More the Merrier

As the morning lessons gave way to afternoon lunchtime, Yuta and Kiyoko, two kids from the class, approached the group. Kiyoko, with a hopeful smile, was the first to speak.

"Hey there, we've noticed you guys during the introductions, and you seem like a pretty cool bunch. Mind if we join in and be friends?" Kiyoko asked, her smile warm and hopeful.

Yuta nodded from the back, his eyes not meeting anyone in the group but instead looking at the ground. It was as if he was trying to sink into the ground where no one could see him.

I looked at the two newcomers and then back at Shin and Miki. "Sure, why not? We're all here to learn and grow into great shinobi together, right?"

Miki and Shin agreed enthusiastically, nodding their heads up and down while examining the new group members. The group that was originally there now expanded into five strong, all of them creating a little island of unity among the number of new faces in the classroom.

The afternoon free time allowed the students a better chance to get to know each other and form acquaintances.

As they laughed at each other's different childhood memories and experiences, I noticed that Benimaru was seemingly getting agitated with their little group.

"So, Kiyoko, you said you were from the Saoto clan. What's it like? Do you have a bloodline?" Shin asked, curiosity swirling in his eyes as he asked the question.

"Yeah, it's a pretty fun group of people. We live in a somewhat medium-sized compound over towards the Uzume River's direction. Pretty much every clansman has blue hair ranging from navy blue to baby blue, and we also all have yellow eyes as well. We are a pretty distinctive clan if you see us in public. And to answer your question, yes, we do have a bloodline; it's called the swift release. We use it to go super fast using both lightning and wind chakra."

Shin nodded, taking in and storing the information while turning his head to look at Yuta who was behind Kiyoko.

"Oh, don't mind Yuta; he's just a little shy. Once he gets used to you, he gets better." Kiyoko informed the three of us while patting Yuta on the head.

"I'm sure we'll change him in no time," I smiled while looking at his red eyes that had a horizontal rectangle in it.

Miki nodded with a wide smile while looking at Kiyoko and saying, "Yeah, we'll change him in no time, even if we have to drag him out of that shell."

Kiyoko laughed and smiled at Miki. "I like the way you guys think. I've been trying to do that since we were just babies, and I've still had no luck."

Looking at Yuta, I asked him about his lineage.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Chinoike clan came from the Land of Lightning before arriving here, right, Yuta?"

At this question, Yuta gazed at me with contemplative eyes. In a tone barely above a whisper, Yuta answered my question.

"Yes, we did. The Uchiha clan was hired by the daimyo's first wife to push our clan out of the Land of Lightning, we had to settle around the Land of Hot Water in a valley called the 'Valley of Hell.' But when Ashina Uzumaki saw our situation and approached us offering to bring us over to the Land of Whirlpools to give us a home in the village of Uzushiogakure, we took it."

"Hmm, so that's the history behind it; it's quite an interesting tale. You guys do have a kekkei genkai too, right?" I asked, curious to see if this was the same.

Yuta put his head down and fidgeted with his hands. "We do, but I haven't unlocked it yet. Only about 35% of our clan ninjas usually unlock the dojutsu so the odds aren't really in my favor."

"I think you're being a bit too pessimistic; I think that you'll be able to awaken it and you'll become super powerful, I can feel it." I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to bring his mood up a little.

Unbeknownst to everyone but me, our laughter and chatter had caught the attention of Benimaru, who had been watching our small group form and get to know each other from his seat. With a huff, he stood up and marched over, his voice loud enough to cut through the noise.

"Hey! It's not nice to exclude people, you know!"

The group fell silent, turning to face him while I just raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in my gaze.

"Who's excluding who? We are an open group; you just never asked to join." I said while looking back at him, eyebrow still raised.

Benimaru crossed his arms, his scowl right back on his face.

"Well, if it's like that, then I'm part of this group now, whether you like it or not!"

I smiled, being more mentally mature than the rest of the group; I recognized the underlying desire for friends in Benimaru's fiery declaration.

"Well then, welcome to the group, Carrot Top. Let's make our time at the academy unforgettable."

"Call me that one more time and I'll-"

I interrupted Benimaru, asking him a question I was genuinely curious about. "So do you come from a clan?"

Benimaru looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "Why should I tell you?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked at him.

"Calm down there, Mr. Hothead; I just need to know if you are part of the cool kids group or not."

"Hmph, of course, I'm from a clan. The Kugo clan is a prestigious clan that lives in the western part of the village. We also have the best kekkei genkai in all the village. It's called 'cursed speech,' and we're able to infuse chakra into our vocal cords and words to make people do what we say."

"Hmmm, that kekkei genkai is pretty interesting, it's just too bad I can't say the same about you." My words stopped his gloating in his tracks as he tried to lunge at me.

The rest of the group managed to wrestle him away from me just as Takahiro sensei walked back into the room.

"Alright, class, settle down and get to your seats; it's time to start the afternoon lessons."