Sasame exited the Academy with a smile on her face, her blue-clothed hitai-ate tied around her neck.

She had passed her exams with flying colors. She passed her written exam, got 8/10 on kunai throwing and 9/10 on shuriken throwing, was able to do a flawless Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu), do a Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu) without hand seals, and was able to create a couple of Bunshins (Clones) that looked exactly like herself.

Overall, the Senseis were pleased with her performances. (Particularly Iruka-sensei).

"Hey! Ame-chan!"

Sasame looked up and saw her mother standing a few feet from her, a smile on her face. Sasame looked just like her mother; long dark blue hair, a shade darker than her friend Hinata's, and dark blue eyes. Her mother looked like she could be from royalty with her bone structure while Sasame has her father's features.

Her mother's name is Nami, which means 'wave'. She said her parents named her that to keep their heritage as Kirigakure citizens alive.

Sasame grinned and rushed to her mother, throwing her arms around her. "Kaa-san!" she exclaimed. "I did it!"

Nami laughed. "I see that," she said while gesturing to her hitai-ate. "I'm proud of you."

Sasame's grin softened into a smile. "Arigato," she said gratefully as she pulled out of the hug.

Nami smiled at her. "Come on," she said. "Let's go home, I'll make you your favorite to celebrate."

"Tomato Soup?" Sasame asked excitedly.

Nami laughed. "Yes," she said, struggling to keep her laughter under control.

Sasame started towards their house when mutterings sounded around her and her mother.

"He was the only one who didn't graduate."

"That's a good thing, we don't want some-"

"Shh! We are not allowed to speak of it! Hokage-sama would have our heads!"

Sasame turned around and saw a couple of ladies huddled close together, glaring towards the Academy. She looked to see where they were staring at and saw a classmate of hers sitting on the swing, a sad air about him.

His name? Uzumaki Naruto.

Nami started towards the gossiping women and stood in front of them, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed. "I think you ladies can find better things to do with your time than glare at a little kid," she snapped at them.

The two civilian women, upon seeing Nami's hitai-ate tied around her forehead, blanched white and hurried away.

Nami shook her head in disgust. 'He's an innocent kid,' she thought to herself. 'It's disgusting how some of you act.'

Sasame was staring at Naruto. She was well aware of the fact that many people didn't like him but she didn't know why. She thought that it was because of all the pranks he pulled on almost every person in the village.

She glanced at her mother. "I'm going to go talk to him," she said softly. "I'll catch up with you."

Nami looked at her with a smile. "Okay," she said. "I'll see you at home." She then disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

Sasame made her way over to Naruto. When she was right in front of him she cleared her throat.

Naruto looked up and saw her. "Oh, hi Sasame!" he said with false happiness.

"Hey Naruto," she said with a smile. "How are you?"

A sad look passed over his face quickly before it was replaced with another huge grin. "I'm fine," he said loudly. "Nothing can keep the future Hokage down!"

Sasame smiled at him. "I'm sorry about you failing the genin exam," she said apologetically.

Naruto frowned slightly. "Yeah," he muttered as he stared at his shoes. "Me too."

"I'm sure you'll pass next year," Sasame said optimistically.

Naruto looked at her with wide eyes. "You...you really think I can do it, dattebayo?"

Sasame shrugged. "Sure," she said. "You have the drive for it. If you put in the work you can graduate next year."

Naruto looked up at her with shining eyes. He then grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "You got it! I'll totally ace it the next time, dattebayo!"

Sasame smiled and was about to say more when a voice interrupted them.

"Hey, Naruto-kun."

They both looked over and saw Mizuki-sensei walking towards them with a smile on his face.

Sasame backed up slightly. Although Mizuki-sensei was almost always smiling and he hardly ever yelled, Sasame noticed that his smiles never quite reached his eyes. To her, he seemed a bit...false.

"Hi Mizuki-sensei," Naruto said cheerfully. Sasame merely nodded at him.

"Hello Sasame-chan," he said with a smile. "Sorry to interrupt but I have to talk to Naruto for a minute."

"Okay," Sasame answered. She looked to Naruto. "See you around Naruto."

"Yeah, you too Sasame!"

Sasame walked away, taking one second to glance back at the duo before continuing on.

~wWw~

"I'm back!" Sasame shouted as she stepped into her home.

The moment Sasame closed the door, the smell of food wafted towards her, making her mouth water.

"Kaa-san?" she called out.

"The dining room!" Nami's voice answered back.

Sasame hurried into the room and smiled happily at what she saw. Her mother was setting two bowls of tomato soup onto the table that had two wrapped boxes on it. One box was narrow while the other was a square.

"Kaa-san, you got me presents?" she questioned in wonder.

"Well, you did just graduate and become a genin," her mother said as she sat down, gesturing for Sasame to do the same. "It's an important step in your life as a shinobi."

Sasame sat down. "Itadakimasu," she said before digging into her food with gusto.

They spent the rest of the meal chatting about what happened that day, what she did during the exams, what questions she answered on the test, things like that. Although, Sasame kept stealing glances toward her two presents during the conversations.

"Alright," Nami said as she cleared away the empty dishes, "I know you're itching to open your presents. Open this one first."

She handed Sasame the narrow package and watched as her child opened it with anticipation.

Sasame gasped at what she saw inside. There were two metal rods about 15 or 16 inches long with a perpendicular handle a third of the way down.

"Are these-" Sasame said in awe.

"Tonfas," Nami answered with a nod. "Yes, they are. They're used as melee weapons and can also be used for defense. They are made with black chakra metal as well."

Sasame had pulled out the tonfa and was examining them with a fascinated eye. "They're beautiful," she murmured. She held them by their handles and tried twirling them. "They'll be fun to learn how to use," she said with a grin.

"You still have one more box to open," Nami reminded her with a smile.

Sasame looked at her. "Oh," she said sheepishly. "I almost forgot about that one."

Nami handed her daughter the last remaining box and sat back.

Sasame opened this one as fast as she did the other one, and was equally amazed at what was inside. There were sets of the same outfit.

It was a dark blue sleeveless battle qipao, the same color as her hair and eyes, with black trimmings and seem to stop at the upper thighs area. A black obi, black spandex shorts, and black ninja boots that seem to stop just below her knees were also in the box.

"Sugoi," Sasame breathed out. "These are beautiful."

"Listen Ame-chan," Nami said seriously. "A kunoichi's greatest weapon is not a kunai or a sword or even ninjutsu; it is deception. No matter how many times we've proven ourselves in the past, kunoichi have been underestimated and viewed as not as strong as our male counterpart. We use this to our advantage and we catch them off guard."

Sasame nodded to show she understood. After all, her mother wears an outfit similar to the one she got her. The only difference is that she wears a dark purple qipao-style shirt and black shinobi pants that stop below her knees with black ninja boots as well.

Sasame approached her mother and enveloped her in a hug. "Arigato Kaa-san," she said.

"No problem," Nami said as she ruffled her hair.

"Well, I'm going to head to bed," Sasame said as she pulled back. "I want to wake up on time tomorrow."

"Of course," Nami said. "See you in the morning."

"Bye Kaa-san," she said as she headed to her room.

'Tomorrow's the day it all starts,' she thought to herself.