Naruto: Mixed Heritage

Chapter 28: Genin Test (1)

The misty morning air hung low over Training Ground 51 as Team 25 assembled at the appointed hour of 5 am. Renjiro arrived promptly, his eyes sharpened with focus.

Aiko, with her silver hair glinting in the dim light, soon arrived and took a place next to him, ready for whatever challenge awaited. Hiro arrived last, grumbling to himself about waking up even before Dawn.

'Guess it is safe to say that Hiro is not a morning person,' Renjiro remarked.

They stood there patiently waiting for their Sensei, Senju Riku, to arrive. The air was charged with different emotions as they waited with some being anxious about what Riku had in store for them and others mad at being forced to wake up at the crack of dawn.

But soon enough the mood turned to one of annoyance as it had been more than an hour after the agreed time and Riku had yet to arrive.

"He's probably caught up with some last-minute preparations," Aiko suggested optimistically, though her eyes betrayed a hint of annoyance.

Hiro, crossing his arms, muttered, "Preparations or not, we're here on time. We could be doing something productive."

Finally, three hours later, Riku Senju arrived with an easygoing smile, seemingly unfazed by his tardiness.

"Ah, good morning, my young Shinobi! Sorry for the delay. I hope you guys had a good morning and just arrived," he declared.

"Good morning Sensei. We arrived here at 5 in the morning." Hiro stated.

"Oh, you did? I only arrived now since you guys complained yesterday," Riku said before continuing, "Now to the order of the day, I want everyone to introduce themselves and their dreams."

'I call bullshit, He clearly knew we'd be there by 5 in the morning.'Renjiro surmised after seeing Riku disregard his lack of punctuality.

Seeing none of the boys speaking up, Aiko decided to take the initiative,

"My name is Nakamura Aiko. My dream is to become strong enough to protect those dear to me and to ensure that the mistakes of the past."

Like Renjiro, Aiko was also a victim of War. She became orphaned due to the previous shinobi war (second). Her parents were merchants who became collateral damage during the war.

Although she lost her parents at a tender age, barely even having a recollection of them, the tough life in the orphanage pushed her to become a shinobi. She wanted to be strong enough to make the world a better place for others like her.

"My name is Hatake Hiro and I want to become enough to be my clan's head." Hiro closely followed.

Renjiro hailed from a single-parent home. His father, a fellow shinobi, died while his mother was still pregnant with him. Hence kids at the academy and in the clan kept making fun of him because of this. This led to an inherent need to prove them wrong and being the clan head was the only way he saw to achieve this.

'Clan head? Yeah right. Maybe if Kakashi dies before he signs up for the academy.' Renjiro remarked. He only saw Hiro's dream as a pipe dream after all.

"My name is Uchiha Renjiro and I just want to survive." Renjiro boldly declared.

His statement caught the rest of the group unaware since it was unconventional.

'Aah, I saw his file I guess witnessing his whole life falling apart with the fall of Uzushio traumatized him.' Riku concluded upon hearing Renjiro's statement.

Renjiro was telling the truth. Knowing what was to come in this world he had to try his best to survive. The threat of the third shinobi war, nine-tails rampage and even the Uchiha clan massacre always gloomly hanged on him. He just wanted to be strong enough to retire, maybe open up a shop, and live peacefully. Was that too much to ask?