The following day some shinobi lectures our class about different formations during the first lesson. On the second lesson we think about the best formations to answer to different situations. Lunch break I spend with Sasori – he seems to still be avoiding his brunette friend.

The two hours of afternoon we spend talking about chakra natures.

"Ooh…I wonder what mine is." Terumi is the one to start a conversation regarding the topic.

"I know mine is wind," Ayaka states. "Everyone in my family has it, so why not me as well."

"I'd like to know too." Nozomi nods and turns to me. "Do you know yours, Kuro-chan?"

I nod. "We tested it with my mother. I have water."

"Aww, that's like the worst to get around here," she mutters. I shrug. "But hey guys, have you thought about what you want to do when you're older? Like what do you want to specialize in? Because I've been thinking, and I think I want to be a medic."

"Medic, eh?" Terumi tilts her head. "I want some action, but I really think I'd like to join the Puppet Brigade. My father and brother are in it, so… It seems like the right thing to do."

Ayaka ponders the question for a moment. "I'd love to be just a normal shinobi and protect my village, but I wouldn't mind working for the T&I either."

Everybody turns to me and I just shrug. "Honestly? No idea. I'm just four years old!"

I actually do know what I want to do. I want to kill. Cut others down and see them bleed. The urge to do so has not dissipated even though I already died once. And in this life doing such things would even be justified on occasion.

"You should become a puppeteer," Nozomi offers. "I think you would make a great one."

I scoff. "Too safe."

"Safe?" Terumi frowns, and I nod. "Don't you have any dreams?"

"Dreams?" I repeat slowly. I want to kill. I want a family. My own genin team wouldn't be a bad experience either. "Maybe I'll train to become a poison expert. My mother does that, so I could easily learn it. And I want to be able to use the Water Element so well that I can drown this whole village with rains!"

Nozomi and Terumi burst out laughing as I wave my hands around excitedly. Ayaka smiles.

After school I meet up with Sasori at my training ground. He immediately digs out a wooden mannequin – it looks like one of those dolls people use for drawing references. For a moment it reminds me of some childhood memory, but then I remember Chiyo had used one just like it to soothe Sasori when he had lost his parents in the anime. So, his parents really have died since nothing had indicated to him being into puppetry before their deaths.

"Here you go," Sasori hands the doll to me. I take it, still submerged in my thoughts. "Just use chakra threads to control it – I think you can grasp the idea quite easily. I'll continue with this thing of yours since it seems to be quite hard actually…"

His voice fades out as he takes out a kunai from his own bag and walks over to the targets.

I move a bit further away and sit on the ground with the puppet. I sit it down in front of me and raise my hands towards it, letting my chakra threads take control of it. All five threads from both hands, which makes me smile for a bit. I try to move it by moving my fingers, but I only succeed in raveling it.

I laugh at myself and think for a moment. At least my chakra control should be fine… I just need to find the right movements. Then I remember. You seem to be doing it more with your mind than your hands.

I leave out the excess movement of my fingers and let my mind take over. Stand up, I tell the puppet and it hurries to obey the image in my head. Next, I send it a picture of it walking and soon the puppet is walking in front of me, turning and squatting just as I see it doing in my head.

"Easy enough." I nod after a while and lead the puppet to sit down next to Sasori's bag. Then I let it go and glance at the boy who seems to have followed my last movements.

"Good job," he says and turns back to throwing kunai. He hits the target almost always, as often as me.

"Oh, you're already so good at it!" I let myself admire before I grab some kunai for myself. First, I throw them for a while with my hands, as if to make sure my skills have not disappeared anywhere. One hits near the middle and the other goes over the target by few centimeters. It seems like my skills have not disappeared, but I could still use the training. My kunai still miss almost every fourth time.

"You should make a puppet of your own," Sasori suggests after some time. I glance at him.

"I have no materials to make one. Or money to buy them."

"You can borrow ours. I don't think my grandmother would mind."

"Hmm…" I throw two kunai at the target with chakra threads. "You live with your grandmother?"

"Yeah. Both parents died in the war."

