hid within the smooth skin and maternal voice, and he dreaded the sacred art of the reprimanding caused by it.

"You know, every time you do something like this I just increase the punishment. What was it last time?" She tilted her head in thought, "Four hundred pushups? Something like that? Well, now it's five hundred." Despite the terrible news, she smiled. "Oh and if you mess up, start over from the top." While she was harsh and downright scary, the way she spoke was nice and kind. It could be very misleading to the students.

She began to walk away from the boy before she was stopped by an unidentified male teacher, "Wasn't that a little harsh Junko?" He asked out of concern.

"Harsh is the world outside of the Hidden Leaf Village. This is a shinobi academy, is it not?"

"W-well yeah..." He rubbed his head, thinking of the woman's words.

"Then there you have it." With a slight chuckle she faded into the crowd.

Where the students gathered at tables to eat their lunch, there was one who stood at the door with an older shinobi. It was clear from the angle that he had just been receiving his lunch, because unlike the rest of the students he hadn't prepared for this.

"You can't forget this, Yoshirou," a woman of the same complexion as the boy stated, smiling as she spoke. "I understand you've been focusing on your training and school, but without proper nutrition that body of yours won't stay healthy. I'm sure that's not something you want to have to go through."

Yoshirou Yamakage nodded his head at the woman, "Thanks mom," he said bowing his head in appreciate that she covered for him when he couldn't do for himself. "I'll see you after class."

"Ah, me and your father won't be home tonight." His mother's name was Yoshino Yamakage, a renown kunoichi. "We have a mission to complete, so we've left money to buy yourself dinner tonight. You can get whatever you'd like."

The young student couldn't help but to stand in silence, "It's fine. I'll see the two of you tomorrow." He said, turning around and joining the rest of the students partaking in their lunch. Missions and more missions seemed to be the only thing Yoshino and his father cared about. They never took the time out of their day to fully spend time with him, but his fathers skills put him in that position.

With every seat taken, Yoshirou decided to stand up. In fact, he didn't even eat the lunch brought to him. Instead, he pulled out a small notebook and began to drag his finger along the different lines while reading through it. The book was full of various jutsu names and hand seals that followed, all created by Yoshirou.

"Ox, Rat," he began to recite the names of the seals and preform them. "Monkey, Horse, Snake." He ended, pressing his hands together, but he neglected to infuse himself with chakra, he couldn't run the risk of performing a jutsu while in the cafeteria.

His gaze picked up to the surrounding classmates and what surprised him was Samiya's table. "Suiren's got people at her table?" He said to himself, eyebrow lifting as he went to drink a bottle of water.

Near the group of students, Ijin Uchiha could be seen with his face buried in a book on advanced chakra control and manipulation, trying his best to grasp the fundamentals in order to create original ways to manipulate his chakra output and usage. Being a member of the illustrious Uchiha Clan, Ijin was under pressure to perform at the highest level possible in the academy. He did his best to meet this expectation, but he also wanted to live his life without restrictions.

"Tch, So noisy." Ijin grumbled as he put the book down and gave Suiren and her pals a quick glance. Then, she sighed, realizing he wouldn't be able to finish his reading, especially with the cafeteria filling up with students in lower grades. Looking around, he noticed Yoshirou standing next to him, sipping water from a bottle. After giving it some thought, he made the decision to approach him and start a discussion because he was one of the select few people who suspected his power to be greater than it appeared to be.

"If you're looking for a place to sit, you're more than free to join me," He said passively towards his classmate. His dark eyes briefly studied Yoshirou as he waited for his response after calling out to him with a tiny gesture of invitation.

"I'm not looking for anywhere to sit," Yoshirou said, looking over his notes. He had no intention of sitting and eating anyway, the fascination of understanding techniques was far more important to him. He held his position up against the wall, reading through the book.

With a hand covering his mouth and a slight yawn escaping his lips, a boy with silver hair stepped into the cafeteria. He had moved his hands behind his short and shaggy silver hair, and he was wearing a red shirt with the white sleeves rolled up, a black shuriken logo on the back, black shorts, and black sandals that were pretty much the norm for a ninja.

This boy was Jinpachi Senju, a member of the founder clan that brought Konohagakure into existence. The family is known for its intelligence, patience, and skill. Jinpachi, on the other hand, was known for his laziness and carefree attitude. His crimson eyes scanned the room before spotting none other than Ijin Uchiha.

Jinpachi took a giant leap, landing on a table in front of her and Yoshirou, a smile forming on his face. While Jinpachi gave off the air of laziness, deep down, he was anything but; he had the Senju genes coursing through him, which put him above others similar to the Uchiha. No matter what people saw, he was a true genius.

"So, what did you guys bring for lunch today."

Meanwhile, to the side at another table, another young shinobi sat alone. This was not out of loneliness, he preferred it this way - far more calm this way. Sometimes the other students... could be a drag, at least that is what many think Shikatarō Nara would say. It is a phrase the men of his clan use to describe most things. For Shikatarō, he just didn't want to get caught up in their energy and tucker himself out over nothing. Instead, he opened his bento box. In it was a mix of tonkatsu, rice, vegetables, and a boiled egg. Shikatarō hid a small smile, tonkatsu was his favorite after all.

Not too far away someone took note of that. And not just that. Emerald eyes moved over to the slam poetry flinging boy, to the barely through-it-enduring girls, to the Senju that just jumped onto the table of the Uchiha girl, and then back to the only person within the room that he interacted enough with to remember his name. That was not because of arrogant indifference, as it was the case with many highborn clan members but rather an inherent forgetfulness specifically when it comes to names. Kinichis head was often in the clouds, thinking about all sorts of things and right now he was thinking about Shikatarō Nara. Rather than his lazy attitude makes it more than hard to make friends. Whenever he wanted friends was another matter entirely.

His eyes wandered off, back to the Uchiha and the Senju. Although he was unable to recall their names he watched them often. After all, to improve you need to learn from the best and these two were had strengths that even the elite of the class lacked. Equally, there were faults their personalities had to balance it out. He caught the Senju napping through lessons more than once. Something he and Shikatarō had in common and although Kenichi was far from popular or aware of how one draws others towards oneself, he knew this. People like those they share characteristics with.

Kenichi stood up, walking past Shikatarō while approaching the on the table standing Senju. Raising his hand to greet him he spoke earnestly. "Hello. I was wondering if you could become Shikatarōs friend. Despite his seemingly lax attitude, I suspect that he is terribly lonely and since both of you display a lacking worth ethic I believe you two will get along well." He spoke, unaware of how socially awkward this must be. Noticing the puzzled look he went over to plan B, pulling out an apple. "I will give you my bento if you hang out with him"

Ijin extended a nod of greeting to Jinpachi after dismissing Yoshirou as he had declined his invitation, despite their clans being "enemies" in some ways.

