Today was the fated day in which Shizue would finally meet her teammates. Unfamiliar to the classroom, the girl sat herself in a corner as she watched the older kids file in, some throwing looks and whispers as they passed by her row, and each time Shizue felt herself sinking further into her seat. These children were taller, bigger, and definitely more intimidating compared to her regular classmates.

A year ago, her goal had been to make friends, and become a genin as quickly as possible to form a team just like a family. Although that still held true even now, she had yet to meet someone as warm as the people she had come across in Konoha.

The sensei had finally entered and called the graduates to attention. Looking around, Shizue found that the majority of the seats were filled, all but the area around her. Her shoulders sagged at this, until one genin cast a glance in her direction before bristling and almost breaking his neck as he turned to look straight ahead once again.

That reaction couldn't have been because of me, could it? She didn't do anything wrong... Her body automatically shivered when she realized there was a chilly aura coming from behind her. Confused, the girl swiveled in her seat to discover a pair of beady eyes glaring down at her.

Her eyes widened at the boy. That's strange. She didn't even feel his presence.

"What are you looking at, pipsqueak."

A white tank top hung loosely from his shoulders, revealing scuff marks and bruises riddling his olive skin. A scratch was etched into his cheek, and his hair was choppy and unkempt. Sitting with one arm hanging off the back of his chair, this boy looked like trouble.

"Nothing," she mumbled as she returned her attention to the sensei.

"...Now moving on to the assignments. There are a lot more of you this year so I'm going to try and get through this quickly so you lot can go ahead and meet your jonin leaders. First up, Team One..." One by one, the sensei went down the list calling off names until he finally got to Shizue's. "Next is Team Ten. We have Tsukemono Shizue."

Timidly, Shizue rose from her seat, cheeks blooming red as kids looked her way and she heard the distinctive sound of whispers bubbling here and there.

"Why's there a little kid here?"

"She must be a prodigy or something."

"There's been quite a few recently."

The sensei cleared his throat and continued on. "Hozuki Mugetsu."

A boy with bleach-blonde hair stood near the front of the class, turning around to reveal a set of blue orbs as he waved at her. Shizue weakly returned one of her own.

"And lastly, Momochi Zabuza."

What Shizue thought was whispering for her suddenly erupted into full-blown hush talk as the children no longer bothered to conceal the stares cast at the boy behind her.

"The Demon?"

"He's going to eat that little kid alive."

"Hopefully Mugetsu-kun can handle him."

"I doubt it."

"Now, now. Settle down or we'll never get through the list and you all will be stuck with me for another year." The class groaned at the sensei's comment. "Moving on..."


They had called him a demon.

After all the team assignments were doled out and the graduates were dismissed with their newly formed teams to meet their jonin leaders, Shizue, Mugetsu, and Zabuza stood in the yard waiting for their own captain to arrive.

Scuffing the sole of her sandal against the dirt, Shizue snuck peeks at Zabuza who was currently leaning into the shade of a tree with eyes closed and arms crossed. Why had they called him a demon? She recalled both the fear and disgust that were apparent in the children's expressions and voices. What had he done?

"Say, Shizue-chan, how old are you?"

Looking up, Mugetsu was smiling at her kindly. He was taller than the rest of the boys in the class-actually, he was taller than any boy she's ever met in general, even taller than Kakashi plus his gravity-defying hair. And in the few minutes that they've known each other, Shizue found that he was nice enough to at least try and make her feel less awkward.

"I'm six. You?"

"I just turned ten recently. But wow, graduating at six? I was wondering what someone so small was doing in our class. You must be some sort of child prodigy then."

Shizue shook her head firmly. "No, no. I've met people like that before and I'm definitely not it." She thought back on once observing a fight between Kakashi and Minato-sensei, where the former displayed skills beyond the scope of a chunin when he was only a few years older than her. Now that was a child prodigy. "I'm like this only because I started training early."

"Ah, is that so?"

She nodded.

Mugetsu took a step towards Zabuza, who was still lounging in the shade. "What about you Zabuza? When did you start training?"

"I don't know."

Mugetsu sighed before turning to Shizue. "If he ever gets like that with you, don't worry about it. That's just how he is."

"You speak as if you know me."

"That's because I do know you. We've been in the same classroom for five years." He rolled his eyes. "Zabuza's just a prickly porcupine. He isn't that bad of a guy once you get to know him."

Then why was the entire class calling him a demon?

"Now this is unfair. We got the Demon of the Mist, a big brother from the Hozuki's, and the last chimyaku wielder. What the heck? This team isn't balanced at all. It's freaking supercharged!"