I don't look at him as I throw the kunai again. "Close to the day we met here for the first time?"

"No," Sasori answers without much emotion in his voice. "They died a week before that. That's when I got over it."

I sigh. I had been somewhat right.

"So, will you come?" Sasori asks again, and I find myself hesitating.

"Maybe I can make a puppet, but…It will take time, yeah? And I don't know…"

"Don't fret it. You can come over any time you want."

"Really?" I grin excitedly, my hesitation gone with his reassuring words. "Is tomorrow okay?"

"Sure."

Two kunai hit the target in the middle. I look at them thoughtfully. "Rock climbing next!"

I run the few meters to the cliffside surrounding the village. I run right up, concentrating my chakra to the bottom of my feet. At three meters I stop and turn to look at the ground where Sasori continues his training. "Not going to challenge me?"

The boy shakes his head, and with a roll of my eyes I continue up. Training with chakra threads has really developed my chakra control as well, since concentrating it to my soles is easier than before. I get the feeling I could stay on the cliff as long as I want to.

When I get home that evening, I notice that Akari has made food. She herself is nowhere to be seen, so I can only assume she is on a yet another mission. I spend the night alone and the next school day passes by with my friends – though yet again I spend my lunchbreak with Sasori.

In the afternoon I wait for one hour at the schoolyard for Sasori to get off. I sit in the yard with a paper and a pen, sketching some ideas. I know Sasori's first puppets had been humans, but I don't feel comfortable enough with making one. So, the next option would be some animal. And for some reason I can only think of squirrels. I wonder if I should make it completely normal, or should I somehow attach some hidden weapon to it…? Is Sasori going to help me at all?

I turn my head when I notice the boy's presence. I am quite pleased with myself; I try my best to focus on my surroundings at least somewhat now.

"Let's go." The boy nods at me, and I jump up, following him excitedly.

"Oh? Who might this young lady be?" An elderly woman is there to greet us at the door.

"This is Ri- Kuroyuri. She's a friend. She will also be using our things to make a puppet."

"Feel free to use them, Kuroyuri-chan. Take good care of Sasori, would you?"

I throw a wide smile at the grandma. I would take care of him and kill you before you kill him… One of the few things I want to change. Sasori deserves to live. So many others deserve to live as well… "Of course."

Sasori rolls his eyes and drags me away before I get to become too good friends with Chiyo. The redhead leads me to a dim cellar. Its dark stone walls are filled with hanging puppets.

"Here you go." He shows me to a wide table at the end of the room, which is almost square in shape. One of the longer sides is pushed up against the wall, with one chair in each short end. It is filled with different kinds of wooden parts, woodworking tools, and all kinds of needles as well as some vials, few notebooks, and I think I notice some cans full of paint as well. The side Sasori shows me to has some space on it, with the most basic of tools close at hand. Sasori sits opposite of me on the other side of the table. "Just use whatever you want to."

I sigh, looking around at the sheer number of things. "You're not going to help me at all?"

"Only if you really feel like you need it," the boy states, starting to study some wooden arm. I pout slightly. "Did you have any ideas?"

"Yeah…I was thinking about something small, like a squirrel…"

I hear an amused chuckle. "Sounds good. There's spare wood over there in the corner."

Soon I find myself completely engrossed with carving the wood and designing the puppet. I wake from my flow state only after I feel a hand on my shoulder. Flinching, I raise my head to look at Sasori who looks smug for some reason.

"You should probably go home; it's getting pretty late."

"Y-yeah…" I mumble and set down the piece of wood while blinking a few times.

"Please come again, Kuroyuri-chan!" Chiyo escorts me to the door along with Sasori. I promise to come again and yawn right into their faces, bursting out laughing by myself.

"Sorry. I really need to sleep. I think."

"You think?" Sasori shakes his head. "Just go already."

