Team 4, Aburame Tamaki.


Tamaki knew very well the reason behind the grandeur of the graduation ceremony. He’d heard that the ceremony often was a day of celebration, one where family and sometimes friends gathered to congratulate the children that had trudged through the ninja academy and was about to enter the next phase in their journey to become living weapons for the village to use against its enemies. He understood that it was an important day in the psyche of a young child soldier about to become further indoctrinated in a destructive system that had produced wars in the past and was surely not entirely convinced that the system itself may be to blame for it. He understood all this and more. Yet he could not shake the unmistakeable feeling of pride in his own accomplishment, joy that his closest family had been able to attend and an almost indescribable feeling of belonging, something he felt in the presence of his classmates for the first time today. 


He looked around and did not only identify his own family (it wasn’t that hard, they all wore sunglasses indoors and had occupied the back corner of the seating area) but a few known faces from the village. He assumed that their primary role as providers of food, goods and services could be complemented with raising a child. He then looked around at his classmates. He recognised most of them, by face at least, but a few of them by name. He was one of the youngest children there and felt a bit amazed. School hadn’t been that hard, the tests were predictable if you’d listened during class and anyone with a half-decent physique could run through the physical part without much trouble. Some of the people around him were in their mid-teens! What had taken them so long? (probably parties, friends and an active social life)


Tamaki straightened his back a little as the Hokage entered the room. Even at his tender age he’d been told about the Aburame clan’s special past with the kages, how the great visionaries and leaders of the past had scooped up a small and not very well-liked clan like theirs and given them everything. One hand absent-mindedly reached up to make sure that his sunglasses were straight. He listened attentively, or at least as well as he could since a fat kid next to him could not keep from wheezing with every breath. 


Then came the interruptions. The first from an ANBU operative. As soon as Tamai had spotted the mask he’d started to look for exits. The war was officially over, but you could never be too sure about the enemy knowing that. Besides, what other issue could compel an ANBU operative to interrupt the graduation ceremony? Only a second later he stood corrected, the ANBU was stepping down to train genin as a regular jounin and was simply late. He noted that her name was unnecessarily long and hoped that she would not become his teacher, as she set a bad example by being late, as well as interrupting the Hokage. Still, he figured that the Hokage, being a great man which became apparent as he dismissed the whole ordeal, knew about this jounin’s specific quirks and had taken them into account when selecting her as a teacher. In other words, she could not be that bad.


The second interruption was far less pleasant. One of the graduates that had refused to stand with the others (something that Tamaki also did not care very much for) talked back to the hokage in front of everyone. Tamaki turned to look at the boy, noticeably not the only one in the room that was upset. Behind the sunglasses his eyes scanned the boy’s face. It was a familiar one, sort of… They had classes together… Sometimes. Anyway, he was kind of a dick, obviously. The Hokage got rid of him quickly which was probably for the best, the tension rose with each second that a self-inflating comment like that was allowed to hang in the air. 




After a great many names had been listed Tamaki had been given the name of his new teacher. He was slightly disappointed that he was placed under the tardy one, but remembered that she was hand picked by the Hokage himself. She could not be that bad. 
He greeted her as courtly as was necessary, with a short nad. It wasn’t like anyone’s greetings could be heard after all. The big room was full of loud voices, some were actually screaming “MY NAME IS kjbkjbkb wlkndlbdwob AND IT IS VERY NICE TO MEET YOU!” in order to be heard over the general rabble. 
Probably because of this, Tamaki’s new teacher instructed them all to go to one of the training areas to start training immediately. Number nine, the ninth one, situated right between number ten and seven, any academy student could find it. With this information, and the finishing words of the Hokage,  he simply turned toward the nearest exit and started to walk. Which exit did not matter as he’d be able to move around more freely outside, any distance he’d save by finding the exit closest to the training field would be negated by the time it would take to navigate the room and rest of the building. 


Outside the parents and friends had gathered and the noise was almost as bad as inside, the only real difference was that the voices were darker. On the other side of the blob of adults Tamaki could see a small group of people in baggy clothes and sunglasses that were slowly but deliberately walking away from the mess. One overweight man with face paint ran after them and made the whole bunch stop. They seemed to talk for a short moment and then one of Tamaki’s clansmen offered their hand, which the big guy grabbed and shook with only the slightest hesitation. Then they kept walking. An insect, small and inconspicuous, probably one that most people, ninjas included, would not think twice about flew across Tamaki’s face and landed on his shoulder. It danced around for a second and flew away. 
“Chicken tonight” was the message it had delivered. It was from his father and meant that they’d have company. Chicken was Tamaki’s favourite food, something old man Yoshi knew very well. They always made it on special occasions, and Tamaki had seen his father come home from the store with more than one bird only a few days earlier. The two of them did not eat a whole bird which told him that there’d be company, perhaps the fat man from earlier would be there. If so, Tamaki hope he would not bring that overweight wheezy kid, their shared trait probably meant that they were related. 


Training field nine was a nice walk away, and Tamaki made his way there along the shortest, most efficient road he knew. He wasn’t one for jumping across rooftops or using other ninja techniques unless he needed to. Their sensei would expect them to take some time, mostly since not everyone knew any transportation-techniques, but also because of the hustle and bustle outside the meeting hall. 


Satisfied with his pace and choice of road Tamaki arrived by the training field. His new teacher had probably noticed a sharp increase in the amount of insects in the area some time before he came into view. The field was (unoriginally) mostly an open area which made it easy to survey at a glance. As he approached the field he could easily spot his new teacher leaning against a lonely tree in the middle of it, a quick glance at the sign some way away also confirmed that he was at the right training field. 
“Sensei, I have been thinking” He said as he stepped close enough to his teacher to speak “What do we call you? Hanta-Hyuuga is a mouthful”.