“Why, why, does our teacher have to be the only one who hasn’t shown up yet?!” Sakura complained from where she was standing at the front of an empty classroom. Sasuke was ignoring everyone and everything around him, staring straight ahead, and was seated one of the benches.

            “How should I know?” I muttered, annoyed. “If you really want to know, you might as well go ask.”

            “All the other cells have already gone off with their new jonin teachers! And here we are, waiting for our teacher, who’s already forty minutes late!!” Sakura ranted. “I mean, come on, really! What kind of teacher is he if he doesn’t even know the proper etiquette?!”

            I, however, had just noticed a hand starting to slide open the door. Our teacher was here!

            “When he gets here, I’ll have to teach him a little lesso—“ Sakura broke off abruptly as I clapped my hand over . Just in time, too. Our new teacher stepped into the room at the exact same moment.

            Our new Jonin master was a fairly tall, fit man probably around his late twenties or early thirties. He was wearing the standard Jonin outfit, which consisted of a black jumper, with a green vest over it. He had gray hair swept to one side, which made him look automatically cooler, though I seriously doubt that to look cool was his intention.

            “Well! Based on my first impression, I have to say—“ he started, smiling nicely. A little too nicely, I thought. And I was right. “I HATE YOU!!”

            He had obviously heard Sakura’s whining… I glanced over at Sakura. She looked a little terrified, and looked like she was silently cursing herself. Sasuke was glaring at our master, as though he thought that the Jonin was completely worthless. A mistake, in my opinion. Jonin were the highest rank, after all. Sasuke, not yet even a Genin, had really no right to be looking down at a Jonin. Especially, not our future master. Besides, a small thought was bubbling at the corner of my mind. This man looked familiar, and if he was who I thought he was, our teacher would be an extremely skilled ninja.

            “So! If you don’t mind, let’s get started.” Yes, lets! A nice comment from someone who was forty minutes late! “Follow me, kids.” He led us to the balcony above the school building, where Sasuke, Sakura, and I sat down on the steps facing our teacher, who was seated comfortably on the railing.

            “Well, everything I know about you three is what Iruka has told me. I’d like you to introduce yourselves, and tell a little bit about yourselves so that we can all get to know each other a little better. You know, your likes and dislikes, hobbies, your dreams for the future, things like that.”

            “Um… why don’t you give us an example?” I suggested warily. What was he trying to get at?

            “Yeah, help us out here. Show us how it’s done,” Sakura agreed.

            “All right, if you insist… my name is Kakashi Hatake. I don’t feel like talking about my likes and dislikes with you all, I have lots of hobbies, and my dreams for the future are none of your business… your turn, next.” Master Kakashi finished. I smiled. I knew it! It was Kakashi Hatake!

            Sakura and I exchanged glances, and Sakura muttered, “Hey… he said a lot, but all we really learned was his name…” Yeah… lucky for me, though; I already knew quite a bit about him.

            “Starting with you, on the right!” Master Kakashi indicated me. I thought about it for a moment.

            “Well… my name is Karina Katana. I guess you could say that I like my friends, and my major dislike would be…” I hesitated, then decided to just say the truth. “… probably the way that the villagers stare at me, as if I were some… criminal, some ant, I don’t know! Just… I hate it, okay? My dream for the future would be to become the Hokage…” The Hokage was the ninja acknowledged as the strongest and most fearsome in the village. He had a very high rank, and controlled all the ninja in the village. “… so that all the villagers will have to look up to me at last!” As soon as I said it, I realized how childish it sounded. But… it was my dream, and Master Kakashi had asked.

            “Erm… very good! Next, you, in the middle.”

            “I am Sasuke Uchiha. There isn’t really anything that I do like, and “dreams” is just a word… but what I do have is determination. Until this person is hunted down, I will not rest. Because there is someone… that I have sworn to kill.”

                I assume that you’re talking about Itachi, of course…

                “… and finally, the young lady on the left!”

            “My name is Sakura Haruno. I have a certain like, and… er… it’s not a thing, it’s a person… a boy, actually, and his name is…” I rolled my eyes. Sakura blushed, looking over at  Sasuke shyly, who gave no reaction. “… uh, let’s move onto my dream.” She blushed again, and even Master Kakashi seemed a little annoyed. Oh, well… Sakura’s Sakura…

            “Well! I believe that we all understand each other. Now, let’s move on.”

            “Do we get to go on missions already?!” Sakura asked excitedly. Master Kakashi shook his head.

            “No. Tomorrow, you’re going to participate in a survival test.”

            “Survival test…?” Sasuke muttered.

            “Yes.”

            “But we already did plenty of those back at the Academy!” Sakura protested.

            “And what’s this test for, anyway?” I added. Master Kakashi laughed. I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow at him.

            “What’s so funny?” I growled. Master Kakashi stopped laughing and grinned evilly at us.

            “I can’t tell you. If I did, you would chicken out.”

            “Chicken out?” Sakura asked.

            “Why in the world would I do that?” I answered defiantly. Sasuke stared at Master Kakashi but didn’t say anything.

            “Of the 33 students in your academy class who passed the graduation exam, only nine will actually be accepted as Genin, junior ninja. The test we’re about to take has a 66% rate of failure.”

            I felt my mouth drop open. A 66% rate of failure?! That was over half! What in the world would we have to do…?! Master Kakashi laughed again.

            “See? You’re chickening out already!”

            “Shut up! You’re annoying!” I yelled.

            “Me? Annoying? Where did you get that idea?” Master Kakashi raised an eyebrow at me.

            “You’re just annoying!” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Master Kakashi shrugged.

            “Well, just be at the training area by seven tomorrow. Got it?”

            “Yes, sir…” Sakura and I muttered at the same time. Sasuke jerked his head into what might have been a nod, and we all took off.

            “Oh, and…” Master Kakashi called after us. “Don’t eat breakfast. You’ll throw up.”