"You're running a little late, Jin." Ijin arched his brow at the Senju, as it was unusual for him to be late, especially for lunch. Before Ijin could continue, Kenichi and Shikatarō arrived and wanted to sit with them.

"Sure, the more the merrier, I suppose." He shrugged, as if he didn't care if they sat with him or not. "We're classmates, but I doubt we're well acquainted." Ijin stated after the two had seated down.

"You probably already know who I am, but my name is Ijin, Uchiha Ijin, and this is my best friend, Jinpachi Senju." He introduced himself, motioning to the silver-haired teen next him.

"My name is Kenichi Kagu-" Kenichis gaze wandered off to something he was seeing through the window behind Ijin. A particularly interesting cloud formation could be seen there. "That cloud... kinda looks like a kunai." He continued to watch at the cloud for a good bit, captivated by it.

Shikatarō looked at the others, especially Kenichi, with an exasperated face. He felt basically dragged over by the Kaguya boy. Thankfully he didn't spill any of his food in the process, otherwise Shikatarō would have like called the boy a dumbass.

Well, backing out now would be more of a hassle than just sticking around - and Naras aren't known for putting themselves into any unnecessary hassles. "Uh, hey. I'm Shikatarō Nara," said the Nara as he nodded to Ijin and Jinpachi. The duo was unlikely, it was well known the two noble clans they hailed from were fierce rivals. Shikatarō found himself interested to learn more about them, though was unsure and the Kaguya who dragged him over.

"Careful man, you nearly made me drop all my food!"

"A Kaguya and a Nara?" Ijin questioned with a raised brow wider shrugging at the unusual duo, giving the fact that his best-friend is from a rival clan. "You know I think this is the first time I’ve seen everyone gathered here in the cafeteria, usually we’re allowed to wonder about for lunch." He mused aloud as she glanced about the cafeteria with a look of intrigue before shrugging.

"So how’d you two end up as friends? Last I heard the Kaguya were fiercely guarding in Kirigakure while the Nara’s usually stick to the Yamanaka and Akimichi clans." Ijin questioned with a raised brow while subtly fishing for information without overly appearing to do so.

"O-oh, everyone else is around..." A more hushed voice could be heard approaching the table Ijin sat in. It was not intentionally quiet, but rather, it was muffled through a barrier.

Zeppō Sasaku had just acquired his food and was walking to the table to where Ijin had been seated, before noticing the others gathering around. "Uhh, maybe I should go..."

Zeppō wasn't particularly well-acquainted with anyone in his class, nor did he know anyone from outside of the class. He did not hail from Konohagakure after all. The masked boy hailed from a village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire: the Kyoka Village. He was part of the Sasaku Clan, a shinobi clan that had only recently solidified their lineage after three generations of actively spreading their teachings. Zeppō was their emissary. He was instilled with the hope that the Sasaku Clan could ally with Konohagakure and find a place among its incredible diversity of shinobi clans.

The *problem* was that Zeppō had a hard time making friends. He coincidentally sat next to Ijin once or twice in class and they managed to get along, but he found the others around him a little too much like "big village" people to fit in. Coming from a farming village to a place like Konoha was an incredible culture shock.

"Ohh!!" Ijin gasped in astonishment when he saw Zepp before smiling cheerfully and waving him over. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Zepp." He yelled out to his new acquaintance, someone he met when he first moved to the the village.

"Don't be shy, come on over and join us." He said it cheerfully, motioning to the empty seat near him. "I can finally introduce you to some of my pals, I promise they are all good people"

"Oh, uh, sure." Zeppō responded and took a seat where Ijin suggested. "H-hello everyone. My name's Zeppō Sasaku. I come from Kyoka Village at the border of the Land of Fire. I'm part of the Sasaku Clan." As he spoke, the mask muffled his voice a bit, which might have made him a bit difficult to hear.

"Oh, and about the mask. Uh...I can't really say what it's for...but I can't remove it sorry." Zeppō apologized before bowing.

"I'm not sure when, I think Kenichi decided to target me for some reason and I just wasn't able to get rid of him," Shikatarō said as he looked at the Kaguya with slight annoyance. Whatever the case was, he took a seat at the new table and popped a slice of the katsu in his mouth. It would be better in the long run for Shikatarō to be become friends with the others.

Shikatarō turned towards Zeppō as he spoke, simply nodding and throwing up the peace sign with his fingers as a greeting.

Upon hearing his name, Kenichis attention sprung back to the conversation. His eyes "Oh...It is the guy that looks like a fox. His eyes are always closed and his eyebrow reminds me of my birthmarks.." His eyes closed a little as he unconsciously uttered his thoughts. He then bit a chunk out of the apple that he just promised the Senju.

Jinpachi had seemingly found his but in a seat next too Ijin, many people didn't know but the only reason the two hung out was because their mothers, both seemingly named their youngest with Jin in their name. I**jin** and **Jin**pachi. Some called them the Jin Twin's even though the two looked nothing alike, or even acted anything alike.

Even though the two clans were rivals, the two got along rather nicely, while Jinpachi gave off this air of not wanting to try too hard, he knew his friend Ijin knew of his true nature. Jinpachi just didn't find taking things so serious to be fun, and he was all about having fun. But like many knew, his academic skills where off the charts, always in the Top 5 when it came to his grades, even when he slept through class. Some called it natural talent, and Jinpachi himself didn't believe in superstitions like that, anyone could do it if they put their mind too it.

"Well its nice to meet you two." Jinpachi said "Just cause me and Ijin are part of the "so called Elite" he moved his fingers purposely. "Doesn't mean we can't be friends with anyone, so anytime you want to hang out just find me. I'm down to hang out."

Jin said with a smirk on his face, but that was when the bell rang, signifying the return to class, and Jinpachi groaned, that just meant there was going to be more work.

Mayumi Dochū opened the doors to the lunchroom, nervous about finding a place to sit. She wasn’t popular and even in a place full of people training to become Shinobi, she wasn’t that strong. Holding her bento, she quickly scanned for an empty table to sit at.

Due to her weight, many had mistaken her for a member of the Akimichi clan. Which she didn’t like, she had nothing against the clan but the assumption made her insecure. To calm her nerves, Mayumi continuously squeezed the rubber stress ball she carried with her.

"Are you just going to stand there all day?" Suiren crossed her arms, tapping her foot in annoyance. This big boar of a kunoichi was blocking her way! First horrible poetry and now a road block. It was not a great day for Suiren Kagami. "Some of us are trying to prepare for class." She flipped her crimson hair and waited for some sort of movement or response.

