Chapter Text
It was a the day before their final exam, the start of their shinobi life. The class was buzzing with
exited chatter, as the teacher had to step out again for the forever troublemaker. Sakura was doodling in her notebook as Iruka finally dragged Naruto back into the school. She was only half listening to the usual and ineffective reprimands from their teacher towards the blond boy, until, losing his patience, Iruka has declared another round of tests. As per usual, she was up first and completed the exercise flawlessly. Nevertheless, hearing "good job" from the teacher felt great. After all, she wasn't in the top 3 for nothing!
She looked back, and saw Ino's eyes fixated on Sasuke, as always. She turned towards the boy and asked:
"Sasuke did you see me?" She held his cold gaze for a second before walking off. As expected, he completed the test perfectly, without even the slightest change in his expression. What does Ino see in this guy?
Naruto was up next, stepping froward with his typical forced nonchalance. She saw Hinata looking at the blond boy, and blush. Gosh, these girls are unsavable.
Toned down giggling spread across the class, as instead of simply transforming into Iruka, Naruto threw in an additional red clown nose and purple wig into the jutsu, earning him another scolding. The rest of the class has completed the exercise without a problem and they were let go early, as Iruka had to supervise Naruto to atone for his mischief. Apparently, he has graffitied all over the kage's faces in the side of the mountain. She had to give it to him, he never repeated an idea.
Instead of the usual buzz, the class was completely silent, as all the students were waiting for the exam committee to arrive. Their nervousness stuck to her too, even though she felt completely prepared for the test. She was always marked excellent in ninjutsu class.
Iruka has walked in and placed a few dozen headbands on the table. Time and time again, her gaze returned to the pieces of cloth and metal, almost missing the assessment of the day: Cloning technique.
Her exam was over in 2 minutes. After making 5 clones, she has earned an acknowledging smile from the guest examiner, Mizuki and a handshake and a headband from Iruka. As soon as she stepped out of the room, she replaced the ribbon in her hair for the symbol.
She thought about waiting for Ino, but decided against it. The other girl would likely just pick a fight again. She started walking to her apartment, homing that her monthly allowance will come shortly. Maybe she could buy a slice of cake for herself, as a celebration that she has passed.
She stopped at the grocery store on her way home. She needed to get groceries anyway, why not buy a piece of chocolate as well?
After a quick lunch and dessert, she was laying on her back, thinking about the future. She'll finally will be able to make some money herself. What should she buy first? New art supplies? A book on more advanced jutsus? Should she just save it for later? She turned to her side. Who will her teammates be? Maybe Kiba? They were always seated next to each other. Who will be the jounin responsible for them? Will they be nice?
A thousand and more questions were racing in her mind, so she grabbed her painting supplies. The sound of the quiet scratches of the graphite on paper have soothed her brain. She will definitely have to buy some new supplies from her first pay-check.