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Chapter 14:squads assemble

Mai's pov

  I sat down at my seat next to Shikamaru, today was the day we would be assigned our teams. I was nervous and excited to find out who I'm paired with.

"Hey, Shikamaru." I greeted him earning a low groan as he nuzzled his face into his arms. I giggled lightly.

"I barley got any sleep and were getting our teams today. What a drag." He lowly bellowed. I raised an eyebrow.

"Drag this, drag that. You should be interesting even the slightest bit." I effused.

He lifted his head up a little so he could glance at me. "I guess, so."

Ino then walked into the classroom as she scanned the empty seat next to the popular Uchiha. Her eyes lit up and she silently squealed. Ino started to head to the empty seat when a pinkette snatched it before she had a chance. Ino's expression went from happy to extremely angry within mere seconds.

"I was going to sit there!" Ino yelled loudly.

Sakura arrogantly smirked as she looked swooningly at Sasuke; who was not interested in the slightest. His face was blatantly irritated as his gaze stayed starring at the chalkboard.

"I got here first, Ino pig!" Sakura then shouted catching everyone's undivided attention.

I internally rolled my eyes at the unnecessary bickering between the two  overly obsessed girls. They should give it a rest. He's made it clear multiple times that he doesn't like them.

"You too, Mai?" Ino snarled at me, and that's when I realized I must've  been dazing at the scene for too long. Sasuke seemed randomly intrigued at the blonde's irrational assumption as an eyebrow raised.

"No, the loud yelling this early is giving me a headache." I tonelessly remarked back.

Shikamaru then chimed in, "same here, some of us just want a quiet morning."

"Hmph," Ino exaggerated as she crossed her arms and shut her ocean blue eyes. "Whatever. Just give that seat up, no chest big forehead!"

I rubbed my temple with my fingers as annoyance grew overwhelmingly through me.

"A drag, isn't it?" Shikamaru teased, trying to lighten the mood.

I grinned at his joke. "A total drag." We then shared a quiet laugh together as my eyes wandered and fell upon Sasuke giving me a nasty look. What's his problem with me? I'm not the one begging to sit next to him. 

Ino then gave up and took a seat somewhere else as Naruto plopped down next to Sakura; a wide grin that showed his white teeth plastered on his face.

That's when Sakura became annoyed due to Naruto's presence. "Why don't you find somewhere else to sit, Naruto." She scolded, but the energetic blonde didn't seem dented by her rejection in the slightest.

"It's still a shock to me that he passed. He tried taking the exams countless times and failed." Shika pointed out while his head stayed hidden within his arms.

"I don't know, I kind of envy that he tried his best to get where he is now." I rejoiced. "I was nervous I was gonna fail, ya know."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." His hasty voice groused.

"Good-morning, class! Today is the day you will be assigned your three person squad. However, due to an extra person passing there will be one four person squad. Now, when I call your name please stand up front." Iruka Sensei announced.

This is it. I get to finally become a real full fledged leaf shinobi and have my own team.

My heart started beating quickly and I gulped, anxiously thinking about who I'd be put with.

"Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara."

"Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba Inuzaka."

"And finally, the remaining four of you will be the four person squad." Iruka informed and I glanced at my teammates. Fantastic.

I'm with Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke. I just can't seem to get away from him, can I? I would of rather been in the Ino-Shika-cho group without a doubt. But, I just have to deal with whom I was put with.

Sasuke looked equally as bothered as me. Sakura was beaming because of being with Sasuke, and Naruto was beaming because of being with Sakura. But, Sasuke and I weren't beaming at all. The complete opposite, actually.

"Your Sensei will be Kakashi. He should be awaiting all of you outside at this second." Iruka finished as he smiled.

All four of us walked silently outside to greet our new Sensei, and the moment I saw his face I remembered him. He was the guy that came into the woods to help Sasuke and I.

Although a black mask was covered about his entire face, his eyes were squinted and closed so I could tell he was smiling.

"I'm Kakashi and I'll be your guys' Sensei from now on. Congratulations for passing the academy. Follow me." Kakashi Sensei instructed and we did as told. We closely following behind him as we came to a spot in the middle of a field covered with colorful blooming flowers.

He plopped down onto the ground, so we copied his movements. "Now, we should get to know each other before we begin training." He informed.

"Well, what do we say?" Sakura curiously questioned.

"Your hobbies, likes, dislikes. Things like that." Kakashi replied. "Naruto, you go first."

"Oh, alright! My hobby is eating all sorts of ramen, and my likes are also ramen, especially that Ichiraku place that Iruka Sensei took me to!" Naruto excitingly shouted.

"You, Sakura?"

Her cheeks turned the color of her cherry blossom pink hair. "Wellll... my hobbies are.. what I like.. the person I like..." cringe.

"Sasuke?"

"I dislike a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. I don't have a dream because I will make it a reality. To kill a certain.. someone." His cold flat voice bellowed. I gulped. Does he mean.. Itachi?

"What about you, Mai?"

"I mean, I like watching the clouds with my friends and training. I dislike a lot of things as well.. and I guess my dream is to become a strong shinobi." I babbled.

"Great. Now. This is where our training begins. However, it's more of a test. The final test if you will." Kakashi Sensei declared.

Another test? How hard is this one? And why is it shoved on us the moment we graduated the academy?

My nerves started to rise once again and my heart started beating irregularly. I just have to overcome this and stay positive. Calm down. You've made it this far already.

"Alright, follow me." Kakashi said and we all got up from the ground.

What type of test could this be?

I walked along side Sasuke and I glanced at him quickly. "What you said back there.." I started to speak but he cut me off.

"Drop it, Mai." He sternly snarled.

I didn't want to pry, hell, I don't even know why I started to talk to him at all.

Kakashi halted as three bells loosely dangled from his pants pocket.

"The final test begins."

~