I sat on my bed, looking at myself in the mirror.  Messy, medium length brown hair tried to cover my dark blue eyes.  I scrunched my nose.  Time for a hair cut.

I pulled a pair of scissors out from my drawer, and paused, staring at my great-grandfather's headband.  Shaking my head, I grabbed it, and placed it gently in one of the pouches on my left leg. 

I went back to the mirror, and started hacking away at the brown hair on my head.  By the end, it was shorter, but still slightly messy, just the way I liked it.  I put the scissors away, and ran downstairs.

I grabbed a breakfast sandwich that Mother had prepared for me, shoving it in my mouth to hold it as I put on my shoes.

Running out the door, I took a bite, and held it in my hand.

"See you later mom!"

I could hear the smile in her voice.  "Good luck on your first mission!"

"Thanks!"

With that short exchange, I ran the rest of the way to the training grounds.  I finished my sandwich as I got to the meadow.

Quickly noting that I was the first to arrive, I sat under the shade of one of the big trees that surround the area.  I heard a branch snap behind me, and quickly shot to my feet, pulling a kunai out of my right leg pouch, and holding it at the ready in my right hand.  I scanned the area before peaking around the tree.

I saw a figure.

Without thinking, I moved silently towards the figure.  Eventually, I was close enough to barely make it out between the branches of the bush that I was behind.  I leaped out, getting behind the figure and placing my kunai at its throat.  I quickly examined the back of the figure.  It was obviously a he, and he had shaggy black hair, and a Jonin vest from the leaf village...

Shit.  "Yugi-sensei!  I'm so sorry!  I-I thought you were a potential threat and..."  I trailed off, removing the kunai from his throat and bowing slightly.  I heard a chuckle.

"It's ok, Toshihiko.  I understand that you are typically on guard.  I came early, because I wanted to speak with you before the survival test." 

I nodded.  "OK."

We made our way back to my original tree, and sat down on the roots of it. 

"I understand that you are the descendent of that Mist ninja that came to the Leaf, seeking protection, is that correct?"

I nodded, shifting uncomfortably.  It felt like I was being interrogated. 

"Well, you aren't the only one."

My head shot up, meeting the steady gaze of those violet eyes.

"What?"

"One of my distant ancestors was from the Mist.  It was one of my grandmothers.  It was said that she fell in love with a Leaf ninja, who was on a long-term mission in the Mist.  When she found out, she didn't care, and followed her lover back to the Leaf, where the Leaf ninja vouched for her, saying that she was a good woman who was not a threat to the Konoha.  She wasn't a ninja, so the Hokage at the time agreed to let her stay as his lover.  That is my origins."

We sat silently for a couple of minutes, absorbing the information spoken.

"What about you?  I know you have the origins, but I don't know the story."

I nodded.  A story for a story.

"It was my great-grandfather.  During the Third Great Ninja War, towards the end, he completed a mission for the Mist, but when he got back, the village scorned him.  He wasn't supposed to come back alive from the mission."  I took in a trembling breath before continuing.  "So, he fled the Village Hidden in the Mist.  He came here, and was brought before the Fourth Hokage.  The Fourth saw the truth behind his story, but still had the Interrogation Unit double check his story.  After the conformation, he was allowed to settle on the outskirts of town.  One day, he met my great-mother, and they eventually fell in love, resulting in my grandfather.  He then found love, and my mother was born.  After finding love, my mother gave birth to me.  But I was a catch for the family.  Even though all of my great-grandfather's descendents had the potential of becoming ninja, I was the first who was actually allowed to enter the Academy.  And that's my story."

Yugi-sensei nodded.

"It sounds like you know what you're talking about."

I nodded slightly, looking out into the meadow. 

We sat in silence as we waited for my other teammates to arrive.