Unfortunately, Mayumi appeared to be dead on arrival...

Mayumi continued searching for a table, though in reality, she wasn't moving. Her feet felt glued to the floor. Would it look weird if she sat alone? Maybe they'd think there was something wrong with her. As Mayumi got lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize that she was blocking the walkway.

A voice caught her attention. "Huh?" Mayumi locked eyes with the girl, standing shorter than her. Suiren was intimidating, her fiery red hair, purple eyes and mean look made Mayumi feel inferior. Despite her intimidating appearance, Mayumi soon understood what Suiren said. Although, she misheard her. "You want to help me prepare for class?" Her red-haired hero. "S-Sure, I don't have many friends, so I'd like that." Mayumi gave the purple eyed girl a smile.

"Prepare for cla-" Suiren scratched her head before pointing dramatically. "THAT ISN'T WHAT I SAID AT ALL!" Unlike the other girls with their inner voices, Suiren didn't feel a need to hide how she really felt. "If that'll get you outta my way... fine." Turning her head with a humph, the red head was annoyed for the fiftieth time today.

Mayumi was too busy thinking about all the things she would be able to do now that she had a friend. Picnics, parties, and maybe even training sessions. She wouldn't have to use that pillow she drew a face on anymore. Suiren's voice caught her attention, but she didn't fully hear what the girl said. "If that'll make my day?" She whispered; Suiren cared so much for Mayumi's happiness she was willing to go out of her way and help the girl prepare for class.

The bell rang, alerting the students that it was time for class. "Let's go bestie!" Mayumi trailed behind her new best friend, making sure to stay close.

## Show of Hands

Teenagers flooded into the classroom, Junko was stationed at the chalkboard in the middle of a lesson on Chakra. Her hand moved swiftly, the white stick screeched against the board at lightning speed in order to keep up with what she was saying. This way, she was writing exactly what she was saying at the very moment it escaped her mouth.

"Chakra is life, it exists in each and every living thing. As ninja, we utilize it everyday in what we call Jutsu." Stopping briefly, she turned to the room. "Would anyone like to demonstrate for the class?" As if by fate, her volunteer waltzed through the door several minutes late.

“Kibu… has arrived!” Breath fought to escape from the boys lungs, perspiration roared through his pores. The push ups were tortuous and agonising. It was something even more painful than watching people speak out of rhyme. But Kibu was determined to show his bonafide babysitter that he wasn’t an easy picking.

“You thought you could beat me! Pound me! Ground me! But I won’t let a witch..” He ruffled through his pocket and brought out a thesaurus. “Give me a moment..” Holding up a finger, he searched for a couple minutes through the pages. “Put me in this ditch!”

“Hah!” Kibu looked around, an awkward sense of waiting was in the air. “Why is everyone looking at me…?” He sniffed his pits and sighed, it wasn’t his smell but something definitely was stinking up the room.

“Everybody please boo Kibu,” Her eyes met his own and a figurative stream of lightning showed the twos informal battle. “You’re late, and why are you late?” At this point all eyes were on him.

Some might have found a grown woman’s rivalry with a child to be embarrassing but Junko didn’t mind. She was only harsh towards people she believed had potential, like wilted leaves that needed to be watered. This was a ninja academy after all, not a daycare.

“I was working on a next book. Title in the works… ‘The Hag Who Harked’.” He glared towards Junko.

Junko’s face twitched at the remark as she tried to hide her anger. “Oh how lovely…” Her patience was hanging by a thread and all it would she to cut it was another horrible rhyme!

Fortunately she remembered this could be a teaching exercise. “Well, how about you come and show the class a Jutsu. That feels like a suitable punishment for being late.” Nodding to herself she put the chalk down, giving Kibu the floor as she took a step back.

Not many people liked being put on the spot so to Junko this is was revenge for the poets snide remarks.

“Alright!”

So it was a jutsu show and tell? Kibu thought of how cliche the teaching technique was briefly. Nevertheless, Kibu grabbed another book out of his pocket, this time it was his signature, most passionate project: ‘ A Ninjas Guide To Jutsu’. He flipped through the pages ,of which the only filled ones were eight, and laid his finger on the sixth one. Luckily for him, his sweat worked as a sticky bookmark.

“The valiant, esteemed warrior Kibu stepped forth and began preparing Shadow Clone Jutsu!” He narrated his actions in the third person to hide his nervousness. An stress releasing technique that didn’t work all too well.

“The warrior began the hand-signs and finally..” Following his description in his book he enacted the clone seal and smoke poofed in-front of him. The smoke cleared and out of it came.. a unconscious, heavily snoring, clone with bubbles slowly drifting out of its nose.

“It just needs a second!” Kibu kicked the clone again and again and again. After the clone began wittering about some sort of romance novel he gave up hope, bowed his head down low and dragged the sleeping clone over to his seat.

The front row was an arrangement of seats that most students dreaded and made sure not to sit by, completely avoiding it as a whole. There were many reasons for this, some were too shy and didn't want the unnecessary and even awkward eye contact that would be brought upon them and the teacher. The first few seats were also a haven for answering questions, they were the first seats the teacher could see after all, so any questions would be daringly fired away. This didn't phase Echo Aburame though, the one who was the earliest to class everyday, not because he loved school, but so he could get a gauge of everyone who walked after him through the door.

A small insect had landed on his wrist, looking at Echo as if it was communicating to him, and it was. It had flew from the lunch room all the way to the classroom minutes prior, spying on the conversing students as Echo simply ate his food in the bathroom. In the short period of lunch time, Echo had learned more about every single student then he knew before, information was key, and he was sure he would be prepared. Communicating to his insect, Echo brought out a piece of paper and began to take notes on the information given, recording what had happened in the large room.

Disappointingly dragging over to his seat was Kibu, the boy who sat directly next to Echo, a punishment in its own right. "What happened there?" Echo bluntly said, his head didn't turn to look at Kibu, his eyes focused on sensei Junko as his words floated in the air to where any student could respond.

Rocking his chair back and forth, Zai watched with a grin on his face as the teacher made Kibu make a mockery out of himself. He stared his friend down as he did his walk of shame back to his seat. When Echo talked, Zai, that seat one row up, leaned forward as his smile grew wider. "I'll tell you what happened Echy-kun. What happened was that what goes around comes around." His stomach growled, he'd barely had anything to eat. "Kiby-kun ruined my lunch and the universe is repaying his kindness. Maybe one day he'll start paying attention to the people around him."