"Hai, hai…"

»»-««

I spend a few days at Sasori's. I am not sure if the boy even is with me at times, but in my concentrated state I wouldn't even have noticed him, so in the end I don't really think about it. And after some time, my squirrel puppet is finally ready. It is otherwise normal, but its fluffy tail is made of hundreds of little needles. When kaachan comes back I would ask her to teach me to make poisons, and I would add it to the needles…

I yawn deeply and put down the puppet in need of only painting. Sasori is sitting on the other side of the table. Is he resting his head against the table…? I lay my head on the table and study the squirrel from there. I yawn again. It's looking quite nice…

I wake up confused. My neck and back hurt, and at first I can barely move them. I spend quite the moment before I understand I am sitting at the table in Sasori's basement. That sounds almost scary. My gaze finds a red rumble of hair, and I blink. The boy is sleeping on the other side of the table.

I hear some steps from the door and soon see Chiyo. "Oh, Kuroyuri-chan. I was just coming to wake the two of you up. Your parents must be worried sick."

I follow the grandma with my gaze as she pokes Sasori awake. I am stretching when she turns back to me. "You should hurry home."

"There's no one there." I shake my head slightly. "Might as well finish this one."

Chiyo studies me for a moment but does not ask for details. "Well, come eat some breakfast then, at least."

"My neck…" Sasori mumbles, rolling his shoulders. I chuckle at him, and he blinks at me. "Risu-chan?"

"Guess we both fell asleep here."

I jump up and follow Chiyo out of the room for the breakfast. I deem it quite tasty – some bread she made herself, and fruits. After it I return to the basement on my own to paint the squirrel with maroon paint.

"Does it have a name?" Sasori asks from behind me as I test the squirrel. It moves nimbly across the table. I had feared that its tail would be too heavy, but it seems just right.

"Not yet," I answer. "Maybe I'll just call it Ichi."

"It's not too bad," he shrugs.

I ponder it for a moment, letting the squirrel run on the table for a while. It feels right. I could go test Ichi's tail now, or return home and start studying kaachan's scrolls… Maybe I could learn something about poisons. I don't feel like asking Sasori, since he hasn't said anything of being capable of using them. With my mind made up, I nod to myself.

"Well, I need to get home. If Akari is actually home, she'll kill me."

Sasori chuckles. "Hope not."

I raise my eyebrows at him but decide to just walk away without saying a word, grabbing Ichi along.

Akari is not home, and I can focus completely on kaachan's scrolls. At some point I have a fleeting thought about school, but then I remember that it's Saturday morning.

I spend the whole day studying poisons and even mixing some of kaachan's mixtures. I don't have anything to test them on though, so I can't be sure of their effects.

»»-««

And so, my days start passing. I spend most of my time with Sasori, but my other three "friends" don't go unnoticed either. Akari is home at times – but rarely. Little by little I learn to do some food by myself and manage to survive. I eat almost disturbingly often at Sasori's, which doesn't seem to bother them at all – for some reason they both seem to enjoy my company, which I honestly do not understand.

Kaachan gets home after about three weeks but tells me that the war doesn't seem to be even near its end. According to her, nothing interesting had happened at the Medical Unit. After a few days' rest she starts teaching me about poisons, and after few months I can finally add petrifying poison to the needles in Ichi's tail.

And soon enough my first year at the Academy is nearing its end. I don't even notice my fifth birthday passing as I turn my gaze to the Exams that could be taken at the end of every Academy year. If one passes them, they could become genin – and I feel like I have more than enough skill to pass. I am brightly the best student in our class – well, I am second to Ayaka in academics, but in everything having to do with real battle I am batter. Even better than most students older than us.

"I want to take the Exam."

Sasori turns to me with a flat look. "Have you ever noticed how terrible you are at joking?"

My lips turn to a pout right away. We're walking along some road, heading towards a tea shop.

"I am not joking!" I exclaim, knowing I should try and calm if I don't want to seem like I'm joking, but I just can't help it. Maybe I truly have a childish streak in me after all.

"Why?" Sasori asks, and I frown.

"Why? Because I believe I am ready and it's boring in the Academy. Because if I take the Exam now together with you, we might end up in the same team."

"Hm. I forbid you from taking the Exam this year."

"Huh?!" I shriek. "What makes you think you can decide whether I can take it or not?!"