Blood red hair swirled around the shinobi's face as the rest of her body caught up with her. She had flickered into the middle of their conversation, making the three genin jump in surprise.

Quickly recovering, Mugetsu asked, "Are you Ringo Furuhi-sensei?"

Her lips spread into a toothy grin, revealing a set of pearly whites filed down to resemble shark teeth. "You sure are clever, aren't you? Say, are you guys hungry? Let's go get some mitsumame and we can do introductions there."

Walking into the nearest tea shop, the woman ordered a large bowl of cubed agar jelly with red beans and sugared fruits for the four of them to share, as well as a side of dango and their "strongest brew of tea".

"Alright, let's get right to it. Everyone take a spoon and we can do introductions."

"What are we supposed to say," Mugetsu asked as he scooped a helping for himself.

"Hm. Well, your name for starts." She smiled again, causing Shizue to edge away from the table. "And... your likes, dislikes, any facts we should know about you, what your future dream is, et cetera. Why don't we start with the ladies? Shizue-chan?"

The spoon clattered against the wood surface as the girl jumped. "Hai! Uh... My name is Tsukemono Shizue. I like taking hot baths and eating bento boxes. For dislikes... I don't really like sleeping outdoors or when the sun sets red. Um, I haven't thought about a future dream yet, but I hope that we can all be friends and get along well."

"Friends," Zabuza sneered. "There are no friends on the battlefield."

Ignoring the comment but not choosing to deny it either, Furuhi-sensei only nodded to the girl. "That's very nice Shizue-chan. To be friends would be a lovely thing indeed. Mugetsu-kun?"

"I'm Hozuki Mugetsu," the blonde boy introduced. "Since I don't have any siblings of my own, on weekends I train with my clan members instead. I guess you could say that's a like. As for a dislike, my name maybe? Mugetsu means 'moonless sky' and I've been told a few times that I'm empty. Or that I'm missing something. For my future dream, I'd like to fill this moonless sky with enough strength to protect my family."

Shizue stared at the boy with round eyes as he nodded to himself in approval. That was actually kind of cool. To protect your family huh? She wanted to have a dream like that.

"That's very eloquent Mugetsu-kun. It's a good resolve to have. Last but not least, Zabuza-kun?"

The boy looked around at the faces staring at him expectantly before lowering his head and grumbling, "The name's Momochi Zabuza. I hate the snow. I have no need for friendship. The only ambition I have is to rule over the Bloody Mist. And if any of you get in my way I'll kill you."

"Is that the most your attitude has developed in the past five years?"

Zabuza glared at the redheaded sensei. "What's it to y-"

A spoon was shoved into his mouth making the boy topple back into his chair.

"We're doing introductions now, Zabuza-kun. Would it kill you to be a little more civil? I know you're all for killing or whatever but save that for another time when you're up against real enemies. Had your personality improved more quickly the Sandaime wouldn't have kept you in the Academy for so long." With a huff, the woman grabbed a stick of dango and took the sweet in between her pointed teeth before ripping it off the skewer.

She is no ordinary sensei, Shizue thought. Zabuza could only glower at her in response. He was clever enough to know that any retaliation conducted currently would only result in a more severe punishment. The boy at least had some sense of self-preservation.

Shizue and Mugetsu exchanged a look before the latter tentatively tried to appease the situation. "Sensei. You wouldn't happen to be related to Ringo Ameyuri would you? The one who used to be a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"

The woman's eyes softened as she recalled the name. "Ah. She was my younger sister. We used to train a lot when she was younger, although she's not with us now."

"What happened to her?"

"She died from a disease."

A hush passed over the group as Furuhi-sensei sipped on her tea. Death was becoming all too common in this shinobi lifestyle. It had only been yesterday where Shizue was put under a genjutsu and experienced not only stopping Ryo-sensei's heart, but she was also forced to plunge her hands deep into Kakashi's chest. The memory was unsettling.

"Why didn't you become a Swordsman, Furuhi-sensei?"

"We were actually supposed to get initiated together. Me and my sister. That's why they shaved down my teeth." She pressed her thumb against the edge of a tooth. "But what would you know? I got pregnant and a baby popped out! Then another one not too soon after, actually." The woman laughed.

"But couldn't you have replaced your sister afterward?"

"I don't have Lightning Release." Furuhi-sensei wiggled her fingers as if to show she did not possess the power. "Ameyuri was one of the few that did. Plus, even if I was able to use lightning, I'm no longer in my prime." She took another bite. "But at least I still have the spunk to train you youngins'! Speaking of which, did you folks know that Sandaime-sama personally requested I be your jonin leader? It seems he's trying to groom you three for the next generation of Swordsmen."

