"Will you guys take the test this year?" Ayaka asks one lunch break when spring is coming to an end together with the Academy year.

Terumi laughs. "No way! I'm nowhere near ready!"

"Yeah, same here." Nozomi rolls her eyes. "Not happening. So, were you thinking of taking it?"

Ayaka nods, and I grin. "I will take it. Can't stay here forever, eh?"

At least this year Sasori hasn't been so against me taking the test and has not 'forbidden' me from taking it. Not that I would let him stop me anyways.

"Lucky you, you're so good at everything you do," Terumi scoffs at me, and I grimace.

"I can't help it if I'm good at things I do. And I train! A lot more than anyone here! Anyways," I quickly try to change the subject, "I hear they opened a new café where they show movies and all. Want to go there today?"

"Oh, really?" Nozomi's eyes are sparkling. "Let's go!"

"Alright!" Terumi is already jumping up, and Ayaka nods in agreement.

I had been quite surprised when I had found out how much electronics there actually are in the shinobi world. Maybe it is to be expected with how developed the countries are in Boruto's time, but still… It had surprised me. They even have quite interesting movies.

»»-««

"Ne, ne, Sasori-kun. What did they make you do in the graduation exams?" I ask from the redhead as we sit in his basement once again making puppets. I am focusing on a small bird, thinking of if I could attach some sort of seal to it to make it carry messages for me.

"So, you're taking it this year?"

"Yeah. What's it like?"

"Not telling."

"You're so cruel." I puff out my cheeks and Sasori chuckles, testing the hidden knife in the arm he is making. It reminds me of Assassin's Creed. And of a certain friend of his I've seen around a couple times. "Haven't seen Komushi in a while. What's he up to?"

"Hmm," Sasori hums and lowers the arm on the table. "Funny you should mention him."

"Why is that?" I laugh.

"I made this for him," Sasori pokes the arm on the table. I raise my eyebrows. "He was fighting at the Kiri front and got his arm cut off."

"Oh. Is that poisoned?" I follow the blade Sasori is testing again with my eyes. He nods and with a chuckle I return to my bird. Goodbye Komushi…

"Well, I'll take this to him. There's food in the fridge if you're hungry."

"Thanks," I nod and frown at the bird. I could probably ask kaachan about the seal thing…

I finish the bird the same day but when I get home kaachan isn't there. I let it be and start focusing on my training for the Exam. I am sure I can do anything they could ask of me, but still… I am a bit worried.

A bit over a week later I am sitting in an almost empty classroom, swaying back and forth impatiently on a bench in the middle of the room. Ayaka is sitting next to me, and in front of us there are two boys from our class. I had deemed them almost as good as me a long time ago. Now I am not so sure.

Kansuke-sensei appears at the front of the classroom. He gives us one look that settles me in place right away. He has never been unfair, but he is quite strict, and our class has always been a tiny bit scared of him. "So, you four wish to become genin?"

"Hai!" The same answer can be heard from all four of us.

"Very well then. I do hope you are prepared. I'll take you to the exam room one by one. Kenzo, follow me."

The named boy stands up and follows sensei out of the class. Me and Ayaka turn to face each other.

"What do you think we need to do?" I ask, probably for the millionth time. Ayaka just shakes her head.

"Probably something terrible," says the kid in front of us. Takenori, I think his name was.

I scoff. "I hope so. If it's too easy it won't be any fun."

Ayaka sighs. "It's a test, Kuro-chan. It's not supposed to be fun."

I roll my eyes and go silent. Ayaka is twisting silently next to me; she must be quite nervous. Nobody says nothing during those few minutes it takes for Kansuke-sensei to come back.

"Ayaka," he calls the girl with him. Ayaka gives me a smile and hurries after him.

"Are you sure you can take the test?" the boy asks suddenly. "You're like four years old."

"I'm six."

"All the same."

"You're only year or two older than me, so don't try it." I scoff at him. "You won't be that smug when you fail, and I become a genin."

"Ha, you wish!"

The door opens, and we turn towards it in unison. "Takenori."

I glance at the boy as he jumps up, leaving me alone in the classroom. For a moment I go through everything they could ask in the test. I can do clones well enough and I'm really good at Henge. I can use kunai and shuriken, I can free myself from the easiest genjutsu and I can climb cliffs as much as I want to – even though we haven't even been taught it yet. Surely I know everything they could ask of me, right…?

