Behind the Mask | PAUSED INDEFINITELY

Chapter 2

You drew invisible lines with your finger on the table as other graduates talked around you. You had never been one to talk, really, especially after the incident with your mother, so you kept to yourself during times like these. You were waiting for Iruka-sensei to start the orientation, but he had yet to arrive.

Suddenly the door behind you burst open unexpectedly, causing you to jump slightly. Ino and Sakura were shoving each other, trying to be the first ones to get in.

"Goal!" They shouted as best they could, trying to sound more energetic than the other, but both looked tired, as if they raced each other here.

"I won again, Sakura!" Ino bragged.

"The tip of my foot got in one centimeter faster!"

"You must be blind."

That didn't keep a certain someone from catching Sakura's eye. She hurried to greet Sasuke, the natural of the class, and probably the most attractive, in your opinion. But, unlike every girl that was in your class, you hadn't fallen for his looks and strange eccentric personality.

Naruto tried to talk to her, but she pushed him out of her way. It was pretty obvious he may have a thing for her, at least to you. You were pretty good at reading people, despite not being very social. You learned a lot from watching them converse.

It wasn't long before Ino and Sakura were fighting again, this time, over who was going to sit next to Sasuke, and soon, plenty of people joined in. You rolled your eyes at this. It was just a seat, why get so worked up about it?

Man, I'd hate to be Sasuke. At least in the fact that everyone is ogling him and arguing over him. It must get tiring after a while...

By the time you looked up again, Naruto was squatting on the table in front of Sasuke glaring at him. He got plenty of protests from the other girls in the class. You could almost see the lightning as they glared at each other. If they were picked to be in the same group together, lord, help the other kid in that group.

What happened next was beyond what one could expect. Another kid in front of Naruto accidentally elbowed him, causing him to fall forward and crash his lips onto Sasuke's. The room went silent. You weren't sure what the appropriate reaction would be. Between the looks on the girls faces and the looks on Naruto's and Sasuke's, it was priceless, but you figured now was not an appropriate time to laugh.

As soon as Iruka-sensei walked in, everyone scrambled into seats and settled down.

"As of today, you all have become full-fledged ninjas," he began, "However, you are still Genin. The tough part's still to come! From here on, you'll be in a squad of three and carry out missions under your Jonin teachers."

Murmurs spread between everyone about who they would be paired with. Of course, the rest of the girls wanted to be with Sasuke. You tried to drone out the buzz. It was getting a bit old, all this commotion of Sasuke, not that it was his fault, though.

But still, you couldn't help but wonder who you'd be grouped with. You didn't hope for it to be anyone in particular, just that they'd be decent ninjas.

"The groups have been determined so that the strength of the groups will be balanced," Iruka-sensei continued on, "Now for the assignments!"

You waited and waited for your name to be called, and when he said, "That's all for the assignments!" your heart dropped. Your name wasn't called. You were about to ask when Naruto obnoxiously interrupted, inquiring about why he was placed with Sasuke. Sakura managed to get him to calm down, though.

"In the afternoon, I'll introduce you to-"

"Iruka-sensei!" Your hand shot straight up.

He looked over at you, slightly surprised that you spoke up, "Yes, (f/n)?"