"You're too young," he states simply, and I feel an urge to beat some sense into him. I am almost thirty years old! In no way too young to take some stupid test!

"I hate you," I just mumble instead. Sasori almost smirks at me.

"Are you sure you want to say that to your only friend?"

"Since when do you consider us friends…?" I mumble but am unable to stop a smile visiting my face before I can hide it. "You're not my only friend! I have the girls as well!"

Sasori rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say. So, you want to leave them behind even though you're such good friends?"

"Sometimes I wonder which one of us is the worse manipulator…" I mutter as we step into the tea shop. "Fine! I won't take the stupid test! You can go and be a genin alone!"

Sasori looks smugly at me before turning to order some dango and tea.

"Will you come by today to finish your puppet?" he asks as we wait for our order to be delivered. I nod, our earlier quarrel completely forgotten.

My second puppet is based on snakes and should be capable of diving under sand. It can also launch a few senbon from its mouth. When I had gotten the idea to use the metal needles, I had also started training their use by myself. They don't really interest me as a weapon, but to be able to use them wouldn't hurt either.

For a long time, I've been wondering how I could start learning different techniques. I feel like I need a teacher since I have no idea where to start, but I don't know anyone that could help me. And since I could never come up with anyone, I just continue training with kunai and shuriken and puppets.

I finish the snake puppet that day. It's called simply Hebi and works exactly as intended. I quickly add it to my training routine. It takes me about a week to be able to use it well together with Ichi, and during that time I am so focused on training I completely forget that the exams are taking place.

During the winter – which could not be called a winter at all since we are in the desert – kaachan spent a lot of time in the front lines, but in shorter time periods, so she was also at home from time to time. Same with Akari. I swear, they made her do way too many missions. Who knows when she would meet her end…? She is just nine, for Jashin's sake! …Yes, I prefer to blame Jashin for all my misfortunes. One, I never believed in God and two, it's way cooler.

As Akari is almost never home and I barely see her, her sudden appearance one day surprises me completely.

"Neechan!" I exclaim as our door flies open and Akari almost runs in when I am eating my breakfast pancakes. The previous night I finished a training session with Hebi, successfully using it and Ichi together.

Akari smirks at me and lowers a scroll on the dining table.

"What's that?" I ask as I raise my plate out of the way of the gigantic scroll. It is the same size as summoning scrolls, about the length of the table, and is blue, green, and white in color.

"Nice to see you too, Kuro-chan." She smiles and taps the scroll. "This is for you."

I raise my eyebrows. "Me? What is it?"

"It's a scroll," Akari states, and I deadpan at her.

"I can see that."

She rolls her eyes and looks outside the window. "It should have some techniques you might find interesting."

"Huh?" I blink. Is my sister capable of reading thoughts? "Where did you get it?"

Akari looks at me for a second. "Stole it from some stupid Kiri genin. Figured it'd be better with you."

I stare at my sister for a moment longer before jumping to hug her. "Thanks! It's just what I needed!"

Akari smiles at me, patting me on the head before turning to leave. "I need to get going again. Take care!"

"Huh? But-" I whine, but she is already gone. I stare at the door in annoyance. Damn Suna. Do they have any idea how old kids should be allowed out on the battlefield?

I quickly finish eating before heading to my room with the scroll. The table in the middle of the room is now full of different scrolls, plants, and vials but I quickly throw them all on my bed so that I can fit the bigger scroll on the table. I look at the blue and green scroll for a moment before I open it. I feel like it's too big for a scroll containing only techniques, but that seems to really be the case. It takes some concentration for me to be able to read the text, and I make a mental note that I should continue practicing my reading.

The first technique seems like a water technique. Grinning, I close the scroll. I could try it if I could get the scroll to my training ground… It really is too big to be just dragged around by me. It's about the same size as I am! I blink as I start thinking about scrolls.

I run to the greenhouse where kaachan is watering the plants. "Kaachan! Can you teach me to use scrolls? Like how to seal and unseal things in them?"

She blinks as she turns to me. "We could try… I don't think you're ready, though…"

I pout. "We can try, right?"