"Kuroyuri."

I raise my gaze and hurriedly follow sensei out of the classroom. In the hallway there are three depressed kids leaning on the walls. I blink at them. Ayaka only grimaces at me. The boys avoid looking at me altogether. They had all failed…? Excitement flows through me. Now it would be even more amazing if I succeed…

"Firstly, I'll ask you to make a clone."

I hurry to obey Kansuke-sensei the moment after we step into an empty room with no items in it save for a teacher's desk. It doesn't take me long to have one clone next to me.

"Next, transform both yourself and your clone into copies of me."

I hum and study the teacher for a moment before following his words. Sensei nods with a satisfied look, and I let both techniques disappear.

"This last part seemed to be the hardest…" Kansuke-sensei almost smiles at me and does Kuchiyose no Jutsu to my surprise. Soon a fluffy bunny is sitting between us on the desk. I blink at it. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen with its big, round eyes and long lop ears. I immediately feel the urge to pet it and hug it and- "Kill this."

Finally, they allow me to kill. Even if it is just a bunny.

"This is the reason everyone else failed?" I raise my eyebrows. Kansuke-sensei stays quiet. I pull out a kunai and drive it into the chest of the fluffy bunny. It disappears in a puff of smoke.

"Well, congratulations, Kuroyuri." This time he smiles for real. "You are now a genin of Sunagakure."

He hands me a dark blue piece of clothing, which I immediately recognize as a hitai ate. I smile brightly as I thank him. "Come to classroom six tomorrow noon. Then you will be assigned to your new team."

I nod and tie the hitai ate around my head.

When I march out of the class, three terrified faces stare at me. "What, you guys literally couldn't kill a damn bunny?" I laugh, and Ayaka squeaks.

"How could you kill it?! It was the most precious thing I've ever seen in my life!" The girl lets out probably her lengthiest sentence yet. I shrug.

"You won't be able to kill humans if you can't kill one little rabbit."

"Kill humans." Ayaka stares at me. I blink.

"That's what shinobi do during war times. Deal with it." I then shrug and march off. Something in her eyes bothers me, though. But isn't my way of thinking normal, and those three just weak? It must be so. They just aren't mentally ready yet.

My eyes widen when I get to the courtyard. There are four kids standing in a cluster together, a somewhat odd collection of people. There's the other two girls of our class, Terumi and Nozomi, as well as Sasori, and the probably-soon-to-be-dead Komushi. When I get out, they all turn towards me.

"Ooh, you made it!" Terumi jumps up and down a few times before jumping to hug me.

"Congratulations," Nozomi smiles as she joins the hug. A way too long moment goes by before they finally let me go. "How about Ayaka?"

I shake my head. "She didn't make it."

"Aww…" Terumi sighs.

I scuttle over to Sasori and Komushi, getting hit on my shoulder by his wooden arm. "Good job," the brunet smiles as I give him a slightly pained grin.

"Aren't you going to hug me?" I turn to Sasori with a smirk on my lips. He scoffs but seems to be smiling.

"No thank you. Your classmates didn't make it?"

"Nope," I roll my eyes. "I don't know how they couldn't kill that one cute thing and still thought they were ready to become shinobi."

"Most people are naïve like that." Sasori shrugs dismissively. "So, do you want to do something to celebrate?"

"Hmm…"

"Kuro-chan!" Nozomi shouts before I can think about Sasori's proposition more. I glance towards the girl. "Do you want to go eat at that sushi place you liked?"

Ugh. I look at Sasori. "Do you want to come with us?"

"If I have to," he sighs. I smile and glance at Komushi.

"You come too, Komushi," I say to him before shouting back at Nozomi: "Yeah we're coming!"

Me, Sasori, Komushi, Nozomi, Terumi, and Ayaka spend almost all evening at the sushi restaurant.

"I wonder what my team will be like," I sigh, slowly playing with the water in my glass while the sky grows darker outside.

"They're all going to be boys," Terumi nods. Nozomi squeaks and looks at me worriedly.

"Be careful that they don't….you know…do things to you," Nozomi breathes out.

"Ew, Nozomi!" I complain. "You're going to make me paranoid!"

"You might just end up in an older team," Sasori states, ignoring Nozomi's words completely as he folds his napkin time over time. "Komushi's team has one free place and I know many others. Even genin are getting killed because of the constant fighting."