Sat in the back of the class was a strange cloaked girl. A black hood concealed all but an unenthused snarl on her face, one she didn't attempt to hide. The girl had been in the classroom, watching the students fill the room with their groans and sarcastic comments. Now, she was forced to painstakingly watch a boy fail at producing a competent shadow clone. It was sad, really. He had a lot of bark but when it came to the biting part... well, he still had all his baby teeth and could do no real harm.

Her gaze followed the boy with his tail between his legs, taking his seat after an embarrassing failure. 'Serves him right.' The cloaked girl rasped under her breath. It was just like a boy to overestimate himself. Human boys that is. A small rat peaked out from underneath her hood, squeaking angrily at her words. Hisaya Minikui Extended her pale spindly finger to rub the rodents head, shushing her pet. "You're not dimwitted." She whispered, silencing the small animal. She felt the rodent retreat into the darkness while she shifted in her chair, the girls thin and frail frame consumed by the excess fabric.

Sitting not too far from the hooded girl sat Kenichi Kaguya. His empty expression was fixated on the chalkboard but he did not appear to really follow what was going on. "What was the shape of that cloud I saw earlier called again?" He uttered to himself while trying to think back about what it is he saw during his conversation with the Senju/Uchiha pair.

"Heh heh" A brief chuckle escapes the lips of the white haired boy sitting a few seats away from Minikui in the back of the room. A deep blue sleevless gi hangs loosely over his pale skin. Hatake Kachi watches Kibu and his classmates reactions closely. Unlike most kids that sit in the back of the room to avoid attention, Kachi sits in the back so that he can see everyone else.

"Yes he's goofy but I think he's funny." Kachi whispers. A bump on his back shifts around before the small head of a baby ape pokes out from the back of his collar. The ape chuckles and Kachi scratches under it's chin.

"*Ooooh I kind of feel bad...I did the same when I started out...*" Zeppō thought to himself, twiddling his thumbs. However, he was too shy to support the boy's attempt as he didn't need people making fun of *him* for supporting someone else.

He just hoped that Kibu could see he wasn't making fun of him. Well, then again, with the mask and all, it was hard to read Zeppō's emotions at all. "*Then again...he* was *late, and we were all in roughly the same place when we were coming back to class. Maybe I shouldn't pity him so much...*"

Jinpachi Senju had been sitting around the middle, he saw it as one of the better spots, that allowed him not to really be noticed too often, it was a good distance from their teacher which allowed him to see, but not constantly be picked on, like someone in the front, or someone in the back. It was also where he had his head down. Of course he was paying attention, but he had his chin on his hands, and was thinking about something his father told him.

*'I have faith that you'll pass your exams, so I'll teach you a special technique, just know the current rank you're at, you'll best get one to two uses out of it, before you'll have to wait at least a day to use again.'*

*'Lorentz Gun...'* Jin thought to himself, thinking about the move it truly was a finisher/surprise move, when thinking about it. He wondered the best way to truly use it, at the beginning of the fight or near the tail end when your opponent has seen most of your moves. Due to the speed of the technique, he knew for sure he'd be able to take out almost everyone besides their teacher out with it.

Jin wasn't paying much attention to Kibu's failure. It was normal for them to mess up from time to time.

*"How pathetic….no that’s a bit harsh as not everyone is on the same level, perhaps he’s merely a late bloomer."* Was the thought of Ijin Uchiha as he watched Kibu’s failure while trying not to harshly judge him but the display was pitiful at best.

"He might end up as the dead last of the class." He muttered to himself as he rested her face on his knuckle and stared ahead in boredom. "Then again perhaps I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, after all he could be a Diamond in the rough, even if he arrived late and made a fool of himself in the process."

Glancing over towards the sole Senju in the class to see his reaction to the display before shrugging and returning his attention back towards the teacher.

Sitting in one of the back seats by herself Ueido Uchiha sits there and sees kibu's failure, "Don't worry about it, Kibu you win some and lose some don't get discouraged." She says as she jumps up from her seat giving him a round of applause for trying, She wanted to make him feel better about it and not to feel embarrassed. So she did that to grab everybody attention so that he can feel about it. As she did that she lets off a smile the entire time unfazed from the looks she was getting.

Hisaya knew her hood felt lighter than usual, her rodent companion wasn't lazily lounging like a studly cabana boy. Instead, the animal found it's way over to a boy's desk, no doubt in search of something to chew on. All of Hisaya's own pencils had been chewed to fine points, others reduced to mere nubs. Even if there was more to chew, the girl wouldn't allow it. She was tired of her fingers cramping being forced to write with nubs─ Now whenever the rat tried to nibble at the wooden stick, Hisaya jabbed the point into the rodents stomach in order to keep him away.

"Better he suffers than me." Tsked the hooded girl. He'd better like writing with nubs for the rest of their time at school. If he was weak enough to let a rat take from him, then who'd bother to help him?

Small and frail just like the girl who handled him, the rats bones jutted out as it scurried across the boy's desk searching for the biggest pencil. It's teeth dug into one before pattering back to the edge of his desk. He knew better than to jump from desk to desk, but that didn't stop the sickly little rat from attempting...Even if he would end up limp on the floor.

Kenichi did not appear to notice at all at first, seemingly still deep in thought as he stared at nothing in particular. Only when his pencil had been consumed by a quarter did he look down to stare at the invading rodent. He tilted his head at first as if confused by the animals presence. But after a few seconds, he goes "Ahh." jabbing his hand towards it to grab it by the scruff of its neck with two fingers and lifting it in front of his own face. "A wild rodent. Filthy...."

Just as fast as the boy grabbed Hisaya's companion, she flitted around and cut her eyes at him. "That's not yours." she hideously hissed at him, her raspy voice darkening. No one was allowed to touch, let alone torment her pet other than her. The last person to do so lost a hand, which Hisaya brightened at the thought of adding another to her collection.

The small creature let out loud squeaks, alerting his handler that he was in danger. Like all prey animals, they alerted the others of danger while offering up themselves to let the others escape. But this one knew if he squeaked loud enough, his tormentor would save him. "Be careful, wild rats bite. Maybe even hungry enough to chew through your finger..."

As if on cue, the rat chomped down on the boys finger. Hisaya watched, thoroughly amused. She'd trained her rat well enough to defend himself. How else was she able to escape punishment from teachers? An impish grin tugged at the girl's lips and her hood lowered over her eyes.

"Hmmm." Kenichi slightly tilted his head when the teeth of the rodents dug into his finger. And although it must have been painful, the white-haired boy did not make any noise. Nor was he wincing in pain. Instead, he merely looked over to Hisaya. "Although you called it a wild rat a moment ago, your first words indicate that it is your pet...If that is the case, what is the point of calling it a wild rat? Such a statement only invites misunderstandings. Unless.." Kenichi pondered while slightly moving his finger from one side to the other, causing the rat to rock back and forth.

