Gray Rebellion
A Kirigakure Story
-Disclaimer: These characters and this series belong to Kishimoto and the producers and distributors involved.-
Prologue
Graduation, Slight Escape.
The small group of children had been lined up out in the misty, swampy field, a handful total. The head count placed them at fifteen. It was a small crop this year, but it had been even more painfully low last year.
Last year, no one was to become a genin.
In the line, it was a various group. Most were young and perhaps unprepared fledglings. They were graduated in the hurry and the attempt to have something to show for the year.
However, two young students stood out.
They had experience, and much to show for earning their marks.
The first of which stood a small amount higher then most of the runts.
His, as fourteen of the graduates were male, face was struck by the most out of place of features.
Emotion. It, to a dizzying extreme, separated him from the rest.
It was a deep hatred across his young features. A mindless, livid hatred.
It hung in his veins and traveled throughout his body.
The boy wouldn't soon forget what had been done to him. Oh no, He had been struck much too deeply to forgive anyone now.
"Kurosuki." His clan name was called out, and grudgingly he walked forward.
The stout framed proctor thrust forth the parcel of metal plate and cloth, the insignia on which gleamed.
In a forced respectful pause, the newly risen genin glared down his own features, reflected to him on the polished surface.
His vibrant azure eyes, unmatched in his village, shone his disdain straight back at him.
Finally, he reached out and took the item, marking his breaking in to the title of a 'true shinobi'.
He sulked to his previous spot before lining back up, to wait for the graduation to complete.
"Momochi." Another, much less well known clan name was called.
The boy who approached this time was wearing noticeably poor quality clothing. This was unusual, considering how important of an event it was. Most parents would at least make an attempt to have their 'prized' child look well.
There was a definite lacking of expression on his face, but there was a confident air about him.
A longstanding triumph that he was just now claiming.
His fingers looped around and greedily took the object of his graduation. His return to the lines was a short one, bordering on a strut.
He stood aside from the boy of the Kurosuki clan, with the vivid eyes fringed by his wild, sholder length hair.
"Momochi, eh?" Spoke the elder of the newly graduated.
His statement was a half whisper, to not be noticed by the jounin holding the event.
However, the softness lingered in the air, and fell, before it could be noticed by the boy in question.
After a long time waiting, the elder genin realized he was being ignored.
"As in, Momochi Zabuza, correct?"
This question, being much more firm, almost with an edge, finally reached the other.
"Yeah. That's me. What? What do you want?"
The young Momochi's hair was spiked up, a shade of dark brown. His eyes were narrow, and as pointed as his perpetual scowl.
Blue eyes blinked at him, and the younger was, for a moment, thrown off.
A smile cracked over large lips that seemed to take up quite an amount of the Kurosuki boy's face.
"You're the one everyone's been talking about." A cruel excitement hung in his voice. "The one the other villages cringe when they hear about. Momochi Zabuza, the orphan out of nowhere."
A long pause, and the vibrant smile spread, almost devilishly. Before them, the jounin called out "Kaguya!" and another student went forward to accept his forehead protector.
"The one who went in and killed every other student on the day after final exam last year."
A look of harsh pride carried across Zabuza's eyes.
"Everyone's been talking about me, huh?" He gave a quick nod. "Perfect."
Another silence came, and Zabuza noticed the other boy seemed to be waiting for something.
"And then you're from the Kurosuki, then?" A nod from his companion confirmed this. "Yeah. I know you. You're the one who just came in this year, a year late for your age. You didn't study or anything. You just came in, took the test, and everyone thinks you're good enough to be a genin."
The grin on the older boy's face visibly faltered at the dry tones of the Momochi child.
"My name is Kurosuki Raiga. I was being taught by my own clan for two years, before going to the Academy."
His statement was greeted by a bored shrug from his companion, and this angered Raiga further.
A split second, and he seemed to fume, but the teal haired genin settled down, and the smile was back.
"But you know, I guess it's really a good thing."
"Yeah?"
"If I hadn't been trained by my family, I would have been in the Academy the same time you showed up."
A sudden realization came across Zabuza, and he gave a twisted sneer.
"And if that'd had happened…" Raiga continued, "One of us would be dead."
At that moment, both of the boys spoke at once, the exact same words.
"And it would have been you."
Both pairs of eyes widened slightly, only to clear out, as Zabuza regained his usual unemotional self, and Raiga found himself grinning once more.
Before either of them could say anything more the lead jounin called out to the small crowd of children.
"That concludes the graduation ceremony. New members of Mist village's Shinobi, you are dismissed."
The two boys exchanged looks, of future rivalry and contempt, before they both streaked off in opposite directions.
The field was left, grayed by mist, and empty.