I sigh, putting my glass down. "Maybe they'll throw me into the middle of it and I'll die during my first mission."

"Aw, don't say that." Terumi purses her lips at me. "No way you're going to die. Just destroy them all!"

I roll my eyes. Easier said than done. I might be good for a six-year-old, but I doubt I'd stand a chance against an adult shinobi.

"Well, I need to get home before my mom gets too worried," Ayaka is the first to announce, leaving some bills on the table before exiting the restaurant. We all look after her for a moment.

"She seems sad," Nozomi mumbles. Terumi rolls her eyes.

"Of course, she is. She was so sure she'd pass the test."

"Maybe it's for the better." I shrug. "It just means she wasn't ready yet."

Terumi nods and hops up. "Well, I'll be on my way as well. Here's for my part of the bill."

The orange-haired girl leaves some money on the table and hurries after Ayaka.

Nozomi sighs deeply. "Guess I should head home too."

"Can I join you?" Komushi asks suddenly to my great surprise. "I know we live in the same part of the village…"

Nozomi smiles brightly. "Sure, let's go."

Together, they leave the restaurant. I raise my eyebrows after them and turn to look at Sasori with questioning eyes. "Does he like her or something?"

"Who cares," the redhead shrugs, glancing at the sky that is slowly turning black. "So, how was the test?"

I raise my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"It's usually Kansuke who keeps them since he has the required skillset for the third part of the test," Sasori starts, and I nod.

"I just thought he kept it since he was our sensei."

"So, did you expel the genjutsu, or-"

"Genjutsu?!" I almost shriek, gaining a few disapproving looks from the other customers. But our group has been getting them all night long, so I don't even care anymore. "What do you mean by genjutsu?"

Sasori rises his eyebrows at me. "So, you didn't notice, huh?"

"Notice what?"

"Kansuke used his summoning, right?" Sasori asks, and I nod. "His rabbits can use genjutsu that makes them seem less harmful than they actually are. Especially the one that he uses in the test – the genjutsu it has makes everyone incapable of killing it since it's so cute. So, the way it's meant to be dealt with is to dispel the genjutsu and kill it then."

I blink slowly. "But I didn't notice any genjutsu and still killed it…"

Sasori chuckles. "The other way to kill it is to have high enough bloodlust to not care about things like that."

I raise my eyebrows. "So, you're telling me I'm a heartless killer?"

"Sure, if that's how you see it. I just think it's the ability to fight without becoming distracted by emotions."

I shake my head with a small smile on my face when a waitress comes to our table. I blink as I look at the table. "Wait a second… That damn Nozomi! She didn't pay!"

Sasori glances at the empty seat next to him. "And Komushi… Well, I can pay their shares."

"Thanks," I sigh as I dig out a few bills. They're the last ones.

We gather the money and give it to the waitress who thanks us and asks us to come again, though her smile says something along the lines of 'please do not come back ever again you brats'.

"I should probably go straight to bed," I state when we get out of the restaurant. "Don't know what crazy things I need to do tomorrow to prove my worth to our sensei…"

Sasori gives me a thin smile. "Yeah. Good night."

I repeat his words and turn towards my home which is in a completely different direction from Sasori's home.

The following day I am at the Academy right on time. There're only a few students besides me in the classroom, and all of them are older than me. I get my fair share of confused and even somewhat angry looks, but I don't care about them – I just wait in silence until a middle-aged man appears in front of the room.

"So. You became genin. I will now tell you your teams. When I call your names, please move to the hallway. Your new sensei will be waiting for you there. First off… Kazuto, Kuroyuri, and Sanji.

I follow the two boys out of the room, almost surprised at the fact that I am amongst the first for a chance.

"Okay you three, follow me."

I am reminded of Nozomi's warning when our sensei turns out to be a man. I almost chuckle out loud. The man has auburn hair, the look the gave us stern. But he looks really young – maybe around twenty, possibly even younger. He is wearing simple dark jacket and pants.

We follow the young man for some time before he finally stops in front of a table that seems quite deserted, standing alone in a small training ground between some houses. On it are lying several weapons from swords and daggers to spears and hammers.

"Now, please state your names and tell me something about your skills. You first." He points at me.