"Right. Well then. Go get some scrolls and ink and some small item you want to seal. Let's do it in the kitchen. I'll be up in a second."

Excitedly I nod and hurry to gather the required things.

The first day is a complete failure. Next day kaachan gets frustrated with my own frustration, and the training stops for a while. I pay a visit to Sasori but find only Chiyo home. Since the old lady won't let me leave without staying for a while first, I spend some time with her. After that I happen to run into Ayaka, and we decide to go and spar together. While Ayaka goes run some quick errand, I head for my training ground.

While waiting for the girl, I decide to train with Hebi. Guiding it first underground, it quickly jumps up from the sand and shoots two senbon at the target. I raise my left hand and pull the senbon back, bringing them to me. Using my right hand, I guide Hebi back under the sand. When it raises for the second time, the two senbon hit the target almost in the middle.

"Is it your Kekkei Genkai or what?" A voice asks from near me. I glance towards it, a smile spreading on my face.

"Sasori-kun! What do you mean?" I ask as I pull the senbon from the target, kneeling to put all the four needles back into Hebi's mouth.

"You have no chakra signature so it's almost impossible to find you."

"Hm. Yeah it is. I haven't yet decided if it's more of a good or a bad thing."

"It's both."

I get up from the ground and turn back to the boy, who is nor wearing a hitai ate around his head. I smile brightly. "Yeah. So, are you having fun with your missions?"

Sasori only rolls his eyes. "Not really. Almost all our missions are something too easy while everybody else is fighting with other shinobi in the war."

I hum. "What's your team like?"

"Karura's in it," Sasori states blankly, and I chuckle. "As if she didn't get to follow me around enough already… They have to put us in the same team!"

I've never heard Sasori really complaining about anything, so I can't help but laugh a little at his outburst.

For a moment we go quiet as I guide Hebi back underground. Quickly it rises back up, shooting two senbon at the target.

"Do you like puppets?"

The sudden question makes me stop and think. In the end I can only shrug. "I don't know. I like building them. Maybe. I guess you do?"

"Yeah. They're much better company than humans. They're not annoying. They're obedient and eternal."

"Hmm," I sigh. Hebi dives under the sand. "Does that mean I am annoying?"

For a moment Sasori is silent. "I'm not sure."

"Fair enough," I laugh as the two senbon hit the target again, joining the earlier ones. I pull them all out, just barely reaching them from five meters with my chakra strings.

"Kuro-chan!" I hear a girl exclaiming and leave the senbon on the ground next to Hebi as I turn to look at the kids running towards me. "Sorry I'm late. Oh. Hello, Sasori."

Sasori looks at the arrival blankly and doesn't even bother answering. I scuttle over to Ayaka, greeting her with a smile. She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I frown in confusion.

"Well, then," Sasori sighs and jumps off from his usual rock. I glance at him and for some reason stop to stare for a moment. "I'll leave you two to it."

"Oh! Wait a second!" I stop him before he can disappear. "We need to celebrate you passing the Exam at some point!"

"And where's the point in doing that…?" Sasori shakes his head.

"I'll come by tonight!" I smile brightly, and he rolls his eyes.

"Whatever. I'll see you then."

"Ja ne!" I wave my hand after him before I turn to Hebi and return the four senbon back inside it.

"So…" Ayaka starts with a suggestive tone, making me sigh deeply. "You two really spend a lot of time together, don't you?"

I purse my lips. I guess I have succeeded in tangling myself with Sasori's life somehow. And our friendship isn't one-sided either, since he seems to consider himself my friend as well… Suddenly I have an urge to squeak in excitement, but I succeed in pushing that urge down with Ayaka looking at me. Such a fangirl, I sigh inside my head and turn to answer the girl. "Yeah, maybe. So, are we sparring?"

"Sure," Ayaka nods. "And no puppets."

"Hai, hai." I roll my eyes and move Hebi farther away, next to my bag near a rock. I take kunai in both my hands and turn to face my friend. Ayaka launches a few shuriken at me that I dodge before running towards her with my kunai ready. I do my best to focus my chakra on my feet to try and make my moves faster. I succeed from time to time.

