Blood of a Lost Girl (Book 1, Naruto)

Chapter 19

I tilted the bottle, water rushing into my mouth, and swallowed. I pulled the bottle away and sighed in relief, wiping the sweat off of my forehead. My feet crunched on the dry sand as we walked – I was trudging – toward the Village hidden in the Sand. 'We' being my new team and I. I had arrived at the bridge near the hot springs this morning as the Hokage had instructed and not long after – unlike Kakashi-sensei – they arrived.

~*~

I sat on the bridge's railing with my body facing the water as I watched the sun's rays reflect on the water's surface. I watched the water flow downstream and watched the steam from the hot water float up. It was very calming to watch.

Someone cleared their throat behind me, but I wasn't startled by the sudden sound. I had been expecting them and felt their presence before they even got here. I slowly turned my head and when I saw who was standing there, I instantly frowned. I turned with a surprising speed and jumped off of the railing. There stood 3 people. One of which I had seen in the Academy. It was the boy with black, spiked up hair and black eyes. He wore a navy t-shirt with navy arm warmers on his arms, grey sweat pants and blue ninja sandals. He wore his blue headband tightly around his neck like a choker and his weapon holster was attached to his right leg. He stepped forward extending his hand. "Kai Suzuki. You're Miyuki, right?" I gave a curt nod, the frown still fastened on my forehead. I took his hand, shook it and hurriedly let it go – as if it had stung me. Which was similar to the feeling I had felt. A soon as his hand had gripped mine it had felt like electricity crackled where our skin had met. It was unsettling and I didn't know what to make of it. I still felt it after his hand had left mine. Our eyes met and I diverted my gaze. My heart pounded against my ribcage. What was that? I shook my head. Whatever it was I didn't want that feeling again. It wasn't a bad feeling, I admit, but I didn't know what to make of it which meant that if I could avoid it, I would.

I lifted my gaze to look at the other two, seeing a disheartened look on Kai's face in the corner of my eye. I wonder why he had a look like that on his face. It didn't seem to suit him. There was a girl too – much prettier than Sakura – with hot pink hair and brown eyes and a man with reddish-brown – almost auburn- hair with brown eyes and glasses. The girl wore navy blue tights, black Shinobi shoes and a cerise pink shirt that had one long sleeve and one strappy sleeve. She wore her green headband as a belt that fell from one hip downward to the other and her weapons pouch was fastened to her headband on her left hip. Colourful... The man wore a polo-neck navy blue shirt underneath a Jounin vest, black sweatpants like Kakashi's and normal blue ninja sandals. He wore two weapons pouches, one on his right leg and one on his left hip, and his headband was worn almost like a bandana. All of them wore such simple outfits, yet it fit them perfectly. I narrowed my eyes at the man. Something about him seemed really familiar. "So you're my new team?" I asked, my eyes still focused on the man.

He nodded. "Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you Miyuki. I'm Ken'ichi Suoh, this is Natsumi Himura." He said gesturing to the girl. Seeing as how Kai had introduced himself, Ken'ichi didn't bother. I stared at him. Why does he look so familiar? I feel like I've met him before, but I can't remember that ever happening. I stayed silent as the two Genin scrutinized me, in Kai's case for the second time. I mentally sighed. This team reminds me so much of my own team. The black hair and black eyes and the pink hair. It's like the Hokage knew I would much rather be with team 7. Honestly, if I hadn't known any better I would've thought Kai and Natsumi were related to the Uchiha and Sakura. But then, I did know better.

I took a step forward, keeping my eyes on my new sensei. "Why is it you look so familiar?" I asked him. I didn't care if it sounded rude, I wanted to know.