"Name's Kuroyuri," I start, hands crossed across my chest. "I can use a few water techniques as well as exactly one lightning one. I'm pretty good with kunai, shuriken, and senbon. I can make simple poisons and can also heal minor wounds. And I can use puppets if that's required, but I prefer not to."

The man nods and points at the black-haired boy next to me. His hairstyle is almost similar to mine; his hair is long and thick, somewhat unkempt. He is giving me a scrutinizing look from the corner of his eye. When the man points at him, he raises his nose and seems to almost scoff at me before speaking: "Kazuto. I use mostly my swords and am training to use wind techniques with them."

The third boy seems a bit shyer than Kazuto. He is wringing his hands slightly, giving me and Kazuto quick looks before facing the man in front of us. "I am Sanji. I can summon doves – yes, Kazuto, doves." The boy sighs as Kazuto scoffs. "I can use them to cast genjutsu."

"Alright." Our sensei nods. "My name is Rasa."

Now that I look at him closer, I have to wonder if I have seen him before. Even that name sounds familiar. I feel like I should know him.

"I can manipulate Gold Dust," he continues, and a small amount of golden sand appears in a ball above his hand. My eyes fly open. Oh. That's why I feel like I know him. My sensei is the fourth Kazekage… Interesting. "And now I want you three to pick yourself a weapon, since you can't always rely on just your jutsu or kunai and shuriken."

"Do I have to?" Kazuto asks, tapping the two swords on his back. Rasa shakes his head, and I scuttle over to the table.

I ponder about a sword, but even that seems a bit too heavy for me to handle. In our spars with Ayaka I had always focused on speed, so I guess I have little to no strength.

I let my gaze wander over the table while Sanji picks himself a small spear. Finally, my eyes land on a double-bladed knife which is held from the middle. There's a pair of them. I pick one of them up and spin it in my hand, getting a feel for its weight and balance. Then I pick up the other one with a chakra thread and throw it to the stone wall some meters away from us. It sinks a little. I pull it back, taking it to my other hand. For a moment I consider them in my hands, then nod as I turn to the others. "I'll take these."

"Good." Rasa nods, turning his eyes away from me to the two boys. "Now, I have a simple mission for you. If you can complete it within this evening, I will accept you three as my team."

"Then give it already." Kazuto rolls his eyes, impatiently tapping the ground with his foot. He earns quite a dangerous look from our sensei.

"Your mission is to find a child lost in the desert. He is around four years old, and his name is Kyoji. Bring him back to the village. He is thought to be going north. Now, go on."

Kazuto starts running right away, yelling at us: "Come on, snails!"

I roll my eyes and hurry after him with Sanji. When we get to the desert, I raise the hood of my cloak over my head.

"Sanji, can you use your doves for scouting?" I ask after a while from the boy who startles, giving me a quick look.

"Yeah, I can. But only for short range."

"Better than nothing. Please do. Kazuto, wait a second."

The black-haired kid frowns at me in annoyance as Sanji does the required hand seals and summons five white doves that get in the air right away.

"Let's go," I hum then, and we press on after Kazuto has given me one murderous look.

"Found something," Sanji announces after a few hours of running. We let him lead us to a spot where we find a piece of brown clothing. There are some small footprints near it, as well as a trail of blood continuing forward.

"That can't be good." I sigh and glance at the horizon. The sun is setting. We should hurry if we want to get back before it goes below the horizon…

We hurry to follow the trail of blood. After running for about ten minutes, we find a small kid lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. I squat next to him and see two deep gashes in his back. The wounds look extremely fresh, they can't be more than a few minutes old. I do not even try healing them – I would most likely only succeed in killing the kid as well – and turn to Kazuto. "Kazuto, you carry him, since you're the strongest of us."

He seems quite confused for a second, as if he is trying to decide whether to be annoyed – because of my clear command – or pleased – I had given him a kind of a compliment as well. I'd rather call it stating the truth, but the boy can take it however he pleases. In the end he does obey me, and we run straight back to Suna.

Rasa is waiting for us at the village gates. "So, you made it. Is he alive?"

"He was alive. Don't know anymore though. He needs immediate medical attention," I explain, and he nods.

"Kazuto, bring him to the hospital. You two can go home. Meet me here at sunrise tomorrow and I will explain our first mission."

We all obey the command, me heading home. I need a shower.