Now this took all three genin by surprise. The fact that the Mizukage had them in mind as potential candidates for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen when they were just fresh out of the Academy was unthinkable. As if reading their expression, Furuhi-sensei continued, "To be fair, we are in the Third Shinobi World War after all. People are bound to die, including the Swordsmen. I think the Sandaime is just taking precautions."

That would make more sense, Mugetsu thought. They were too young, too inexperienced. There was no way... But looking across the table at Zabuza, he found a wild look in the boy's eye and was reminded of his title. No, there was one person who was already halfway there. The Demon of the Mist. That guy craved bloodshed, in fact, he found entertainment in it, something the Swordsmen were known for in battle. In his years at Academy, Mugetsu recalled the numerous times the sensei had to physically pry Zabuza off of the sparring victim, and the intent to kill that radiated off of the boy. It was not rumored, but fact, that the Demon had killed everyone in the Academy the year before they entered, putting an end to the old graduation exam. Although Mugetsu should have been grateful to Zabuza since he, himself, would not have to experience such a horrendous test, the fact that he would be sharing the same sleep quarters as well as splitting meals with the Demon made him uneasy.

This was his competition. And the way things were now, Zabuza was ahead of the game. There was no guarantee that they would be accepted into the Swordsmen at the same time. Most likely, they would have to fight for the position. He needed to get strong quickly. He had to prove to his clan that he was not a fruitless, moonless sky. He desperately wanted to bring his family honor.

In his mind, Mugetsu apologized to Shizue in advanced. He quite liked the girl, but he had to agree with Zabuza on one thing: There were no friends on the battlefield. They could be comrades, sure, but not friends.

When Zabuza finally raised his head to take a sip of tea, his eyes found Mugetsu's. A smile crept onto his lips as he lowered the cup.

"I'm going to break you," Zabuza mouthed across the table.

Challenge accepted.


"I'm going away for a month. I'm leaving tomorrow at dawn."

"Where are you going? Is it for another mission?"

"To Konoha."

Shizue pounced onto the man just as the words left his mouth. She shook him and begged him with golden eyes glittering with hope.

"Can I go? It's been so long! I wanna see Kakashi-chan again! Can I? Can I?"

Ryohei pushed the girl on the shoulder, making her do a backward somersault into the wall. She shouted at him and he laughed.

"I wish you could go with me, but it seems I'm going to have to brave this one alone. You're on a team now, we can no longer do as we had done in the past. They'll grow suspicious if your absent for too long. And if your sensei happens to go to the Mizukage and inquire why a single genin was sent away with a jonin on such a far mission, they'll find that I wasn't supposed to be assigned a mission at all."

"So it's top secret again like last time," she asked as she rose and brushed herself off.

He nodded. "It always is. Do you think you can cover for me?"

"You betcha!"

"Also, I want you to invite your team over for dinner when I get back. I'd like to meet them."

Shizue jutted out her bottom lip and moved to prop the squat table against the wall. "I doubt all of them would want to come, though. Momochi Zabuza is on my team and he doesn't seem to like me very much. They called him the 'Demon of the Mist' in class too. Neh, Sensei, do you know why?"

"Momochi Zabuza, huh?" Ryohei walked to the closet and began to pull out the futons, preparing for bed. "Are you scared of him?"

"A little. But Mugetsu acts like its no big deal so not really."

"That's a good mindset to have. These are your teammates so its best to work with them rather than be afraid of them. Anyways, remember how I told you they used to kill in the Academy a couple years ago, but then they stopped?"

"Yeah," the girl drawled, unsure of where this was going.

"Did I tell you why?"

She shook her head.

"It was because of Momochi Zabuza. He killed too many people, and that wasn't good news for the numbers. They started calling him a demon because of that."

"But then why is he only becoming a genin now? Shouldn't that make him some super prodigy?"

"It's interesting how you came to that conclusion, but no. He failed the test. All he knew was how to kill. There was no sense to it. So they failed him and kept him at the Academy so he could learn how to think. Without reasoning, that type of fighting can hurt you more than help you in the long run. But if they're finally letting him be a genin now, then I guess he's stable. Still, I want you to be careful. Got it?"

"So does that mean you still want him over for dinner or no?"

"Of course I still want him over for dinner." Ryohei let out a yawn as he climbed into the futon. "What should I make when I get back? Winter is coming, so something hot would be nice."

"Wait wait! If everyone comes then that means we have enough people for hot pot!"

"Nabe it is," he mumbled sleepily as he tucked the little girl in.


Last chapter in my drafts haha. As of now, I have nothing written. Final exams quickly approaching. Wish me luck. Byeeee~ :3