Darkest Before Dawn

The Bell Test

   Today was graduation day for a bunch of twelve year old Academy students. Among that group of students was Sakura Haruno, a seemingly regular student that hid every ounce of her prodigial talent. Her genin team consisted of Naruto Namikaze, the boy she had been friends with since she was seven years old, and Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto's eternal rival and Sakura's other good friend. She wasn't the least bit surprised that she was slotted with these two, not that she was complaining.

   Minato wanted to put his son on a team he could trust, and the Uchihas wouldn't settle for teammates that weren't of potential. Sakura let out a small sigh,closed her eyes, and leaned back into her chair. They were currently waiting for Kakashi Hatake, their new sensei. She knew all about him including that sharingan eye of his, courtesy of her other sensei. She also learned that this so-called 'copy-cat' nin read Jiraiya-san's books.

   So... Kakashi Hatake was a lazy pervert. Great.

   "Naruto, you shouldn't be doing that, you'll get in trouble." said Sakura, her eyes still closed. Naruto stuck his tongue out at her and climbed the stool he positioned, chalkboard eraser in hand.

   "He's late, Sakura-chan! I can't leave him unpunished, dattebayo!"

   "He won't fall for it, dobe."

   "Shaddup teme! Who the hell was talkin' to you?!"

   Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed. Their sensei was an elite shinobi- he wouldn't fall for a stupid trick like this one. On cue, a head popped in the doorway an the eraser fell, hitting the stranger square on his spiky silver hair. The man bent down and picked up the object and stared at it for a few moments.

   "Hm... how should I put this..." he mused. He thought for a few seconds. "You're a bunch of idiots. Follow me up onto the roof. We can continue our discussion there."

~

   "Alright, before we continue on, why don't we start with introductions? Say things that you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies- stuff like that." the man said. Naruto scratched his head and looked at the Jounin thoughtfully.

   "Well... why don't you go first?" Naruto suggested, "I mean, so you can show us how it's done."

   The man pointed to himself.

   "Me? Well, okay. My name's Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't really feel like telling you those things. My dreams for the future... never thought about that before. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies."

   Sakura hid her smile. Kakashi was exactly as Ibiki described to her and was certainly an interesting character.

   "Now it's your turn." said Kakashi, "You on the right. You go first."

   "I'm Naruto Namikaze, dattebayo! I like instant ramen, Ichiraku ramen, and Sakura-chan because she's my best friend. I kinda hate Sasuke-teme because he's my rival. My hobbies are eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them and playing pranks, and my dream is becoming the Hokage just like my tou-san!"

   Kakashi nodded. A good egg and the son of his former sensei. He then pointed to the middle, the boy in the navy blue shirt.

   "You next."

   "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like onigiri, and I hate sweet things. My hobbies are training and talking walks, and my dream is to master the sharingan and beat my nii-san in a battle."

   Another good egg with realistic ideals and an understanding dream, but seemed a little anti-social. His eyes turned towards the sole female of the group who wore a small smile on her face.