Finding Myself [Rewrite]

ch. 16: Team Seven

"It's time, miss."

Minaki took a deep breath, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She looked herself up and down and could only see the blood that once stained her clothes.

She couldn't unsee it.

Not after what she had done.

There was no way she could even describe the week she's had to endure for the sake of living. What was the point of trying so hard when she was making herself so miserable?

The person she saw in the mirror wasn't at all the person she wanted to be.

The person in the mirror is a monster. Just a terrible thing that shouldn't have ever existed.

Nearly every time she looked in that mirror, the image of herself became more distorted, more ugly. It was almost unbearable- but lately, something wonderful would cross her mind that would make the image clear.

"Mina! Are you ready?"

An estatic voice called from the outside of her room. A voice so full of life, full of hope and joy. A voice that warmed her chest more than any other. The first real friend she's ever had.

"It's still early, so take your time." He said while sitting next to the door, just waiting around just in case his friend fell out or something

"Just a minute is enough." She called out after taking another breath. The warmth in her chest made her doubts melt away.

She touched the mirror as the reflection become more like herself, how her friend saw her, how she wanted to be. In the mirror, she saw what they described, a person that is beautiful and smart and kind.

A person that is nothing like that thing wants her to be.

Mina turned away from the mirror, poking her head out of the door to see her friend in the hall. "I'm ready."

"Okay! Is Ren coming too?"

She nodded, pushing the door open as the little lion walked between her legs.

Naruto laughed as he stood up. "Well, I guess we're all set then. Let's get going."

Hand in hand, the two young ninja went down to the village with a lion and several butterflies behind them. They talked along the way. Mostly about simple stuff.

Naruto raved about a kid named Konohamaru, the current Hokage's grandson. They happened to meet him while on the way to orientation.

Mina thought he was a nice kind, a lot like Naruto in a way. She could see them getting along in the future.

They arrived at orientation just before the majority of the graduating class.

Mina took a seat in the back of the room when her former classmate, Sasuke, made eye contact with her. They just looked at each other for some time. It wasn't until the demon inside her body hissed in her mind that Mina dared to turn her attention elsewhere.

The former students began pouring in moments later.

It got very loud in the classroom as two of her friends basically ran in, arguing with each other for reasons she didn't quite understand, nor would she attempt to be interested in.

"Hey, Mina. You passed the exam, congrats." A former classmate stood beside her desk for the moment, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was a drag, if I'm being honest."

Mina stared at the boy for a minute, then opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and looked down at her desk.

Shikamaru sighed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever."

"Leave her alone Shikamaru, she clearly doesn't want to talk to you." Another former classmate sneered, with a puppy barking beside him from their seat.

Mina, at the very least, waved at both of them, which caused the puppy to whimper with worry.

Kiba looked at his fuzzy friend and shrugged. "I don't know, Akamaru. She's probably having an off day, just leave her be."

Shikamaru shrugged as well, taking his seat not too far away as more people trickled in. Soon enough, all the seats were filled and the argument between Sakura and Ino grew until it all very suddenly came to a halt.

The stoic boy shouted, which fully gained Mina's attention. "Naruto, you moron! I'm gonna kill you!"

"EWWW! My mouth is rotting!" Naruto's voice filled the classroom, along with laughter from a few others.

The pieces began falling into place in her mind at that moment. The people that seemed so familiar, with personalities she wasn't used to, and scenery right out of a story book. No wonder it all appeared so familiar to her. It was because she had seen it all before.

She had met these people before, only, from the other side of a screen.

Mina opened her mouth to say something, but again, no words would come to her as the fans of the stoic boy began screaming at her friend.

Whether she had said anything or not wouldn't have made a difference regardless, but it wasn't like she could just sit there and watch her friend be berated for something that wasn't even his fault.

The girl took a deep, relaxing breath, standing at her desk. "Enough. Leave him alone." She said very clearly, in a tone that completely shocked her friends into silence.

It's not that she had been especially loud, she just never spoke up before. It was surreal to them, amazing even.

Sakura basically squealed with excitement, "You did it, Mina!"

The girls had forgotten why they were upset in the first place and we're just feeling so happy that their friend had finally spoken up over something. Even if that thing was Naruto.

Naruto wiped his mouth before grinning from ear to ear. He was elated that she spoke up for him, not many people would do that in the first place, it was really nice.

The students began chattering, trying to talk to her but all the attention caused Mina to sink back into her seat. She didn't know how to feel about it, but her chest started to hurt as they spoke to her. She didn't like that squeezing, she really wanted it to go away.

Thankfully, just moments later, Iruka entered the room and got the children's attention.

It wasn't until their attention was taken from herself that Mina realized she hadn't been breathing. She took a long breath in, then let it out. The pain in her chest was relieved because of that.

She decided not to address her minor mistake and listened as Iruka assigned them teams.

The team she and two of her friends were placed on was Team Seven. Sasuke was also on the team, which was slightly alarming because Naruto didn't get along with him.

Well, there had to be a reason for that placement... Right?