Ayaka blocks my attack and jumps back, throwing a kunai at me. I throw the kunai of my left hand towards her, shooting chakra threads from the same hand immediately towards the kunai she herself threw, stopping it mid-air. Ayaka raises her eyebrows as I guide her own kunai to fly back towards her.

"No fair!" she exclaims as I throw my second kunai at her. I chuckle and wait for her next move when she succeeds in just barely dodging all three kunai. Ayaka seems to be biting her lip as she throws an array of shuriken at me.

I raise my hands and catch all ten shuriken with chakra threads. Eleventh flies towards my head, but I dodge it by leaning back. Ayaka runs towards me, and I throw the shuriken I am now controlling towards her, stopping her in her tracks. She groans.

"You're really good."

"I know," I smile brightly before rubbing the back of my neck with a chuckle. "Okay, sorry. You've improved a lot as well."

»»-««

As the summer holiday is nearing its end I finally succeed in sealing and unsealing things with scrolls. When this skill is good enough, I seal the scroll Akari gave me into a smaller one and start carrying it with me every time I go training. The first technique on the scroll is called Kirigakure no Jutsu. I recognize it right away; it is used to create mist that hinders the opponents.

Slowly I make the required seals and blow. Nothing happens. I try again. And again. Then I hit myself over the head and focus my chakra on my throat. Now a small amount of mist rises into the air, disappearing immediately into the hot desert air. I chuckle, conducting more chakra to my throat and trying again. The next cloud of mist hides my face for a moment before disappearing. With a hum I begin training more.

A few weeks of school have already gone by before I can get the mist to stay for about a minute, hiding the whole training ground with it. During nights it works even better, so I am quite content with my skills. I am beginning to feel like I might have been gifted with these skills at birth.

At school we study some essential techniques, which I start training by myself as well. Bunshin no Jutsu and Henge no Jutsu. I guess teachers have the same requirements no matter the village. I can do the henge quite easily, but with clones I have some problems.

"It's because you use your mind and imagination so much," Sasori tells me, which only leaves me completely confused.

"What do you mean?"

He glances at me from the puppet he is working on in their basement. I am not doing anything at the moment, other than complaining about school to him.

"You want to be in control of things and don't want to let anyone else inside your head. That makes you scared of using clones, since it's like copying yourself, letting that other one in your head," Sasori explains as he rises the wooden piece in his hands to study it closer. "But it also makes you want to hide yourself, protect yourself, which you can do by turning into someone else. And since you have a good imagination, imagining yourself as someone else is easy for you – as such, you can easily do transformation, but have hard time with clones."

"Ah." I blink, staring at the boy speechlessly. I am still trying to run his words through my head. "I'm scared of you."

Sasori smirks at me. "You should be."

Snorting, I stand up. "Whatever. I'll show you I'll be able to do clones as well!"

"I never said you won't be able to do them."

"You just did!"

"You must have misheard."

"Tch!"

I raise my hands and perform the seals of ram, snake, and tiger. Focusing my chakra, I hear a soft pop, and glance next to me. Sasori seems to be hiding his quivering lips by focusing hard on the puppet, though I do hear one chuckle from him. I hiss and let the clone, that almost looks like one done by Naruto, disappear.

As the months pass, I get better at the clone technique and can finally do it without any problems. My other skills advance as well. I train in poisons and healing with kaachan. She and Akari try to teach me wind techniques, but I can't grasp them at all. With Ayaka, Terumi, and Nozomi we just gossip and spend time doing other as mundane things, like playing games with the other kids. Though Ayaka and I do spar from time to time. With Sasori I end up doing more puppets – it is really fun and relaxing.

On my own I study the scroll Akari gave me and learn more about its contents – and quickly understand I could do some lightning techniques as well. At least I am better at them than at wind. During the winter I learn a water jutsu named Suiben and a lightning jutsu Jibashi. They go extremely well together, since Suiben is used as a whip to lock onto the enemy, and Jibashi can be run through it to shock them.