Instantly, I was in one of the trees surrounding the academy and watched the genin gradually pull up for a while, until my eyes locked onto one of the teams from Kumo. Two shinobi and one kunoichi, a fairly standard team, not particularly strong, obviously recruited from outside the clan.
The guys were average, but not much more than that, and the girl caught my eye a little, her face looking too familiar. It took me a minute to realize that she looked like the same swarthy, white-haired girls among my captives, except that she wasn't as well-developed and a couple years younger, judging by her looks.
Surprised at the coincidence, I glanced at her and jumped down from the tree and headed for the separate entrance for mentors behind the academy, taking a separate staircase to the third floor and, at the direction of the chunin standing next to me, marking my team number, to the teachers' lounge, now used for waiting.
There were barely a quarter of the required number of instructors, mostly foreigners, so I didn't see anyone I knew and preferred to take a chair in the corner of the room, ignoring the curious stares, and read the entertainment book I had brought with me. It would take at least three more hours to get myself busy anyway.
***
Arriving at the building, familiar to every genin as his five fingers, Hoshi involuntarily experienced a feeling of nostalgia for the times of her studies, which seemed to have passed many years ago, the first attempts to awaken chakra, the first techniques, which then seemed a real miracle and the first disappointment from the realization of her own weakness compared to her peers.
Only now, the former student was returning to the academy as a strong kunoichi, to be looked up to by the rest of her former classmates. They didn't know it yet, but the exam would put everything in its proper place.
Shaking herself and pushing away unnecessary thoughts, Hoshi confidently walked to the entrance of the building and ostentatiously ignoring the curious glances of competitors from different villages that clustered on the first floor, and turned to the stairs leading upstairs. Each team had its own sign-in sheet, indicating where they were to arrive for the first stage - the two hundred and fifth classroom on the second floor.
With quick feet, Hoshi flew up the stairs, familiar from her childhood, and found herself in the hallway. After glancing at the numbers above the classroom doors, the young kunoichi moved towards the right one along with her partners following close behind, as she suddenly stopped, frowning - there was some elusive feeling of impropriety.
Gesturing for the others to stand still, she turned her head and after a few seconds, realized what was bothering her - the slightly scratched window sill at the nearest window! Hoshi had once damaged it with a training kunai, and had gotten a beating from her teacher for it, but since it was a minor scratch, no one would replace it. It was nothing, but it happened on the third floor of the academy!
I've got more interesting stuff on patreon (+ 200 chapter)
patreon.com/Chill76