I Represent the Hidden Leaf Village (Naruto Fan-Fiction)

2. Under the tree of worry

After school, Tora sat down beneath a tree not too far from the academy building. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap, she was resting her back against the tree, and her braided hair was becoming slightly looser in the cool breeze that drifted through the area.

She closed her deep brown eyes and exhaled rather loudly, trying to clear her mind from yet another eventful day at school with her bothersome classmates. Amiko and Kuteto are jerks, Akira is always late... but, he seems nice, at least, even if he's quiet... Asa... I don't know much about him, he seems a little rude, but not as horrible as Amiko and Kuteto... Miyoko is a little weird... being one of the Hyuugas, her eyes are such a pale shade of purple that they seem nearly white, not to mention you can't see her pupils... All hyuugas have that, as well as dark hair, I guess it's just one of the things they're recognized by... Some clans, wether it'd be a large family or a close-knit group of people, seem to have a resemblance with one another with their eye and hair colors... or skin colors... If I remember correctly, I think Keiko is a part of a clan, too... I've never seen anyone else quite like him with black eyes, slightly tan skin, and white hair... Hm, I wonder if it was just a rumor... Ugh! Why am I thinking about them?! Keiko is SO annoying! He's obnoxious, stupid, and he gets his language mixed up and sometimes doesn't even make sense! Miyoko is weird for never telling lies and being uncannily nice, but Keiko takes the cake when it comes to being weird.

Tora thought about the exams, which she would be having tomorrow. She tried to figure out if she would be able to survive when she became an official ninja, and who would be the best on her team.

Amiko and Kuteto are out, Tora thought. They're such bullies that they'd be impossible to cope with. Let's see, Akira... He's the smartest kid in class, and he gets the best grades. But he's always late, and that could cause problems on missions if he doesn't manage himself... Tora opened her eyes and stared at the grass, deep in thought. Keiko's out for sure. He'd get in the way, mess up, and give away our position with his obnixious voice. I know that Asa was good in the medic field, and he seems pretty smart. At least, smarter than Keiko--and anyone smarter than Keiko is good. Miyoko... she's too nice, I mean, that's good--I know she wouldn't bully me--but nice people tend to not be able to do missions well, at least, they don't last very long in them. They're so nice they'll let the enemy get what they want, and can even die. Not to mention they're bad at fooling the enemy because of it... And then there's Yoshi and some of her friends... they seem smart enough, and they're really pretty, too... If, perhaps I were put on the same team as at least one of them, maybe they could help me be prettier...? Oh! What am I thinking?! Beauty won't help anyone in battle! I'd be better off looking stupid like Keiko!

It wasn't that Tora was ugly, but she was very plain--and not nearly as beautiful as the other girls in her class (at least, she didn't think so). She had rather thick eyebrows for a girl, and her hair was a simple color of dark brown--or black, as some other people sometimes insisted. Her hair was always set in a simple braid that went down her back, with a few strands hanging in her face from the bangs that she forgot to cut when they started to grow out. She didn't have any particular feminine features brought out--she had a fairly flat chest and no sexy hips like the pretty girls in her class. She wore a plain black, short-sleeved shirt with two, pointed orange stripes on each shoulder and the bottoms of the shirt and her sleeves. She had baggy grey pants that met down with her orange boots. She didn't have any special features showing that she was a part of a special clan, she had no special abilities, no special looks to make the boys look at her in awe, and she had no feminine features, as far as she was concerned. For all Tora knew, there wasn't a more plain-looking girl in the world. Of course, she was wrong, but that's what was set in her mind.

I want Asa and Yoshi on my team, Tora had finally concluded. Having a medic on a team is a good idea, and he's one of the only students in our class who learned in the medic field. And Yoshi's a decent fighter, stronger than me, for sure... and, I'm sure her beauty could rub off on me. Hopefully. Alright. I know my team. I know who I want for my new teacher, too. Someone who's simple and a good teacher. I don't want someone who's got a lot of enemies and is some legendary ninja. Just a plain old ninja would work fine for me. And not Kakashi.

