Desert Flower

Old Team

  One Naruto shouting during training was a slight annoyance, dozens of Narutos shouting during training was about to make me smack him. All of them.

  His clones were spread out, grunting and yelling with effort and making it hard to focus. I was a few yards away with my army of clones, sitting crisscross in rows with leaves in our hands. We were quiet and focused on the given task. It was actually a bit funny the difference between Naruto and I when training truly did reflect the spirit within us.

  Foxes were known for being noisy and rambunxious, and Naruto truly fit that bill. Albeit, I was relieved he didn't have the same high-pitched screech foxes had. I, on the other hand, tended to be quieter and-

  "I got halfway!" Naruto screamed, and a sea of other Narutos groaned. Sighing, I shook my head before going back to focusing on the leaves. So far, I had only managed to bring out a few drops of water, but nowhere near drying out the leaf.

  Each time one of my clones succeeded, I made them disappear to spread what that one had learned to the rest and brought out a new one to take its place. Progress was inching further, but it was progress nonetheless.

  "Okay! Time to consolidate all the experience you've gained so far. Think about your training while you release your shadow clones."

  "Right! All right, here goes!" Naruto put his hands together, and the smoke from the disappearing clones sent leaves into the air. Putting my own hands together to release the Jutsu, all the experiences from the clones flooded into my head.

  And with the knowledge came the exhaustion.

  Falling back into the grass, I groaned.

  "Naruto, when's lunch?"

  "Come on, Sayuri. Just a little longer."

  "You're barely standing."

  "I just need to catch my breath!" I couldn't help but chuckle.

  "Fine." Clones filled the field again.

~

  "I've finally found a team to assign you to." Tsunade smiled as she sat at her desk. "They recently had a member move to another village and are looking to fill the spot. Once you've gotten to know each other a little, I'll assign a mission."

  "Who are they?"

  "You might actually know them. I read in their files that they were from your Academy class." Tsunade glanced at the papers on her desk, and I wanted to sigh. I didn't even know most of the kids from my Academy class.

  "Hokage-"

  "Don't 'Hokage' me, you've been without a team for far too long. Bouncing around with Team Kakashi and doing solo missions- you need to have a solid foundation of a team to rely on." Her gaze drifted to the door before she raised her voice. "You guys can come in now."

  Turning when the door opened, I first saw two young men around my age, both with dark brown hair, but one had nearly black eyes and the other had very light-colored eyes. They maintained an uncaring attitude as they looked me over before the team leader walked in. My eyes went wide as I recognized the woman, and from there assumed who the two young men were.

  "....Megumi-sensei?" She froze, eyes locking on me.

  "Oh, so you do know each other?" Tsunade sounded optimistic, likely thinking this was a good thing.

  "S....Sayuri?" Megumi furrowed her brows, and when she said my name, the boys froze, confirming they were indeed Hiroki and Torino. Fear flooded their faces as they took a step back.