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

3. A Fight to the Death!

 3: A Fight to the Death!

"Keiko!"

Tora glanced at the boy who was creating oragami shuriken, and she shook her head with a sigh.

"Yeah?" Keiko replied to the teacher, not looking up from his paper folding.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Iruka questioned.

"Yup!" Keiko said, grinning and giving a cheesy smile at the teacher, finally looking up.

"What did I say?"

Keiko yawned and waved his hand. "Um, I believe it was something about the test. Like, we're gonna get our teammates afterward, right? I hope so! 'Cause I can't wait to get out of this school and get into some of the real action!" He grinned. "You know how I've loved action since a young age."

Iruka sighed. "Tora, could you explain to Keiko what I had just been saying?"

Tora looked up from her folded hands and then glared at the white-haired boy. Stupid Keiko... I don't like speaking in front of the class. "Sure," she said. "What Iruka-sensei had just been explaining, Keiko, is that today we're taking the exam that determines our ability as a ninja, and therefore determines whether or not we'll pass and continue and go to the next step, where we're put into a squad of four. It's important to learn how to work with your teammates, and those who pass are going to be getting to the next level: we'll finally be genin ninja, and as such, we're going to have to act like ninjas. We'll have to learn about each-other and work with our teammates, using their strengths and each-other to cover weaknesses. Being a ninja is only going to get harder, and if we can't handle it, our lives may be on the line, so it'd be best to really think before taking the exam, and, if you do take the exam, to be prepared for the test--because we don't know what it's going to be."

"Oohhh," Keiko said, prolonging the word. "Unexpected... stealth... being cool... I get it!"

Tora facepalmed, and Miyoko giggled.

"Keiko, she said nothing about being cool," Miyoko laughed.

Keiko grinned. "Opps! My bad."

Iruka sighed and shook his head. If that boy should manage to pass the test, I could only feel pity to his team mates. "Anyway," Iruka said calmly, "all of you will go and wait in a different room while I call each of you up to take the test individually in another room, where you'll be graded."

Good, I should be able to do this, Tora thought. I've been practicing all night, and I've finally mastered the transformation jutsu... as well as the clone jutsu. I used a lot of chakra practicing, but... I should be fine.

Before long, all of the students had been escorted into the waiting room, while Iruka called students one-by-one into a separate room where they took the test.

Tora stood against a wall, her arms crossed as she contemplated the people around her. Not too far away there was a small group of girls chatting and giggling. Tora recognized the girls as Yoshi and her friends. Though Tora may have had better test scores than the girls, she couldn't help but be envious of them. They were everything she wished she could be, as far as being feminine went.

Yoshi was the prettiest girl in the academy. She always wore pink, and beautiful blue eyes, and long blonde hair which she always had pulled back from her face with a headband. Yoshi Hana was the jewl of Tora's envy, and Tora could only come to pick out her own flaws whenever she saw the girl.

Why can't I be pretty like that? Why can't I be charismatic? Why can't I have a lot of friends? Tora thought. She shook her head. Oh, what am I thinking? I could never be like her unless I performed the transformation jutsu. And even then, it's difficult to keep a different form for a long time, it's not like I could take on someone else's appearance for more than an hour... And, I just need to get strong, I suppose. Does it really matter if I'm liked...?