»»-««

"Haven't seen you in a while," Sasori greets me when we happen to be at my training ground at the same time. The summer is at its best and my team has done countless missions these past few months, most of them in Suna and the smaller villages around us – all being far simpler than our first mission.

"I've been busy with missions," I answer as I finetune the tentacles of my newest puppet, Hachi. It has been modified after an octopus, used to capture the enemy. The needles in its eight tentacles have been dipped in petrifying poison and can stretch to up to five meters from their normal length of one meter.

I stand up and purse my lips at the puppet. Its tentacles still get tangled up from time to time. Maybe I should have gone with less of them at first… But it is useless regretting that now. I raise it up with chakra threads and imagine it wrapping itself around the rock in front of me. I sigh when a few tentacles get caught between Hachi and the rock. I pull it back and turn to Sasori.

"So, how are you doing?" I tilt my head in a smile. He shrugs.

"Fine I believe. The missions just seem to be getting more dangerous by the day. Even though the war has been going on for two full years, there's just no end in sight."

"Really now?" I sigh. "I could really use some more interesting missions. Did you know that we've only been chasing cats and taking care of some damn gardens?"

Sasori chuckles. "But that's what you do when you first get out of the Academy."

I roll my eyes. "But everyone knows our team can do better than that. It's just stupid."

"Hmm," Sasori sighs and jumps up to sit on his usual rock. Only now I do notice the brown flak jacket he is wearing, and a wide smile spreads on my lips.

"What, you became a chuunin already? What did you have to do?" I ask excitedly. There haven't been any Chuunin Exams, so he couldn't have taken part in one. Sasori looks at me almost frighteningly calmly.

"Kill my other teammate."

"Seriously?" I raise my eyebrows. Sasori nods, and I grin. "Well, that's interesting. Wonder if they would make me a chuunin if I killed those two now…"

I glance at Sasori, who's just watching me silently. I blink. "What is it?"

"…Nothing," he answers after a moment. I purse my lips at him, but then I let a smile spread on my face again.

"So, how do you want to celebrate that?" I nod towards the flak jacket, but the boy only shakes his head.

"Do you want to come over?" he asks after a moment. "I have a few days' break. So, if you have time, we could do something."

I ponder it for a moment. "Well, I don't have a literal break, but we don't have any missions right now… Sure I can come."

"Did you hear that Komushi died?" Sasori asks when we have walked for some time. My train of thought stops for a moment, and I glance at him.

"Is that so…"

He is as calm as ever, his face barely showing emotion. "Hm. He ingested some of my poison."

I suppress a laugh, but still a small chuckle escapes my lips. "Sad."

"Guess so." Sasori shrugs. It almost looks like he hesitates for a moment, but I think he is just thinking about what to say. He rarely speaks without thinking it through. "What would you say if I made him into a puppet?"

I glance at the redhead next to me. Is he really asking my opinion? I feel somehow… privileged.

"I think it would be kind of cool." I shrug, but then I grin at him. "Still a memento of our friend, but not annoying. Obedient and eternal. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Hm. I really like you," Sasori states in a calm voice that tells me right away he really means it. This time, my autonomous smile is wide and completely real.

"Why, thank you, I love you too. Can I hug you?"

"No."

"Aww…" I sigh, immediately perking up as I turn to walk so that I can face him. "So, how do you even turn a person-"

"Kuro-chan!"

I try to turn back around, but before I can do that, someone slaps me on the head. I wince, see Kazuto, and sigh. Annoying brat. I blink at that thought. I push it away with a shake of my head and turn to face the boy.

"What do you want?" I sigh at the boy who is for some reason standing way too close to me for my liking, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. But I will not be the one to step back. I cannot see Sasori's face, but the air around us tells me he is annoyed for some reason.

"Wait is that you, Sasori?"

"Kazuto. Please step away from her."

Kazuto raises his hands up into the air, and steps back. I try not to let out too relieved sigh.

"Wow, are you on your period or something? Anyways, Kuro-chan, we have a mission. Meet up at the entrance in ten."

"I'll be there," I sigh and raise my eyebrows at Sasori, who is looking at the receding back of Kazuto with annoyance. "You jealous or something?"

Sasori gives me a fed-up look, and I wink at him. "Just kidding, just kidding~ It seems like I can't come over. Show me that Komushi puppet the next time I do!"

"Will do," I hear a hum as I hurry home to pack my bag.