"I suppose I understand. You have been abandoned by your owner then just now. How unfortunate that this has happened. I too have yet to understand her pointless policies. Was it because I touched you?" He wondered, thinking about how birds would throw their chicks out of the nest if they smelled of humans.

Hisaya's impish grin straightened and she pursed her lips in annoyance. He was looking to hard into. No matter if a rat is domesticated, it is still wild when push comes to shove. Animals are instinctive and it's either fight or flight. "It's a dog eat dog world, predator vs prey. Can you guess who is who?" she said flatly and watching her rat wriggle in his grubby hands. If he wanted to escape he would, but he secretly liked not being at the mercy of Hisaya.

No matter, if he did anything to her rat she would just get another like she always did. In the same color and give it the same name. Though, it would always end up just as weak and sick as the last.

Kenichis empty green eyes stared intently at the on his finger hanging rat. So this is how Hisaya saw the world. It was no value system he could agree with. It is a dog-eat-dog world she said. Survival of the fittest, a concept he was well aware of and she was not wrong. Throughout history the strong prevailed and the weak were slain. Still, he could not understand her logic. Her action contradicted her words. "If the big fish eats the little fish, then what is the point of you taking it in in the first place? You shelter it, you feed it, and you keep it within your home. So you either are way kinder than you would like anyone to know or you simply wallow in the feeling of superiority that you experience when in the presence of small animals... If that is the case, then I would like to understand why. It is an asceticism I can not emulate. For what purpose do you live?"

He tilted his head. His mental makeup fundamentally differs from hers. Still, he went on to answer her question after another few seconds of pondering. "And to answer your question, since your rat is in the process of eating me, that makes me the prey."

Really? Was he so incompetent that he couldn't simply understand animals were nothing more than a means to an end. A solution to a problem. If someone wanted to run her through with a sword, then there was a rat to take her place. A rat for her to use for her own survival.

"They're not worthless because they have no worth to begin with. We take from them and make it better."

The hooded girl was not amused by his response, scoffing and crossing her arms. Hisaya's hands were pale and bony, transparent enough to see each blue vein webbing underneath her skin. "Why don't I light a fire under him and make him work harder?" rasping in aggravation. It was a known fact that rats were starved and used on prisoners in order to torture them. Put a cage up to their chest and light a fire close to them. The heat would force them to find a way out.

"I am afraid that would be pointless. He has reached my bone. There is no way he could ever gnaw through it.“ Kenichi said, lightly shaking his head. There was no hostility behind his words. He sincerely informed her about the folly of her plan. „Instead I would appreciate it if you could call your pet back.“

Not even bothering to look in his direction knowing he was overexaggerating about the rat chewing his bone, she simply tapped her spindly finger on her desk and the rat snapped to her attention. Flopping free from his hands, the rodent landed on it's back and staggered a moment before weakly scampering off, barely making the jump back to her desk.

Her hand grabbed the rat and squeezed slightly before letting it retreat into her hood.

In one of the many seats of the classroom sat Takumi Uchiha. His finger moved vigorously with a pen as he tapped it against the paper, the notes he took seemed to be review of what had been happening in class. As Kibu demonstrated what their teacher asked of him, Takumi kept writing, lifting his head up to the front of the class and down to his paper repeatedly. He was an observant child, one that took note either physically or mentally of everything around. All information could be vital if in the right situation.

He thought nothing of Kibu's failure. In order to get better you have to fail, if someone didn't fail, then you wouldn't see a need to work on it.

Suiren was unfortunately seated right beside Takumi. It had been a tough day for the girl, usually she was a vigilant student, studying every detail, acing every test. The first to raise her hand and the last to leave the classroom. Today though she had been put through the wringer. Forced to sit with a bunch of undesirables as she called them and then tricked into helping that Akimichi wannabe study! That is exactly why that pen infuriated her. A good kunoichi knew when to pick her battles and Suiren, well she didn't.

"That's a little loud don't you think? Can't you write a little quieter..." The tone she took was a lot harsher than the words themselves. "I doubt what's happening right now will be of any importance to you later." That was a shot at Kibu, not Takumi.

"Does that matter?" Takumi said, his gaze didn't even fall upon Suiren. Unlike her, his tone was soft and almost welcoming. "One man's lost is another man's treasure. It took courage for him to go up, knowing he couldn't properly perform the requested technique." Takumi was more optimistic than he needed to be, but in a sense it was how he'd grown up.

"Then he should save himself the embarrassment and drop out of this academy." It was a bold statement from a member of the Kagami Clan, a house that had infamously lost all of its respect decades ago. "Courage without strength is just stupidity." She did not look at Takumi either, despite them talking to one another, the lack of eye contact made the verbal spar look awkward and tame.

With a singular clap, Junko sought to gain the attention of the class. With it, she managed to silence the room aside from a few sporadic and bold whispers.

"There seems to be a lot of talk about Kibu's performance. I'll have you all know it isn't easy to stand up here and fail like that, so~" her voice became very sing-songy, sweeter than normal. "You'll all be doing it! Who is first?" Junko didn't expect them all to fail but it was good to instill fear in their young hearts. Just as a flower grows toward the sun, a student pursues knowledge. Sometimes they just need a little push. She looked around the room at all the many hands reaching for the sky, eager to please.

"Hmm... Suiren Kagami, how about you?" Junko pointed at the red head who seemed to be arguing with the Uchiha. Like many others, her hand had been raised but she didn't expect to be called on. It worried her. While she was a star student, getting great grades on every test and understanding the mechanics behind chakra, actually using it had proved to be... troublesome. With a gulp, her chairs legs scraped the wood and she made her way to the blackboard. If she embarrassed herself here just like Kibu, no one would take her seriously!

Most probably expected some sort of mirror technique or a powerful water release, something the Kagami Clan exceled in. Suiren kept her head held high, facing the class. "A shinobi isn't supposed to show off their abilities so carelessly, but..." Making the proper hand signs, her fingers formed the shapes. Ram. Snake. Tiger.

In an instant, a clone appeared beside her. It was the Clone Technique, an ability all Genin should have been familiar with as it was required to pass. With a nod, Suiren returned to her seat.

"Very good Miss Kagami." Junko stated plainly, looking for the next volunteer.

"Ooo ooo I'll go next!" Kachi hops up onto his desk as he speaks. Mimicking an ape he crouches then jumps to the center isle scurrying to the front of the class. He stands up and grins at his classmates. The small ape on his back peaks over his shoulder and waves at the class. Kachi pats it on the head before turning his attention to the task at hand.

