Konoha's Chef (Gaara Love Story)

5: Teaming Up

Author's POV

Akimi walked to the Academy, excited to know who was on her team.

Now usually, the class of thirty-five students would be divided into teams of three or unless said otherwise by the Hokage who was in charge of arranging the teams. Anybody who had the brains would never arrange a team of four. Three people per team was the best combination, five members a team was a little over the top, but the point was to have an odd number of people in the team without going past five people.

Now why's that?

Well, when an argument breaks out among a team of three, it could easily be resolved if there were only two sides of the argument. The third person could act as a final decision, and the argument would end quickly. However, if there were four people, two against two would just continue the argument and distract them from the enemy, thus making themselves vulnerable. The same rule applies to teams of two, five, or more.

So in the Konoha Academy, Hokage-sama devised a way to avoid losing Genin too quickly on their first major missions. If the class had an extra student, then he/she would be arranged to be placed in another group to make sure the requirements of teams were met. If the class had two extra students, then both would join another team, generally one that needed more manpower or intellect.

So back with Akimi, she and the extra student Sora were arranged into a equal team of three with another boy Shigekazu.

Sora had short brown hair, dark green eyes, and wore a gray tunic with a dull yellow shirt and black shorts.
Shigekazu looked and dressed similarly to him, only he had silver framed glasses.

"Your name is too long," was the first thing Sora said to Shigekazu.

"And your brain is too small."

"I beg your pardon, I had forgotten that you took three weeks to write your name."

"Your brain must be unable to absorb such information if your name is designed to be short. Quite fitting, if you ask me."

"Nobody did." Sora held his ground firmly and calmly.

"Um, nice to meet you?" Akimi said uncertainly. Shigekazu suddenly turned and grasped her hand, his calm dark green eyes boring into her.

"Greetings. I am Nao Shigekazu. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I am--"

"Akimi Maruboshi, the adoptive granddaughter of Kosuke Maruboshi, the Eternal Genin," the boy cut her off.

"How did you know?" Akimi asked, amazed.

"The only way Shigekazu knows your name and Grandfather is by looking through your file," Sora said, smirking.

"Don't say needless things, Sora," Shigekazu said darkly, adjusting his glasses.

"Is that so? You asked your mother of everyone's profile in my classroom, and even asked your father to help you calculate who would most likely be put in which team."

"If I recall, you did the exact same thing," Shigekazu shot back.

"Now, now, it's good to know about our other teammates, right?" Akimi concluded, effectively ending the argument. "By the way, are you two related?"

"Yes, sadly," they replied.

"They are from the Nao clan," Iruka-Sensei said cheerfully, patting Akimi on the head. "Close cousins, in fact."

"I refuse to acknowledge him as my cousin," Sora and Shigekazu said firmly.

"The Nao Clan is known for their formal language and endless arguments and competitions," Iruka-Sensei whispered to Akimi. "Keep an eye on them."

"Yes sir!"

"Try to get along with each other, okay?" Iruka-Sensei said firmly to everyone. "Your Senseis should be here soon, so just wait until then. Good luck!" And with that, Iruka-Sensei left.

"Splendid. I am now forced to remain with you." Instantly, the two cousins began spewing (formal) insults at each other, remaining calm, yet the tension between them grew thicker and thicker.

Akimi sighed and put her head down. This was going to be difficult.