Hidden Village (Naruto)

9

Today was the day that Neji graduated from the Academy and will officially become a genin. I'm hoping that he will be put on a good team with a great instructor, he has so much potential already and I know that he will be an important asset to this village.

It was around seven in the morning when I was heading into the village to go to the graduation ceremony. Sitting at the entrance of the village was Kotetsu and his best friend. The only reason Kotetsu decided to become a gate guard was because I came in and out of the village almost everyday. So he thought that if he were on guard duty it would make things easier and less suspicious when I came in.

The sight of the gate came into my line of view as I was approaching it so early in the morning. I went to the village early so I could try and get some things I needed for my mission tomorrow and still be on time for Neji's graduation.

The first thing I do is go and buy a new ribbon for my leaf headband. The navy blue color made it not suitable for me, and it also was so short. The idea I had for my headband was to tie it around my neck since I needed more protection there than I needed in my forehead.

I walk into one of the small clothing shops in the village and approach the counter. There was a woman standing there helping another customer while I was waiting behind them. She glances at me and gives me a smile. Everyone here in the village was so nice and friendly, it surprised me. Normally the shinobi are huge jerks and don't care about anybody but themselves, but the people in the village were different. They wanted to be nice and have peace with everyone.

"How can I help you today?" the woman who was busy asks me after she was done. Her hair was long and blonde, which was tied up in beautiful red ribbons.

"I need a longer ribbon for this." I say and hold my headband out for her. She grabs it gently and looks at it. The way she was holding it shows that she treasures it a lot and was very fond of them.

"Okay, so you need a new band. You seem to be...ah yes." she mumbles to herself before she goes somewhere behind the counter and disappears behind a curtain. I wait patiently before she comes back around while holding a new ribbon for it. It was plain black but the material looked different than the one it had before. "This is new so I wanted to try it out with you. We found a way to make it fire resistant and very elastic so it won't break as easily." she grabs a knife from behind the counter and tries cutting the ribbon, and it doesn't work. "Since you're the first to try it just tell me how well it works after a week. No need to pay." as she was telling me this she was putting the plate on the ribbon so that I could use it.

"Thank you." I say as she hands it to me and I tie it around my neck. It sat there loosely with the new ribbon on it. With that done I can now go and get a few more things I needed for my mission before I head off to Neji's graduation. 

There were some food pills I picked up from a store Ryota showed me when I was little. The way they work is that you eat one and it would give you all the nutrients and vitamins as if you were eating a normal meal. It was smarter than bringing actual food along just in case we got stuck in a situation that we never planned for. 

By the time twelve rolled around I had most of my shopping done and was heading towards the academy where the graduation was going to be held. Many adults and other kids were heading towards the academy to see their kids become ninja. It was nice to be able to go and see what the graduations is like since I didn't go to the one for the class I graduated with. 

Inside the large room there were many chairs set up along with a small stage where there was a table set up with papers and all the headbands set up. It was nice to see how the village wants to present the future ninja with this little ceremony that they have going on. It really showed how much they cared for their future generations. 

I stand in the back of the room where I can see the stage through the people who are sitting in the chairs in front of the stage. There was a man standing up on the stage behind the table and another on the opposite side of the stage. The one handing them everything must be their instructor. 

Beside the stage there were multiple jounin ranked ninja who I suspected to be the team leader. They were the people who would guide them to become chunin or even up to the jounin rank, except for Anko, she is not going to get us anywhere. 

Many more people file into the room before they decide to start the ceremony. The man who was their teacher for their years in the academy was up on stage calling out students' names as they were waiting. Three kids were called up and that was their team, not many of them seemed to know what was really going on, and none of them seemed to like their teammates judging by the ways they look at the other kids. 

There were just a few more kids left when Neji was finally called up. The room was quiet before, but now it's dead silent as everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen to Neji. I do know that he is Hinata Hyuga's cousin since she's in the main household and he's the second family. It was his job to make sure that nothing happened to her, but now he's going to have a harder time doing that while he was going out on missions.

The two other kids were now standing up on stage with him. A girl named Tenten and a boy by the name of Rock Lee. Neji didn't look at all happy about his team. Other people couldn't tell that he was frustrated, but since I've spent much of my time with him I pick up on the slightest changes in his attitude. Also it's part of my clan being able to tell when someone isn't feeling like themselves. 

When the ceremony was over everyone was leaving he building with their kids and the rest of their family. I then notice the Hyuga family walk out, but Neji wasn't with them. He would walk with his own family right?

"He's not the kind to walk with a crowd if you haven't noticed." Hamamatsu says as he was now standing next to me. He didn't come with me earlier and I didn't tell him where I was going to be. How did he find where I was?

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I say and start to look around for him. That's when I notice him standing at the back of the room holding his papers and looking at his headband. He didn't look at all happy about something, and I wasn't sure if I should approach him about it or not. 

Right when I was going to turn around and walk out he looks up and finds me. "Mayano." he says and waves slightly. It was a bit unusual for Neji to call out to anyone, and then he waved. That's not a thing he would do and it confused me a bit. 

When I walk over to him I can feel this pressure in the air as it starts to get denser and have an evil aura with it. That's when I realize it was Neji who was giving off the aura, and it was pretty powerful. It was full of hatred and resentment. "Are you mad?" I ask him.

"Yeah, the team I have seems hopeless. A kid who can't do ninjutsu, and a girl who is only good with ninja tools." Neji mumbles and sighs afterwards. 

"Well they might improve." I say trying to keep his hopes up."

"Yeah whatever. I've got to go meet my squad now. I'll see you tomorrow." he says and walks away leaving me behind. Did he forget that I was going on a mission tomorrow?