Dog, boar, ram then poof. A young ape stands where the human boy previously stood. Kachi smiles and beats his chest, letting out a happy roar. The small ape on his back blurts out an excited screeching at his friend's success. Kachi walks back to his seat still transformed and sits down.

The monkey bit made Junko giggle, it seemed a great majority of this class had taken a liking to animals and summoning. "Hisaya Minikui, what about you?" She announced, waiting for the student to take the stage.

It all seemed a bit barbaric, acting like circus animals performing their best trick...Hisaya was no object to be poked and prodded, but if she were to display her talents she definitely wouldn't disappoint. They all thought she was a freak, but no one thought twice about triggering the girls temper. A family of horrid ghouls, the daughter of a cultist clan. She knew the rumors and wanted to set them straight; they're all true.

Rising from her chair, her black kimono grazed the floor and her cloak wrapped around her body like a shadow. Walking down the isle of desks, Hisaya's bony, nimble fingers twisted through hand signs to perform her Monsterfication Technique― Rat, Dragon, Bird. The strange girl's pet rat leapt from her hood for all to see, it's descent to the ground halted briefly; the rodent's bones cracked loudly, it's flesh ripped while it's size grew, horns sprouted along it's spine. It's snout long and snarly, teeth sharp and enlarging. It no longer looked like a rat, but a mutilated animal bred from monsters. Now the size of a large dog, it finished it's leap from the air and landed at Junko's feet, snarling at the woman and raising it's monstrous claws.

"Animals or monsters? I think they're all monsters if you look at them with one eye closed. Don't you?" The hooded girl's voice rasped throughout the classroom. She reverted her companion back to it's normal size and watched it limply crawl to her feet looking much more sick and weak than it was before. Hisaya didn't normally use this technique on her own pet's, but rather her summons. Cupping the poor creature into her hands, she took her seat once more.

"Thats so cool, I dont't have nothing like that. I wanna do something cool though." She had thought to herself. She then gets an idea and waves down the teacher and puts a finger on her lips asking the teacher to be quiet. With her being in the back only the teacher could really see her.

Junko was actually impressed by everyone's abilities thus far. Seeing a desperate hand waving in the distance, she recognized it almost instantly. She knew her students well, "Ueido, you're up!" Junko called out, leaning against the blackboard in anticipation. It was good to give every student a chance to shine, besides, it allowed Junko to truly assess their skill. "This is a test grade by the way." The teacher winked at the entire class.

She jumps up in excitement ready to show off a bit. "Okay," She then went under the table for a second and prepares a clone jutsu. Ram, Snake, Tiger a clone then pops up and they shake hand both understanding what to do. The clone then walks to the front of the class and ask the teach a question. "Could you tie my hands." the clone says standing in front of the class, Ueido looks over the desk preparing her next step as the clone is speaking.

Out of curiosity alone, Junko obliged. "Of course!" She stated cheerfully, a thick rope was then tied into a perfect knot around Ueido's wrists.

Ueidos clone then gives off a quick introduction, "My name is Ueido Uchiha and I'm going to escape the rope and appear outside the door." The clone then sits down and waits. Ueido then uses body flicker to get on the outside of the class and dispel her clone. The clone disappears and the rope falls to the ground. She stands outside the door for a moment to catch her breath, since body flicking was still new for her to use.

She opens the door and waves at everybody, she continues to walk back to her seat with a smile. "Hope you enjoyed."

"Woah....She vanished. Or did I zone out?" Wondered Kenichi, tilting his head. Sometimes when something distracted him, he'd find himself daydreaming for a few seconds. Those who moved during that time seemed to teleport. Having been called to the front by the teacher it seems it was now his turn to demonstrate his skills. Once at the front he turned towards the class. He slowly moved his palm forward and out of it grew a hollow bone. Once it reached a certain lenght he broke it off with his free hand and moved it to his mouth.

Unlike the bones he used to fight this one had several holes across its vertical axis and blowing air into it, tunes could be heard throughout the classroom. The bone flute produced tones that were unlike that of a bamboo flute. It was neither better nor worse, just different. Once his rhythmic, calming play was finished he said. "This is Suizen. A practice consisting of playing instruments as a means of attaining self-realization. Do with that knowledge as you will." He secretly hoped that some of the students here would use that in order to gain self-awareness. He looked over to their teacher to see if this was enough.

Before Kenichi could get back to his seat, Shikatarō rose with a devilish grin. This was a rare sight on the boy, but he saw an opportunity to get back at the Kaguya for earlier. "Junko-sensei, I'd like to go next. Kenichi, stay where you're at 'buddy'", emphasized the Nara as he made his way down.

Forming a simple rat seal, Shikatarō's shadow began to stretch and morph, inching its way towards Kenichi and merging with his own. "This is called the Shadow Imitation Technique, it's the speciality of my clan," said the young man. Shikatarō rose his hand, with Kenichi forcefully raising his own hand. The Kaguya was not able to resist it.

"With this technique, those ensnared in my shadow are forced to copy my movements. Think of it like a game of captain's orders," Shikatarō said as he made various movements that Kenichi was forced to do as well. This culminated in Shikatarō walking back and to the side, fackng Kenichi with nothing but open air between them. Kenichi, however, found himself in front of a desk that had been moved to the front of the room earlier due to Shikatarō's planned movements.

With this, Shikatarō slammed his head down. Nothing happened to him of course, but Kenichi on the other hand had his head slam into the desk in front of him with a loud *thud*. "Stop dragging me places, idiot!" shouted the Nara as he finally released the technique. He knew he would probably get in trouble with Junko and later his parents, but the punishment would be well worth it.

Kenichis forehead cracked the desk all over. He however merely raised his head again, looked over to Shikatarō, and exhaled. His pale forehead was reddened, but other than that the Kaguya seemed fine. That was because his bones were harder than steel. Something that very few in Konoha were aware of. He looked over to the table before turning towards Junkp. "I apologize for the caused damage in my impulsive friend's place." He said calmly.

"I guess it's my turn..." Zeppō said out loud to himself as he stood up. "U-uh, I would like to go next." Zeppō bowed and moved forward to the demonstration area. It was clear from the way he moved that he was hesitant. Others had proudly showed off their clan abilities and skills. However, Zeppō's situation was a little more complicated.

"Um, because of some...issues, I can't show my Hiden Technique today." Zeppō bowed apologetically. "I'll instead show a signature weapon that shinobi from Kyoka Village - that's where I'm from - use."

From his backpack's right pocket, Zeppō took out a kusarigama, which was a weapon that was not often preferred by shinobi due to its unusual shape, symbolism and general impracticality. "This is Minori, our village's signature weapon. We made it in response to farmers needing a better way to reach their out-of-the-way crops. We later turned it into a real weapon."

