Naruto : Path of Wind

"Wake up!"

Light presses against my closed eyelids and the bed shakes with the force of the pillow slamming into my head. I moan, curling up into a ball, clutching my blankets tightly around me. The cool, smooth texture of my scroll presses up against my cheek. It promptly rolls off the bed in a clatter of noise after a second smash to my head.

"Go get your stuff, dick," I mumble into my pillow. Stupid Uchiha waking me up when I've already packed my stuff.

"I already did," he says, annoyed. "I even told you before I left." Really? I stumble fuzzily through my most recent memories, but come up with some blurry words on paper and not much else.

"What time is it?" I ask my pillow.

"Five minutes until we need to be at the gate."

My eyes snap open.

The next three minutes consist of diving into a freezing cold shower, spending far too little time rinsing shampoo from my hair, hopping into a pair of dirty orange pants in the direction of thefront door, and tackling Sasuke out of said door. From there I throw my chakra at my back and explode up onto a roof and across Konoha while Sasuke cheats and disappears in a shunshin.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm so late," I chant to myself, hopping up onto a balcony and then off onto the roof above it, pushing harder and harder on my chakra. I nearly cry in relief when I see the end of the waves of residential rooftops, and push for the final stretch.

"I'm here!" I shout, leaping into open air and abruptly yanking back on my chakra, slowing my descent and allowing me to land in a skidding crouch. Sakura watches me in bemusement as I shake the dirt and pebbles off of my thoroughly scraped hands, and the Hyuuga genin sneers at me from his spot amongst his teammates.

"Most impressive, shinobi-san!" Lee says, appearing in front of me like spandex magic. "A truly dynamic entry!" I take a slow step back.

"Thanks," I reply. A thought occurs to me, and I stick out a hand, if reluctantly. "I'm, uh, Naruto, by the way." Lee beams, gripping it tightly in and shaking it vigorously.

"And I am Rock Lee. It's a pleasure meeting you, Naruto-san." He declares, releasing my aching hand. "I look forward to fighting alongside you during our mission."

"You too." I turn to Sakura. "Hey, have you seen Sasuke? He should have gotten here before me." Sakura shakes her head mutely. I hum pensively, reaching up to adjust a shoulder strap-

That isn't there.

"My backpack!" I wail, fisting my hands in my hair. My slippery, soapy hair. Fantastic. "I can't believe I forgot my freaking backpack. Of all the damn things!"

"You're pretty stupid," Sasuke agrees. I whip around, and there's my backpack, hanging by a pale, slender finger. I splutter a question, but Sasuke cuts me off. "I doubled back to your apartment. Also, you left your front door unlocked." The girl on Lee's team snickers. I take the backpack with a muttered thanks and sling it over my shoulders, then proceed to slump over to the wall and resign myself to a shameful wait.

It turns out to be a short one, as Kakashi appears in front of us with his face in his little orange book a breath later, tendrils of chakra smoke drifting off him.

Not a beat later a clamber from above signals Team 9's sensei arriving in an entry magnitudes more dynamic than mine, exploding off a roof and hitting the ground in a somersault, rolling once, twice, and standing up with a flourish. He grins wide and pearly, only to frown in dismay when he catches sight of his silver-haired peer.

"Alas, my eternal rival!" He cries. "You have bested me yet again! That means we are tied once more at 67."

"Bested him in what?" I ask curiously. Kakashi squints.

"You know, I don't recall."

"What your sensei means to say is that we were competing to see which was superior, his shunshinor my raw speed." Gai's quickly supplies. His head dips. "It seems I need to train harder."

Lee rushes forward, fists clenched. "I will train with you, Gai-sensei, so I too can defeat my rival!" The green jounin brightens at once.

"I expect nothing less of my student!"

"Did he just say he was racing against your shunshin?" I ask incredulously. The guy only got here a couple seconds after Kakashi!

"Looks like it," Kakashi replies, oblivious to my incomprehension.

"Hey, are you guys leaving the village or not?" A voice calls from the small wooden stall attached to the side of the wall. "If not, go away! It's too early for this shit!" Gai and Lee quiet mid-shout, the latter looking embarrassed and the former annoyed.

"That is hardly polite, shinobi-san," he reprimands, heading over to the stall, Lee and his teammates following faithfully behind. I look at my sensei, leaning against the wall beside me with his face in his book, lost to the world.

"Whatever," I mutter, moving after Team 9. The grumpy voice turns out to belong to a familiar looking chunin in his twenties, with droopy eyes and a bandana obscuring the top of his head. A mug of coffee is clutched tightly in one hand, a clipboard in the other. I squint at him, struggling to recall where and when I met him before.

"Alright, sign your name and rank here, along with the names of your genin. The rookie team you're buddying up with goes there, you'll need their jounin sensei to sign here, blah blah blah. You know the drill." He drawls, handing over a battered looking clipboard. He catches me staring and raises an eyebrow. "Enjoying the view, kid?"

"I remember you!" I snap my fingers, grinning. "You're the proctor that checked out my chakra for the admissions test." The chunin, Izumo, stares at me in confusion for a moment before realization washes over his features.

"Oh, Naruto! Yeah, I remember you too, kid. Hey, what happened with your chakra? Did Hokage-sama get you fixed up?"

My grin fades. "Nah, my chakra is still retarded," I say honestly.

"That sucks. Made it work anyway though, I see." He shoots me a thumbs up. "Good on you."

We exchange a few more pleasantries, Izumo complains about his partner, currently snoring away in a chair in the back corner of the stall, and soon enough Gai is finishing up the paperwork with yet another flourish, handing it back to the gate guard.

He looks over the sheet. "Scroll?" Gai turns expectantly to me, and I sling my backpack off and dig through its contents, procuring the mission scroll and passing it over to Izumo. He doesn't even bother cracking it open, just runs a thumb over the Hokage's seal and grunts, handing it back to me. "Looks good. Now get out." He pauses, considering Gai's stern glare. "Please."

The boisterous jounin sighs. "And a good day to you too, chunin-san."

We proceed through the gates, Sakura and Sasuke joining me on either side, into the wilderness beyond Konoha. And promptly stop. I watch in bemusement as Gai and Lee do a complete one-eighty in attitude, suddenly all business.

The Hyuuga prick and the girl... well, they never left business mode in the first place. The three veteran genin stand at attention, awaiting orders. I glance uncertainly between my own teammates, and straighten up my posture. Just a bit.

"My students," Gai says seriously. "From this moment on we will be travelling at a brisk pace towards the objective village. As this is your first joint mission with a less experienced team, I expect you to keep a constant guard up, and when we begin the mission I expect you to guide and protect them at all times. There can be no room for error. Understood?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei," they chorus. Gai nods sharply.

"Formation!" The three genin split off, forming a spear head formation. The Hyuuga genin takes point, Lee takes the right side, and the girl the left. "I will take point as well," Gai declares, stepping up beside his student.

"I guess that leaves me with the rear," Kakashi says, having somehow appeared right behind me with me being none the wiser.

"What about us?" Sasuke asks.

Kakashi rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Let's say a simple horizontal formation for now, Naruto and Sasuke on the left and right respectively, Sakura in the middle." The three of us stare at him, baffled at the serious answer. Kakashi claps his hands impatiently. "Come on now, you three. You're making me look bad!" He whines. And it's gone.

"Ready?" Gai's voice rings. I nod silently.

"Yes, Gai-sensei," Team 9 choruses again. Creepy.

"Then let us go!"

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