夢

Chapter Six

春野サクラ
Sakura Haruno
"Akira."

...---...

She was expecting the worst--a group of annoying twelve year olds that disrespected her in every way. As she walked up the long flights of stairs to the Hokage office, she mentally prepared herself. I'm gonna be stuck with them for a long time, she complained.

But, as always, her assumptions were proven wrong.

She knocked before entering and was surprised to see her genin team already there--scratch that, her team definitely did not consist of genin.

They were chunin, at most. Probably thirteen years old. Each of them at up to her ear, with common features, except for one of the boys.

Pale, lavender eyes. No pupils. Hyuuga. But instead of the trademark waist-length hair, this boy's was cropped short.

Neji. Hinata. Is she alive in their old timeline? Does she miss Naruto?

The other boy had brown hair and pale skin. The rest of his features were covered by the signature jacket and glasses of the Aburame Clan.

Sakura was never close to Shino, though he'd been one of the Rookie Nine. He seemed to isolate himself from others and keep quiet--she never bothered to investigate during their time at the Academy because she was too invested in Sasuke.

Then she looked at the last member of their team--a girl. She had midnight blue hair--dyed, or a family trait?--and onyx eyes. Her skin was peach, but had a slight tan to it. It seems that her hair is the only distinctive trait, Akira thought. But something about her interested Akira.

"Hokage-sama, ohayo gozaimasu," Akira stated, performing a quick bow once she walked in. "I'm here to gather my team."

Hiruzen's eyes raised and he managed a quick smile before blowing a ring of smoke. "Right, Akira. Here they are. You probably were expecting genin, but these kids are chunin. Due to some events, their sensei has dropped out."

After the last sentence, the kids started giggling. It surprised Akira to see two of Konoha's Shinobi clans--especially a Hyuuga--to start giggling. Though, the Aburame barely made a sound--but his shaking shoulders proved it.

"Anyways, they're all yours," Hiruzen finished before turning back to his work. "Oh, and show no mercy."

...---...

The chunins were nervous now. After hearing what the Hokage had said, they couldn't help but be a bit apprehensive about what was to come. As the four of them trekked to the Training Grounds, they all criticized their sensei.

She had short, auburn hair. It reminded them of a blazing fire during camp. The Hyuuga scanned her form. Tall, slender, petite--how strong was she though?

But then he looked to her hands and saw the rough calloused fingers--scars from biting for summonings, hardened fingertips from working with kunai. He looked to his teammates and found that they had noticed as well--it was as if she were living in a war, but when?

She looks into her early twenties, the girl of the team calculated. She then looked over the clothes. There were defined muscles under the forearms' sleeves. In fact, every inch of her body was covered up. Their sensei's face was the only thing out in the open.

I've never seen her before, the Aburame of their team thought. My bugs haven't either, maybe I should ask father.

All three of the chunins were curious about their new sensei, Akira could sense it--she could feel their calculating gazes on her back. Akira thought back to her only girl student, wondering what clan she was from. There were no features that spiked her memory, no eye color or certain appearance--though, the blue hair could give it away. Maybe she didn't know about all the clans, after all, the only clans she knew were in the Rookie Nine.

Once they reached the center of the field, Akira stopped, making the others sit down before her. "Lets start with introductions, then I'll get into our plan for tomorrow. I'll go first. You'll be stating your name, likes, dislikes, skills, weaknesses, and your dream for the future. My name is Akira--Akira-sensei for you guys--I like the mornings, tea, flowers, reading. I don't like ramen, the nighttime, and anyone who exhibits foolishness. My skills are in the medic field and I'm experienced in taijutsu. My weakness is in ninjutsu, I don't know a whole bunch. My dream for the future is--" To save everyone this time and not fail. "--to not end up with a deaf ear when this is all over."

Akira pointed to the Aburame. "My name is Tatsuya Aburame. I like bugs, trees, and my friends. I dislike people who kill bugs or mistreat them, the wind, and anyone who threatens my friends. My skills are of my family's kekkei genkai. My weaknesses are poison gas. My dream for the future is to earn the title jounin."

Without any question, the Hyuuga stood. "My name is Hiroki Hyuuga. I like training, books, making fun of my teammates, and tea. I dislike anyone who teases my friends because no one can do that except for me, and glasses. My skills are also in my clan's kekkei genkai. My weakness is my blind spot. My dream for the future is to also become a jounin."

The girl stood--she was who Akira was curious about. "My name is Mireya. I like training, reading, tree climbing, nighttime and music. I dislike the mornings because they come too soon and strawberries. My skill is in genjutsu. My weakness is taijutsu, my moves lack strength. My dream for the future is to protect my team." With that, the girl grabbed her companions and hugged their shoulders. Instead of pushing her away--Sakura presumed at least the Hyuuga would--they stuck in place, not at the least annoyed.

"Alright!" Sakura cleared up. "Now that we've finished our introductions, it's time for a test!"

"A test?" Hiroki questioned, pupil-less eyes narrowing slightly. "We've already received a test from our old sensei."

"Yes, but not from me." Akira stated, gesturing at herself. "I need to asses each of your skills--even though you've already told me, I still need to see it for myself to know what advice I can give. Tomorrow, I will spar with each of you. I will go over the rules by then. Meet me here tomorrow, eight o'clock. Be prepared."

With that, Akira poofed into smoke, the only trace of her existence being the white smoke and the Sakura blossoms falling on the ground.

"Well..." Mireya started, looking to her teammates. "I think she's good. But we still gotta learn more about her. Maybe tomorrow we can asses her skills too."

The two boys nodded with her. "Do you wanna train now? It's not like we can beat her without training," Hiroki asked, getting up. Mireya rolled her eyes pulled the Aburame up with her; whenever Hiroki suggested something, he met the opposite--he demanded something. There was no getting out of this.

"Do you really think we'd be able to beat her?" Tatsuya asked, voicing the same thoughts as Mireya. They castes glanced at each other for a while.

"Well," Mireya piped up. "The least we can do is lose proudly, not poorly. We should still train."

Akira smiled as she watched. Maybe her team wouldn't be so bad.

But then the thoughts circling her head resurfaced and she frowned. She turned away from the sight and jumped through the trees.

Hiroki Hyuuga.

Tatsuya Aburame.

Mireya.

I've heard of those names before.