Unlike most kusarigama, there was a hilt on both the sickle *and* the chain, making this weapon very user-friendly. Zeppō didn't want to swing it around too far in case of an accident, but he did prepare himself to do *something.* Zeppō grabbed the chain's hilt and swung Minori towards the right. The sickle shot in the same direction that the chain did, heading directly towards the combat doll placed at the end. It continued to extend until the scythe finally stabbed the doll.

"*Phew, that landed.*" Zeppō tugged back at the sickle, drawing it towards him so he could put it away once more. Zeppō bowed before looking around.

He scurried to his seat, not wishing to have the spotlight on him for too long.

"I suppose it's my turn." Ijin stated quietly as he approached the target with his hands tucked into his pocket. He wanted to brag, but he knew he should keep his cards close to his chest because you never know which student will turn into a rival. Instead, he chose to keep things straightforward and employ a method that was well-known to the Uchiha Clan. Ijin quickly performed the hand signals, concluding with the Tiger seal, while taking a deep breath and keeping his eyes only on his target. He then carefully channeled exactly the right amount of chakra to enable his jutsu to function without overpowering the intended impact. Perhaps he should have done something simpler, but all he could show was the fundamentals or personal jutsu that he didn't want to reveal just yet.

**"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique"**

A burst of controlled flames expelled from his mouth, which seemed to morph and warp into two small sized balls of fire, which quickly raced towards the target and Upon impact, the fireballs quickly engulfed it and the area beyond it in a stream of flames, interestingly enought the flames didn't seem to stray too far and instead seemingly refused to scorch anything beyond a few feat of the target, this was to demonstrate Ijin's great control as he did not wish to harm his classmates, especially in such an enclosed area. Cutting the flow of chakra, Ijin watched as the flames mellowed out leaving behind a burn target which was mostly smoldering embers before stuffing his hands back into his pocked and walking away.

*"It was still larger and more forceful than I wanted; it appears that I still need to work on my control."* Ijin frowned at what he saw as a failuer, despite the jutsu's success and his superior control over it. Idly, he wondered why they hadn't done this drill outside, given that many jutsu were chaotic in nature.

Takumi's eyebrows lifted at Ijin's showing of the Fireball technique. It was a rights of passage based technique of the Uchiha Clan, it wasn't on the scale of a Hiden belonging to some of the other clans, but it meant you were competent enough to formulate and mold your chakra. He was surprised Ijin could pull it off with such lackluster chakra control, but he was definitely working towards something.

*"Oh, a nice technique."* Takumi thought to himself.

"Oohh oohh!" Kachi bangs his hands on his desk, jumping up and down in his seat. His transformation technique releases but he continues to act the same way. "First he smashes his head into a desk and now you wana burn the classroom down! Ahahaha I love it! I have a feelin you guys are guna cost the school a lot of money in repairs." Kachi and his baby ape cackle together at the situation.

The ball of fire and through it emitted heat ripped Kenichi out of his thought process. He watched the flames burn the training dummies down and witnessed it leaving only ashes and lingering flames behind. Said flames were sure to spread if no one did anything about it. "How strange...It is a pattern I noticed. Those of the Uchiha clan tend to take whatever chance they get to carelessly flaunt their power. I suppose that is what happens when you are born with a strong bloodline but a weak spirit." He uttered to himself. He turned to the teacher. "Once again, I apologize in place of my weak-spirited classmate." Like always Kenichi did not pull back any punches but even so, his words carried no hostility. From his perspective, he was merely once again apologizing for someone else folly.

Just like his friend, Jinpachi had been watching the situation and had a grin on his face, thanks to Ijin's little stunt, he could do something cool. While he wasn't one to show off, because he found it as an opening to get more work, he decided it be best to show off what he could do. So the teacher at least knew he had the skills, and wouldn't call on him to often, he jumped from his seat, the minute he noticed Ijin begin to walk away, he jumped on his desk, causing a slam, as no doubt eyes would look to him.

Crouching the young Senju, knelt slightly as he aimed, and jumped, thankfully the roof was pretty high so he had room, his jump was nearly perfected, and while in the air he concentrated, as his hands flew into the needed handsigns. Dragon → Tiger → Hare, it was time to show people what the Senju bloodline held.

**"Water Release: Wild Water Wave**"

Jinpachi spews water from his mouth in a waterfall-like fashion to quench the flames, the amount of water he shot was as big as the ball Ijin had blowm, causing all the fire to die out. Then he stuck the landing, as he stood up putting his hands in his pocket with a grin.

"How was that teach?"

Despite the severity of the situation, Junko allowed her students to do whatever jutsu they pleased. Little did many of them know that this was a small piece in an even bigger puzzle. Whether they decided to show off or be shy, it was a decision that would determine their future as genin. While their abilities were important, personality played a large role. This was a test to see both.

Junko's face remained neutral, from the giant fireball to the raging waterfall. Techniques such as these coming from children should have been shocking, would have been, if only the two had different surnames.

"Very nice Mr. Senju," She added onto his finale, looking into the crowd and double checking her list. "Samiya Kanari, how about you?" Junko asked, looking around for the girl who was most likely lost in the crowd.

"Oh me?" Samiya questioned. Upon hearing her teacher's voice the girl was snapped back into reality. Up until now she'd been dilligently taking notes on the lesson, jotting down certain observations about her peers. Only now had it became appearant to her that she was still yet to show off a jutsu of her own. In all the time she'd spent taking notes on her classmate, she didn't really give much thought into what jutsu to perform for the class. After a short moment of silence, Samiya had came to a relatively quick decision, after all with Kibu going first the bar was couldn't go any lower.

"Sure!" Standing from her seat, she made her way to the front of the room taking her sensei's side, being carful to avoid the mess left by her classmates. "I hope you don't mind, Sensei. I'm going to borrow something of yours for a moment." Samiya remarked, quickly bowing to her sensei before bringing her hands together and quickly weaving Dog → Boar → Ram in instant succession.

A plume of smoke appeared, engulfing Samiya and hiding from sight for just a moment. As the smoke cleared, where the dark skinned girl once stood was an exact copy of Junko. From the hair to her outfit, everything that once was Samiya was gone and replaced by a Junko doppleganger. The transformation technique was a simple jutsu, something every shinobi should be able to perform flawlessly. However, instead of just transforming her appearance, she decided to take it one step further.

Samiya closed her eyes and began to gather a small amount of chakra in her throat. With her hands still clasped together, she took a deep breath and cleared her voice, her eyes open looking out to the classroom.

