Sora: Hey, this is the part where you get to see us as little kids! YAY!

Shigure: Yeah…woo hoo…(shutters)

Sora: What's your problem, Shigure? Oh…is this the part where-

Shigure: Hey! Don't you say another word!

Thank you, Shigure.

Shigure and Sora first started attending the Village Academy at the age of nine (Yuri-- eight and a half, he would be nine that coming January). They knew each other fairly well because they were in the same tribe, but a friendship never really came about at first. Actually, Sora first became friends with Yuri. Their partnership was unexplainable. All anyone knew was that they talked to each other all the time about a lot of things.

After one year in the Academy, their Chunin scholar sensei, Makoto Fujimoto, was having them practice an exercise. The class crossed a bridge that was fashioned over a wide stream, but Makoto stayed on the opposite side.

"Ok, class, I introduce you to the balance beam. The object of this exercise is to walk across it without falling off. Pretty simple, right?" He motioned toward a two-inch-wide, rounded beam that was stretched between two short poles on either side of the stream. It was the middle of the summer, so the water was running fast, clear and fresh, but it was still pretty cold. One would definitely not want to swim in it. Also considering there was an infinite amount of large rocks at the bottom.

"If you do happen to fall off, remember to lift up your legs before you hit the water. If your feet get caught in those, rocks the swift waters could tear some of your toes off." His students could tell he was not kidding. Some of the Genin were looking curiously in the direction of his feet, hoping their sensei still had all of his toes.

"We will start alphabetically-- Takeshi Arakawa; you're first."

Takeshi stepped forward and started down the beam. After about a yard down it, he began to lose balance and jumped backward in an attempt not to land in the water. He barely landed on the edge of the tall stream bank. Some of the class broke out in laughter.

"That's ok, Takeshi. Try again."

This time Takeshi made it across and so did the girl that went after him, Kumiko Jioro.

"Sora Hirogawa; you're next."

Sora gingerly stepped up to the beam, when, suddenly, one of the other Chunin from the Academy came running up to Sora's sensei. Makoto held up his hand to Sora as a signal for him to wait.

"Makoto, you need to come to the council room, now! It's an emergency meeting called by Lord Inakura."

"Ok, Ryo, I'm coming. Class, you may continue with this exercise. Kumiko, here's my clipboard. Continue calling out the names."

"Yes, sir!" Makoto then hurried off to the council room.

"Alright, Sora, go ahead." said Kumiko. Sora inched away at the beam. He knew he shouldn't look down, but he did. He saw the terrible distance down, the deadly rocks, and the rushing water; it's sound filled his ears.

I can't do this…I have to go back…it's too far…no, no… I need to finish this…for Yuri. He continued farther down the beam, but the cheering of those behind him and the roar of the water underneath him started to crowd his mind. His heart started to pound. And then, one of his feet slipped. A sudden fear struck him as he struggled to stay on the beam. It was too late. He had plunged head-first into the water. Time seemed to slow as the class

waited to see him pop out of the water and shake the liquid out of his ears…but he didn't. They didn't see anyone come up. Before anybody could say anything, someone jumped into the water.

"Wait! Shigure!" Everyone peered down into the water. Kumiko's eyes filled with worried tears. Takeshi attempted to put his arm around her in comfort, but she pushed him away.

"Someone should go get Makoto-sensei!" someone shouted. This was Takeshi's queue, so he ran as fast as he could to get Makoto as they still awaited for Sora and Shigure to surface.

"C'mon guys…," breathed all the anxious students.

Suddenly, Shigure burst out of the water gasping for air. He had his arm around Sora's waist. He quickly pulled Sora and himself up on the shorter sandbank below the higher one where everyone was gazing down at them. Shigure immediately turned Sora on his back and listened to see if he was breathing.

"Sora? I know you're still there. C'mon Sora…" Shigure opened Sora's mouth, closed his nose and gave Sora CPR. He listened again. Nothing. He compressed Sora's chest a few times. Still nothing. He repeated mouth-to-mouth and this time he got a response. Sora's eyes blinked open and he began to cough up mouthfuls of water. He looked up at Shigure who was smiling down at him. That smile. His green eyes soft and his furry ears laid back. Sora also smiled.

"T-thank you, Shigure."

"You're welcome, Sora." Shigure helped Sora back up the bank, hailing cheers from their classmates, when Makoto and a few other Chunin rushed towards them.

"Is everything alright! What happened?"

Kumiko chimed in. "Sora fell in; he wasn't coming back up so Shigure jumped in and saved him! To put it simply, sir."

Makoto looked over at Shigure, "Is that true? Did you actually save Sora?"

Shigure nodded as he helped Sora up. He had his arm around Shigure's neck for support. It seemed Sora had sliced his leg open on the rocks in the water and it was quite painful. They both sat down on the ground.

"Ok, class, I think we'll finish this exercise tomorrow. Let's head back to the classroom."

The students that were still on the other side of the stream avoided the beam and crossed the bridge. Makoto knelt down and examined Sora's wound.

"We should get you to the nurse. She should take care of this." The cut ran along his calf. It wasn't to terribly deep, but it definitely hit the right veins. He had lost a lot of blood. Both of them shook the water out of their hair and ears in unison as Kumiko walked over to them and sat next to her sensei.

"Hey, Shigure! Where'd you learn to revive Sora like that? I thought he was a goner."

"Oh, that? My dad taught it to me. He said it's always good to know in an emergency."

"Wow, that's so cool!"

Makoto stood up and started walking back to his class. I don't understand. Why did Shigure use normal CPR? He could have used the Reviving Jutsu on Sora. He knows that one pretty well. It just doesn't make sense. Little did he know that Shigure wouldn't have an explanation for it either.

Yuri who had seen the whole thing rushed over to Sora and Shigure, "Are you ok, Sora?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Yuri. Well, except for my leg." He squeezed his calf and winced.

"Um, Yuri, do you want to help me carry Sora to Nurse Yumi?"

Yuri nodded and the two boys carried Sora between them to the infirmary. From then on, all three of them were friends. Later did Shigure and Yuri find out that Sora's father had been beating him. This explained his confidence problem. He was used to being scared and degraded. This brought their friendship even closer together. They made a vow to be by each other's side and protect each other through the blood, sweat, and tears of being a ninja.

It was their strong bonds that led the Ninja Council to put them on the same squad with Kisho as their sensei. At first, they were against the idea. They figured that the boys were too strongly bonded. If something had happened and it would tear one away, it would tear the rest of the squad apart. But, through observation, they decided that Shigure, Sora, and Yuri would have overlooked the fact that one of their friends was gone. Maybe all it took was the pure memory of that one person to keep him alive in their hearts.

End…Chapter Five: A Glimpse of the Past

Sora: Oh, yeah…now I remember…hey, wait, that means-

Shigure: That means, what?

Sora: You stole my first kiss!

Shigure: WHAT? That was not a kiss! I thought you would have been a little more thankful, I mean since I DID save your life, after all…-.-+

Sora: It was too a kiss. You just aren't wanting to admit it! XD

Shigure: Oh, please! You just want me to say that I enjoyed it or something sick like that!

Sora: THERE! You said it! You know you liked kissing me…(evil smirk)

Yuri: That is repulsive, Sora…but probably true…

Shigure: Shut up!