288. Team Three

Whoosh…

Izuna, Ayaka, and Hanabi flicker on top of the roof of the academy.

Swoosh…

Yakumo joins them shortly.

"So, you decided to join us?" Izuna curiously asks her.

"Yes, I don't want to be left behind. Not anymore!" Yakumo resolutely nods her head.

"Alright! All of you take a seat."

The three girls sit on a bench on the roof.

"Let's start with introductions."

He turns to the girls.

"Introduce ourselves? What are we supposed to say?" Yakumo asks him.

"Hmm… why don't we start with your name. Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, and things like that!"

He points towards Hanabi.

"Why don't we start with you?"

"Alright!" Hanabi nods her head with confidence.

"My name is Hanabi Hyuga. I am a member of the Hyuga clan. Things I like… Umm…"

Hanabi ponders for a while.

"I love my Onee-chan, Hinata! She is the best! Umm!" Hanabi nods her head.

"As for the things I dislike… I don't like very spicy food. For my dreams… I will be the future leader of my Hyuga clan.

As for my hobbies, I like to train a lot, especially with my Onee-chan!"

Hanabi nods her head in satisfaction.

"Alright! Now, it's your turn!"

He points towards Ayaka.

"I am Ayaka Uchiha, a member of the Uchiha clan and sister of 'Silent Shinigami'."

She turns to Izuna and smirks.

"…"

Izuna rolls her eyes as Ayaka continues.

"For my likes, I love my Onii-chan! He is my idol, and he is the best!"

Ayaka has a smile on her face as she speaks these words.

'Now even I am embarrassed by myself!' Izuna scratches his head.

"I dislike bitter things and rude people. As for my dream… Umm…"

Ayaka places a hand under her chin and ponders for a while.

Hmm…

"I got it!" She smacks her tiny fist on her palm.

"I will become the Second Strongest Shinobi of the world!" She nods her head in satisfaction.

"Oh! Why not first?" Izuna curiously asks her.

"Because that spot is reserved for my Onii-chan!" Ayaka nods as a matter of fact.

'My cute angel Ayaka!'

Tears streams through Izuna's eyes. He quickly hides them under a layer of illusion.

"As for my hobby… I like to cook for my Onii-chan!" Ayaka nods her head in satisfaction.

'Ah!'

Izuna's expression freezes as his face turns pale.

'Ayaka! What you call hobby is simply torture for others?' He speaks these words in his mind.

"Good! That's quite the dream you have there! You have to work quite hard to achieve it!" Izuna weakly nods his head.

"Of course! I will never shy from hard work!" Ayaka pumps her tiny fists.

"Now! On to you!" He turns towards the last member of his squad.

"I am Yakumo Kurama from the Kurama clan. I don't like anything in particular as for my dislikes…"

She turns to Ayaka and Hanabi.

"I dislike overconfident people who lack the ability to back their confidence.

My dream is to become the greatest Genjutsu user of the shinobi world.

As for my hobby… I like painting. It eases my worries and soothes my heart."

Yakumo finishes her introduction.

'Hmm… she is quite a handful. Looks like I will have to slowly discipline her.'

Izuna nods his head.

"What about you? We also want to know about you?" Yakumo stares at him.

"Hmm… I am Izuna Uchiha. Things I like and things I hate… Hmm… I don't feel like telling you. As for my dreams, it's to play beach volley with anime girls!"

Huh!

The three girls tilt their heads in confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hanabi turns to Ayaka.

"I don't know!" Ayaka shakes her head.

"As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies!"

Izuna finishes his introduction.

"Umm… but you never really told us anything about yourself other than your name?" Yakumo complains.

"Is that so? I thought I told you plenty!" Izuna shakes his head.

"Alright! Since our introductions are over. We will have our first mission tomorrow!"

Izuna stares at the trio of girls.

'Should I pull a Kakashi on them? I mean it has become a Konoha tradition at this point.'

He stares at the cute face of Ayaka.

'Nah! I will skip the breakfast part. I don't want to see my cute angel collapse from hunger.'

"Sensei!"

Hanabi raises her hand.

"Yes, Hanabi! Any questions?"

"Sensei! What kind of mission will we do tomorrow?"

"Hmm… it will be a task which the four of us will do together. It will be a survival exercise!"

