Saline

Chapter One: Team Thirteen

                                                                       Chapter One: Team Thirteen

Mana Aomori was, perhaps, the prettiest girl Hitomi had ever seen. With her pretty, long curly pink hair and eyelashes that seemed to go on forever, Hitomi couldn’t help but to feel stuck somewhere in between jealously and awe. And Kin Sasaki seemed to, more or less, feel the same. Although the plain, brown-headed boy seemed to be leaning more towards awe. And Hitomi was forgotten. Because, pretty little Mana Aomori was too busy soaking up the attention from their teammate Kin Sasaki and he was all too willing to give it to her. Hitomi knotted her fingers through the material of her shirt, drawing it as far down her legs as it would stretch in a nervous habit to hide herself. “I’m Hitomi Taki,” she squeaked. Mana looked at her, a small, doll-like smile gracing her features. And Hitomi was almost convinced that she was just that: a doll. Kin stared blankly.

She cleared her throat, trying to get her introduction out of the way. Kazue Narita, their sensei, had insisted that she go first. “I’m twelve years old. Sometimes I draw. I aspire to be a great ninja one day.” Kin rolled his eyes.

“We all aspire to be great ninjas. We wouldn’t be here if we wanted to be bad ninjas.” Mana elbowed him in his side. Kazue sighed.

“Since you’re so eager, why don’t you go ahead and go next?” She didn’t seem too ecstatic to be here with them. Kin rolled his eyes, again.

“I’m Kin Sasaki, thirteen years old. I know three different languages and am working on my fourth.” Kin smirked at Hitomi. “And I, as well, aspire to be a great ninja one day.” Hitomi blushed, looking away from his crude green eyes. Mana huffed beside him.

“My name is Mana Aomori. I’ll be thirteen in five days. I like to sing and dance. And one day, I’d like to be a great medic nin and heal people.” She smiled at Kazue, pinching her eyes at the corners and scrunching her nose. Hitomi was still unsure if she hated her or not.

The woman that sat opposite of them leaned back. Her blonde hair was pulled back tightly into a neat bun and her cool, grey eyes stared up at the sky. “I’m Kazue Narita, I’m thirty-two years old and I’m a jounin. Someday I hope you all will be old and skilled enough on your own that I will no longer have to babysit you.” She let her eyes drift between the three of them. “Any questions?” Hitomi did not remind her that she didn’t tell them her hobbies. “Good. Now, as a trust exercise we will be going on a little excursion outside the village walls so that you can get to know and trust each other. I do not care for bickering, so don’t do it. These are your teammates: learn to like each other.” She stood up, dusting the dirt from her backside. “Any questions? No? Good. Meet me back here in an hour.”

Mana Aomori was perhaps the clumsiest person she knew. Hitomi had caught her at least three times since they stepped outside of the village gates, the former having tripped over holes in the road she did not see, rocks, and sometimes her own feet. Hitomi was always just close enough where she could dart forward before she could hit the ground and save her from a bruise or two. And each time Mana was blush profusely and apologize, thanking Hitomi abundantly. Hitomi was a little less jealous of her.

It took them around two hours to arrive at their campsite—far, far away from civilization. That also meant that Hitomi had spent the last two hours listening to Kin rambling on about things that meant very little to her. Mana sometimes joined into his conversation, talking about things that was far over Hitomi’s head. And it was then that she deduced that hey, maybe these two were a lot smarter than she originally thought. And maybe she had a reason to be jealous, after all. Not so much Kin as Mana, but the feeling was definitely still there.