Tora had heard a while ago about the teacher Kakashi Hatake. She had learned that he had only ever passed one group of ninjas before in his life, and they all ended up being amazing ninjas who were above a jounin--maybe even a chunin rank or higher!

When we graduate the ninja academy, we'll be placed in a team with a jounin mentor, a teacher, or a sensei: different words, but same meanings. Then they'll test us to see if we're REALLY ninja material, and if we pass, we continue life as a genin--the lowest rank a ninja can be. If we fail, we go back to the academy. After we become genin ninjas, we'll go on several other missions and grow stronger, and if our sensei will let us, we can take the chunin exams. If we pass the chunin exams, we become chunin level ninjas, the next level up. Then it's the same process to the Jounin level. The jounin level ninja are fierce, and amazingly strong. Even then, you can still become stronger. There's the ANBU black ops, for jounin-rank or higher ninja who want to work as special protectors... I've also heard about the Sannin ninja. I don't know if that's a rank you can get to through tests, or even earn that title, but I know the three legendary sannin ninja were strong enough to be Hokage. The Hokage is the leader of the village, and supposedly the strongest type of ninja that there can be. The Hokage is the highest rank of ninja, and there's usually only one Hokage at a time. If I remember from the history classes correctly, though, the third and the fourth Hokage were both alive at the same time... The Fourth Hokage, however, had died in his youth... and now we have a Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade. Tora reexplained the different ranks of ninja to herself.

Missions are assigned to ninja according to their strength. A Genin can only preform D and possibly C-ranked missions because they're the easiest. A Chunin usually works with missions ranked C and B. Jounin usually work with B and A... and... I've heard of S-ranked missions... but, I don't know who would be sent to face someone that strong... I mean, an S-ranked mission means there's at least one high-class ninja involved. And I don't think I could even imagine the amount of power an S-ranked ninja would be like... I should like to meet one someday... if they don't try to kill me, that is... She bowed her head. I don't have a desire to become the Hokage, but I want to be strong, for sure. I'm going to work as hard as I can to get stronger and stronger. If I can, I want to become a Jounin rank or even an ANBU...

"Hey, Tora!"

Tora winced at the sound of her name and she turned her attention toward the person who had called it.

Akira.

"What do you want?" Tora asked.

Akira shrugged, stopping in front of where Tora was sitting, and folded his hands together behind his back. "Nothing much," He said. He looked her straight in the eye and said, "I was just wondering why you had a spider on your desk this morning?"

"Ugh," Tora moaned, "don't remind me."

"What's wrong? Did it bite you?" Akira asked.

"No, it's just..." Tora bowed her head. "I know I'm a weird person, okay? I don't need other people constantly trying to remind me of it..."

"I wasn't trying to be rude," Akira said. "I merely wanted to know why there was a spider on your desk. Were you trying to learn it's anatomy? Did it happen to be there in the first place? Do you have an interest in them and were playing with it?"

Tora shrugged. "Just learn it's appearace so that the data I have of what it looks like is more accurate. This way, if I were to use the transformation jutsu, my disguise would look perfect."

"I see," was his reply. "May I sit next to you?"

Tora looked at him, debating what to say, but Akira sat down beside her before she could even object.

Tora glanced at him, slightly irritated by his actions.

"I just wanted to wish you luck on the exams tomorrow."

Tora turned her head to look at him, surprised by his words. "Thanks," was her curt reply.

Akira nodded. "You're a smart girl, I'm sure that you'll succeed no matter your path.."

"Thanks," Tora said again, not really knowing how to reply.

"Mhm," Akira hummed. "W-well, I really should be off, my family probably needs me by now," he said with a laugh. He stood to his feet and bowed politely. "Well, it was nice conversing with you, Tora Miya."

"Same," Tora said, unable to remember his surname. Akira gave a small smile and then left Tora to her own thoughts.

Strange guy, Tora thought, I always thought he was going to be lame since he's so smart, I didn't know that he was actually... Well, nice, and has a personality after all...