"Hello class! How are you all today?" She uttered aloud in a voice identical to her sensei's, down to the tone of voice and delivery. To the untrained shinobi, the two were visually and vocally indistinguishable from each other.

“I'm sure you all know the transformation technique by now, but to change my voice I'm using the Sound Manipulation Technique. It's a Hiden technique my mother taught me, I can't use it all too well yet, but changing my voice is easy enough!" Samiya explained all while still imitating Junko's voice.

Soon enough, the same cloud of smoke that engulfed her once before hid her away again, as it cleared Samiya once again looked and sounded like herself. "For a teacher, she sure wears alot of makeup." Samiya thought to herself snarkily, smiling and bowing to her class and sensei before taking her seat and returning to her note taking.

"I'm next!" Zai raised his hand and jumped to the front of the class. "This technique was taught to my clan by the ninja geckos and has been handed down for generations. My brother showed me how to do it, take a look at this" He proceeded to do the hand signs in order: Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Dragon. "Glue Bullet!"

He spit out a huge ball of glue that shot towards the training dummy, gluing it to the wall. He then quickly returned to his seat and set down with a smile on his face, he was very proud of that technique and his clan as a whole. The Unyamori Clan was known to be a support clan, often out of the spotlight. But his brother went in a different direction, and he intended to do the same.

The last of the class to step to the front was Takumi. Not by choice, but mostly because he had spent his time watching and analyzing the techniques of his classmates. He'd seen them do basic general skills through their academy time, but some showed techniques well beyond that. For him it was interesting to say the least.

Standing at the front of the chalkboard he looked to everyone else with an expressionless face, but the timidity in his approached could be seen. His body was loose but his mannerisms were almost shy-like. He looked to the students individually, his eyes bouncing from one classmate to another as he remembered their display of skills. Everything watch etched into his mind and he he'd remember it forever. Information was vital after all.

Now it was his turn though and when he turned around to face the rest of the class, a instantly flash of red drifted from his face and faded just as quickly. He took his hands through a series of hand seals, he weaved through each seal so fast that his hands blurred in and out of existence. "Fire Style: Will of Fire Jutsu," his tone soft as ever while holding his arm out to his side and extending his palm. At the very center a sphere of began to grow and expand in size until it looked like he'd been holding a miniature sun out. It was just barely bigger than his body, but *sun* nonetheless.

He looked to the class with a tucked gaze and then with the snapping of his fingers, the sun dispersed into wisps of flames that spread across the class like a firework-themed celebration, but the flames weren't going to hurt anyone. It gave off the sensation of a fairy tale, but most importantly it was meant to ease the rest of the students and the chakra spread from it soothed them into relaxation.

Turning over to look at his teacher, Takumi gave a light head nod before the wisps withered away into thin air and he returned to his seat.

Many students seem surprised or even scared by the power, others had figured out the trick. "What a lovely genjutsu." Junko stated as the flames began to crawl outwards. This seemed to calm the students nerves, many of whom had been on the edge of their seat. The eyes were easy to trick, especially for those unexperienced. Takumi's stunt had added an important factor into this test, perception. The sensei took a special note of those who hadn't saw through the illusion, drawing symbols by specific names on her list.

Clapping her hands she once again silenced everyone before looking at the young pupils, "From what I can see *most of you* are on your way to becoming exceptional ninja. Now, it is time to split all of you into teams of three. After that, you will be paired with a jonin such as myself, who will hopefully guide you into the next rank of chunin. Now, let's see here..."

Looking at the list she had carefully created based on this test, she revealed the groupings.

"Echo Aburame,

Kibu,

Zai.

Jinpachi Senju,

Shikatarō Nara,

Ijin Uchiha.

Samiya Kanari,

Hisaya Minikui,

Ichiko Hyūga.

Mayumi Dochū,

Suiren Kagami,

Takumi Uchiha.

Kachi Hatake,

Kenichi Kaguya,

Zeppō Sasaku.

I think that should be about everyone if you have any complaints..." Junko looked towards the trash can in the corner of the room, "There is my suggestion bin. I would suggest familiarizing yourselves with one another because your life... might very well be in their hands some day." Teamwork was a very important part of being a ninja. They had been grouped with one another based on personality and skill. Where one may fail the others succeed. However they were still children, understanding that could take a while and the idea alone made Junko giggle. It was always fun to watch flowers bloom.

Suiren wanted to cry. TAKUMI??? MAYUMI??? "What did I do to deserve this..." She mumbled under her breath, of course it was the two people she had just had terrible interactions with! It couldn't have been anyone else? Anyone at all! Even Kibu would have been better. The young girl shook her head, no. This would have to do because it couldn't be a repeat of last year. She couldn't fail again.

"Zeppō Sasaku...That was the guy that looks like a fox, was it not? And the other..." Kenichi moves his index finger to his chin, thinking. Eventually, he remembered. "The pale boy who looks like a snake." Kenichi nodded to himself. He had hoped that Shikatarō would be in his group. After all, he was the only friend he managed to make in the academy. Kenichi shook his head.

No. This merely meant fate wanted him to walk down another road. And so instead he chose to consider himself fortunate. This was an opportunity to forge new bonds after all.

Kachi jumps up form his chair with a smile. He walks over to Kenichi and stands in front of him. He makes himself his full height, puffing out his chest and smiling down at his seated teammate. "The hardest head in the class! I'm looking forward to working with you." He reaches out his hand to Kenichi.

Kenichi tilted his head, looking at the hand. Eventually, he nodded and moved his hand into Kachis's hand. "My name is Kenichi Kaguya. Nice to meet you." He simply said, while looking into Kachi's yellow eyes with his own empty emerald ones.

"Oh...I'm with those two?" Zeppō thought aloud as he looked at Kenichi and Kachi. He decided to wait till the class ended before going up to talk to them. He didn't want to be rude to the teacher. "*At least one of them isn't a Konoha native...I guess...*"

"So I'm with a Hyuga and...the rat girl..." Samiya thought to herself, turning her body ever so carefully to gaze back at the scrawny girl dressed in all black. Despite Hisaya's already frightening appearance, the rat that stood perched on her shoulder was even more unerving. Having seen the rat in action for herself just a few moments prior, Samiya wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the news they would be teaming up.

Luckily, there was still somehwhat of a bright side to this. Samiya didn't know much about the hyuga clan, being that Konoha wasn't her village of origin. But, the little information she did have on the clan set very high expectations. Not only were they the holders of the highly coveted dojutsu, the Byakugan. The Hyuga were also the sole progenitors and practitioners of the Gentle Fist techniques. So she could only hope that Ichiko would be a much needed ray of light shining on an otherwise very dark and dreery pairing.