Graduation day was generally a day of happiness. If you'd paid attention in class for just one lesson, you'd pass easily. It was that simple.

Granted, there were some exceptions, but overall, the graduation test had great results.

And probably the only person who wished that hadn't been the case was Mizumoto Sayaka.

Being a Shinobi wasn't in her best interests. She was afraid — afraid of practically everything one could be afraid of. The mask she wore would most certainly be ripped off by the constant demands of the profession she was entering. She wanted nothing more than to leave and maybe enter a civilian profession like a painter or something.

But as the daughter of Shinobi parents, it was expected of her to be the same. No excuses, no exceptions. It was the dream that her mother had left behind, the dream her father was intent on fulfilling.

The dream Sayaka wanted to run away from.

•

The first thing she did when she left the Academy after the test with her Leaf-issued forehead protector was visit the graveyard.

It was her sanctuary, as unlikely as it was. Her safe place. Because that was what her mother had symbolised for her, and her buried body did the same.

She stopped before the familiar grave marker that she'd seen so many times that she could easily tell when there was a new chip in the stone that hadn't been there before. The fresh flowers in her small hands were laid down beside older ones, the familiar trembling overcoming her limbs as she reached out to brush the tips of her fingers against the stone.

Going there everyday, in every spare moment she had, reminded her of the lack of security in their world. There were no guarantees. There were no sureties. As a ninja, one could lose their life in the blink of an eye, exactly when you'd never see it coming.

She really wasn't suited to a lifestyle like that.

With a sigh, she stared down at the ground, a habit she'd gotten over the years. It was comforting, and not nearly as disorienting as staring upwards at the sky.

She didn't say anything — she couldn't bring herself to. She just stayed there, silently sitting on the uneven ground until a tap on her shoulder drew her out of the depths of her mind.

Turning around, she found the all too familiar figure of a tall man looming over her. She easily recognised that dark brown hair and the green eyes that she herself had inherited.

Quickly scrambling to her feet, she bowed her head slightly. "Father," she greeted. "Sorry, I went ahead and came here."

Her father stared at her with unreadable eyes, his gaze shifting to the gravestone behind her. After a short silence, he nodded. "It's fine. I take it you passed?"

A small nod was all he got from her.

"I see," he said. "Go home and get some rest, then. You'll need it for tomorrow."

With another nod, she walked past the brunet, giving him a wide berth as she complied with his wishes — although it had been more of an order.

The man turned to watch his daughter leave. Once she was out of sight, he heaved a sigh, his eyes returning to the grave.

"Miyuki . . ." he addressed the stone and the earth as if speaking to his deceased wife. "I really do worry for our daughter."

And with that, he too was gone.

•

The next morning, they had to go to the Academy one last time.

Most of the former students were quite possibly ecstatic — with good reason, too. All their lives they had been waiting for that moment, and there they were.

Mizumoto Sayaka was in no mood for celebration.

With a sigh, she heaved herself into a seat by the window, near the back. She liked it there because she was less likely to be bothered.

There had been a ruckus before their teacher appeared to announce the teams. She'd heard some familiar voices — the loudmouthed Uzumaki and the excitable Haruno. Otherwise, she had no clue what was going on, and she liked it that way. Her eyes were cast out the window, ignoring the very presence of the others in that room.

It was only when she heard her name that she'd been jolted out of her daydream.

". . . and Mizumoto Sayaka. That's it for the teams. This afternoon, we'll introduce you to your Jounin Sensei. Until then, let's take a break."

With that concluding remark, everyone was out and about, excitement evident in all of them.

Meanwhile, all the young blonde could do was stare.

Her name had been announced at the end, so she hadn't heard her teammates' names, or even her team number. Sighing, she picked herself up to go ask the teacher about it, finding that he'd already left the room.

"Sayaka?" a voice spoke up from right behind her as she neared the door. She turned around to see a black-haired boy staring at her, a frown on his face. "You're with me and Shiki," he explained, as if he knew she hadn't been listening. "Team Eleven."

She blinked, nodding slowly and attempt to draw on his identity from her memory. "Thank you . . . Kazuto." And with that, she was out the door, a short glance sent back as she absentmindedly wondered if she'd gotten his name right.

•

Nanao didn't quite know what to expect.

Really, she didn't have very high hopes — this would make, what, the tenth time? Or was it the eleventh? It was quite rare for any one person to pass her personal test, even more so for a whole team. And from the scarcity of Genin teams each year, it was most likely the same for all the other Jounins appointed to Genin teams. A 66% failing rate was quite something.

Not that she minded. It meant those that did pass were exceptional, in at least some way or the other, and it left her free from such trivial duties.

She wasn't really a fan of kids.

And her first impression of her new team? Well . . .

She really wanted to murder someone. Preferably the one who'd decided to stick her with her worst nightmare. But that wasn't possible, since the perpetrator was more than likely the Hokage himself. Eight years of running from that family, and now here she was, having it shoved in her face.

It made it such that her highest pet peeve became even more prominent, in attempts of distracting herself from the unpleasant issue at hand.

Two of the three were late. Almost an hour late, actually. It reminded her of that one lazy arse she'd had the misfortunate of working with while she was a member the ANBU Black Ops. Speaking of which, she'd heard that he'd gotten the Uzumaki kid on his team. Was the whole disciple teaching their master's kid thing that fun for the higher-ups to watch?

She was almost praying this team wouldn't pass.

She didn't need a reminder of her failures in the form of the daughter of her ghost.

Right, she could deal with this later — the other two could be a suitable distraction.

Nanao ran a hand through her hair, unintentionally pulling some strands free from the neat ponytail she usually wore. "Would you happen to have any idea when your friends will finally decide to show up?" she questioned of the young blonde staring at the earth as if it were the most fascinating thing ever.