"Survival exercise! But we already did it in the academy. That's how we reached here!" Doubts appear in Hanabi's mind.

Haha…

Izuna chuckles as he stares at the group.

"It won't be your run-of-the-mill survival exercise under a safe environment. It will be a life and death exercise with your life on the line.

For other tests, if a genin fails the exercise he will return to the academy. But for my test, if you fail it; you will move on to the afterlife."

Izuna has a scary expression on his face.

Gulp…

The girls gulp their saliva as they stare at Izuna.

"Alright! Then we will meet tomorrow!"

Fwoosh…

Izuna's figure disappears into countless fragments of light.

"Wow! So cool!" Hanabi has stars in her eyes.

Hmph…

"Nii-san is such a show-off!" Ayaka snorts.

Gulp…

Hanabi gulps her saliva.

"Still, I am scared of his parting message!" She turns to Ayaka.

"Ayaka! Do you know anything about it?"

Yakumo perks up her ears as she eavesdrops on the duo.

"I think it's the bell test. I saw Naruto and Sasuke Nii-san's bell test with my own eyes. But I am skeptical of Onii-chan! He always likes to mess around, so I don't think he will follow the usual test. There must be something more to his test!" Ayaka speculates.

"Let's forget about that! Why don't we go and celebrate in Yakiniku-Q? We should invite Konohamaru and his team too!" Ayaka suggests.

"But!" Hanabi inserts her hands in her pocket.

"I don't have money to pay for the food!"

"Daijoubu! I have enough money to pay for everyone!"

Ayaka takes out a stack of cash.

"I receive pocket money from lots of places."

She extends her pinkie fingers and counts.

"Izuna Onii-chan gives me pocket money! Shisui Nii-san too! Itachi Nii-san! Dad! Uncle Yagami! Uncle Fugaku! Kushina Nee-san! Tsunade Nee-san!"

She curls up another of her finger.

"I receive quite a lot of money!"

"…"

Hanabi silently stares at her.

'Why do I suddenly feel like my family doesn't love me?' Doubts appear in Hanabi's mind.

"Will you join us?" Ayaka turns to Yakumo.

"No! I have to decline!" Yakumo shakes her head and slowly walks away.

"Well, later!"

She turns to Hanabi and pulls her hand.

"Let's go!"

-------------------

Back at the Hokage Office,

Hah!

Izuna returns and lies down on the couch.

Tsunade glares at him, but he ignores it.

"Izuna! What's your plan for their survival test? It's an academy tradition of Konoha to test their newly graduated student through combat in survival training?" Shizune curiously asks him.

"Well, it will be too much for those little girls to fight against me! I want to train them as a shinobi, I don't want to hurt their confidence." Izuna shakes his head.

"It will be quite difficult for me to hold back! At this point, even Jounin battles look like kids playing house to me!"

He sighs in melancholy.

"…"

"Suffering from success!" Tsunade and Shizune roll their eyes.

"Hmm… it makes sense! So, do you have any other plans?"

Tsunade curiously asks him.

"Of course! It will still be a survival test! Just the venue and the examiner will be different!"

Izuna chuckles and doesn't reveal anything else.

Hmph…

"You and your cheap ideas!" Tsunade snorts and makes a shadow clone to help with the paperwork.

"I want to finish work as soon as possible! I want to enjoy that wine!" She engrosses in the paperwork.

--------------

Later in the evening,

Swoosh…

Mei teleports inside the house.

"Good work out there!" Izuna walks out of the kitchen in an apron.

Fufu… Fufu…

Mei chuckles at Izuna's outfit.

"Why does it feel like I am the husband and you are the wife? Our roles are reversed!"

"What can I say? My wife is an office worker and slave driver!" Izuna sighs helplessly.

"Really? You want to sleep on the couch!" Mei snorts at him.

"No, please! I don't!" Izuna frantically shakes his head.

Haha…

Mei bursts out in laughter as Izuna's expression turns ugly.

"Hoh! You sure like to press my buttons but this time you pressed the wrong button?"

He picks her up and walks towards the bathroom.

"You must be exhausted from the work! Let's take a bath together to relive your exhaustion!"

"Wait! Izuna!" Mei protests.

"Not this time!"