The girl — whose name she knew to be Sayaka — looked up at the Hyuuga kunoichi, shrugging helplessly. "We're not exactly on speaking terms," she answered. She paused for a bit, seeming to think on it. "Well," she added, "Shiki does have a habit of being late, if I recall."

She looked very uncertain, and the way she said it suggested simple guesswork.

At the woman's skeptical look, she shrugged and slowly added, ". . . or so I'm assuming."

It was about half an hour later that a yell ripped through the still air, and Nanao was so done.

Late and loud.

Damn, it was a good distraction. And a pretty great excuse to be pissed off.

And so it happened that the two boys' first time meeting her was way worse then her first time meeting them.

•

It was hard to keep herself from laughing, mostly because she'd really never had to do that before.

Within a few minutes, Hyuuga Nanao had cooled down, much to the relief of a certain duo. They shared fearful glances before settling down beside the ever-present blonde on a large log conveniently placed in a corner of the training grounds.

The brunette stood in front of them, combing her hand through her hair with her eyes closed. She'd freed the long brown strands from the ponytail because she just kept mussing it up and annoying herself further.

After a long period of exactly zero spoken words, Nanao's words cut through the silence.

"Isn't this the part where you introduce yourselves or something?" It was amazing how she managed to make that musing statement seem so accusatory. "Unlike all the other Jounins, I have absolutely no clue about you all, since the great Hokage-sama decided to drop this on me right after I got back from a mission."

No one spoke following those words, bringing a scowl to her face. "Didn't you hear me? Introductions, kids. How hard can it be? Anything you deem important enough to be mentioned. Keep it short and helpful because I am not interested in your life story or some ridiculous nonsense about your impossible dreams. A credible ambition's not bad though. Getting to know each other can come way later — keep it professional for now."

Before the group could lapse into silence once more, the brunette decided to take it upon herself to issue the task of beginning it all to the only kid who seemed capable of getting them off to a decent start. She pointed at the female member of the trio, issuing a simple unspoken order.

"Uh . . ." Sayaka cleared her throat, quickly trying to figure out what to say. "I'm Mizumoto Sayaka. I guess you could say I'm a hard worker but I'm terrible at coordinating as a team. My talents include proficiency in Taijutsu and Genjutsu. I'm also currently incredibly confused as to what else to say and absolutely mortified by what I've already said." The blonde shrugged helplessly as she finished speaking.

Nanao rolled her eyes. Good enough, maybe? A finger was pointed at the boy beside her.

The black-haired boy gulped. "A—ah, uh, I'm Ryuka Kazuto. I'm rather decent at elemental Ninjutsu, I guess, and my redeeming quality would be my intelligence. Strategising is my forte. I've got something of an ambition, I guess, but it's probably more of an impossible dream."

The final member of the team was a redhead who could be insanely loud when he wanted to. Which he seemed happy to demonstrate as he began his introduction. "FUTABE SHIKI'S WHO I AM!" he yelled, as if he was speaking to the deaf.

Kazuto just sighed, whacking him on the head and hissing something the other two couldn't hear. They were all relieved when he sheepishly grinned and apologised.

"Right, so, I'm definitely the strongest person on this team!" he declared proudly, puffing out his chest. The two unfamiliar with him openly gaped, while his best friend just sighed. "I've got a dream alright, and that's to be the best ever!"

How professional.

Nanao narrowed her eyes at him, certain that a menacing aura had formed around her. Averting her eyes from the boy and deciding to ignore his very existence, she turned to the other two.

"Right. Any questions?"

Kazuto threw a glance at the girl beside him, who nodded and met the Jounin's eyes. "Yeah. Why don't you introduce yourself too?"

Nanao tapped her chin, considering the request. "Well, let's see. My name is Hyuuga Nanao and I am highly aggravated by you all. You could say my major ambition's already been achieved, but dreams died a year into the job."

Even she wasn't sure why she'd said what she had.

"Now that that's done with, let's get on with the test," she added quickly, not allowing any room for comments on her brief introduction.

Identical frowns were on their faces at that statement. "Test?"

"You think you'd be official Leaf Shinobi that easy?" She actually snorted there. "Look, kids, it doesn't work that way. Have any of you ever asked around to see how many Genin teams pop up every year?"

The boys blinked, exchanging unsure glances. A frown was on the girl's face.

"Seriously?" she groaned. "Well, then, let me tell you: about three, each year, out of the average of ten teams that graduate. And do you know why?"

She didn't even give them a chance to answer this time, instead continuing on, "Because of us! As your instructors, our first task is to see if you're capable enough to be awarded an actual Genin ranking. Each Jounin assigned to a team has the right to conduct their own test and decide if the team should go back to the Academy or proceed as Shinobi." She paused for a second, observing their reactions.

They all wore looks of shock and awe, a good deal of fear in there too. Until a blank look overcame Sayaka's face, anyway. A frown threatened to pull at the brunette's eyebrows as the girl's expression was wiped clean of all emotion.

The Hyuuga's words continued to flow following the slight break. "In my opinion, it doesn't matter how well you work in a team if you can't adapt." A short pause emphasised that statement. "There's no telling what kind of situation you'll be thrown into, and you need to be able to deal with it. You, as an individual, need to have everything short of emotions — strength, smarts, will — and you need to be capable. You need to be able to do everything the situation demands of you."

She paused again, staring each child in the eye.

"A Shinobi must adapt to every possible situation and never panic."

And then, poof.

•••

Word Count: 2,380
First Posted: 26/02/2016
Rewritten: 15/06/2016
Last Edited: 29/07/2016