Hello and welcome to another chapter!

The last few chapters may have seemed slow paced, but I guarentee that after this chapter, things will begin to speed up.

So enjoy and review!

. . .

I was now five years old.

It had only been about three months since my little brother, Akito, was born.

Three months since Dad died.

Now, you're probably going to think that I'll go on a long tirade of how unfair it was for him to have died.

But I won't.

Why?

Because Dad wouldn't have wanted that.

He would have wanted me to move on.

And that's exactly what I did.

I trained twice as hard as before, and I began to get marginally better. My stamina had grown by a great amount to the point that I could run one lap of Sunagakure without fainting.

Of course, I did this without my mother knowing, and it was much harder than I first thought.

Added to the fact that I still couldn't use my chakra without some painful after effects.

Yeah, it wasn't exactly pretty, and let me tell you: It hurt.

A lot.

When I came home, I had taken to wrapping my hands in bandages to hide the rather painful looking burns that I had accummulated throughout the past two months.

It wasn't easy, and there were many times where I wanted to spill to my mother and not have to deal with this.

"This" being the fact that my chakra decided to blow out on me.

I didn't dare ask Takashi for advice knowing that he could easily blab that I was training to our mother.

If anyone found I was training, then I'd be in very bad trouble.

So that was why I used the excuse that I was playing at the park to my advantage. It was the perfect excuse considering that I always returned home covered in dirt, and very rarely, blood.

The first time I came home covered in blood, Mum had freaked, especially considering that it was smeared all over my chin.

That day, I had learnt my lesson.

That is, to never dabble in chakra unless I had some type of guidance.

The burns on my hands are a reminder of that day, and for now, I think I'll just wait until I'm in the academy.

Speaking of the academy, it accepts new students in about ten months.

This means that I'll have ten months to convince my mother to let me join, and ten months to at least attempt to utilise my chakra.

If I can graduate and become a Genin, then I'll defy everyone's expectations.

Only a year ago, my mother said that I could never become a ninja.

But look where I am now.

My Taijutsu and stamina, despite how horrible they are, are growing in leaps and bounds everyday.

So I would show them.

I would show them all.

I had to become a ninja.

I just had to.

. . .

"Hey, Yūmaru!" A child yelled. "Play Ninja with us!"

I glanced at the child, my expression thoughtful.

The kid's wide brown eyes reflected my own face back at me.

The kid looked uncomfortable under my scrutiny. He shifted awkwardly, rubbing his toe on the ground.

"Ehe," he mumbled. "You don't have to play if you don't want too..."

He trailed off just as another kid stalked into the picture.

Judging by her slight and scrawny stature, it appeared to be a girl. She appeared to be about six years old.

My age.

Her hair was a pale blue, falling to her shoulders in ragged curls. Her eyes were dark and expressed an extreme distaste as she eyed me.

"Don't let her play with us, Jun!" She yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "What were you thinking?!"

I snorted for good measure. "I resent that," I said simply.

The girl sneered. In my opinion, it made her greatly resemble a sea turtle.

When I told her so, she screeched in outrage. She pointed a finger at me, exclaiming, "I'm going to tell on you!"

I feigned a yawn, "You do that," I told her. "It still doesn't change the fact that you resemble a sea turtle."

The girl then glanced at Jun for help, but the boy only glanced between us rather unhelpfully, a forced smile present on his face.

"It's okay," I assured him, "I'll still play Ninja with you."

Jun looked elated, but the forced smile on his face still looked fake.

I took his hand, still marvelling at the fact that I would actually play something for the first time in over nine months.

And yes, nine months have passed, and just because I thought about those months doesn't mean that they didn't happen.

I'd only recently just turned six, and during those months, my secret training had upped to magnitudes by which I felt comfortable.

Today however, I decised to take a rare day off from all that training.

I was in the park with all the other kids, and in all their eagerness to join the academy in the coming months, had decided to start up a game called Ninja.

I felt a brief smile crease my lips at the name before it disappeared entirely.

Lately, I had been finding it really hard to smile. I didn't really see the point of it anymore.

The only thing I wanted now was to get stronger.

But to do that, I needed my chakra. I couldn't use it, though. Not with with this stupid illness in the way.

I had long since come to the conclusion that the Gods loved to screw me over, starting with my reincarnation into this world.

I hated it.

I hated it so much.

But there wasn't really anything I could do to stop it.

The only thing that I could do to stop my imminent demise was by trying to find a way to utilise my chakra.

I didn't know how to do that.

But I would try.

But for now, I think I'll just play Ninja with all the kids.

"I'll play Ninja with you," I repeated.

Jun grinned in response, and I found mself slowly smiling back.

He extended a hand out to me, and slowly, I found myself taking, intertwinig our fingers together.

Turtle Face just looked on in distaste.

"Well, Kame-chan," I murmured. "Are you playing?"

"My name is Kimiko!" She shrieked. "Not "Kame-chan"!"

"Kimiko, huh?" I mused, looking up at the skies. "Doesn't that mean "Child without Equal"?"

'Kimiko' glared at me with surprising venom. "I hate you!" She yelled. "I hate you, do you hear me?!"

I just shook my head. "You're not the first to have told me that," I said sadly, but on the inside I was anything but sad.

"Come on, Jun-san," I said. "Let's go play, shall we?"

Jun nodded with great enthusiasm, dragging me along with him.

I glanced over my shoulder. "Are you coming or not, Kame-chan?!" I called.

Kimiko just shrieked in response. I grinned and turned back to Jun when I was pulled to a stop.

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice said. "Who're you?"

"Hashirama Senju," I supplied sarcastically. "No, really, who do you think?!"

"Hey!" One kid cried, pointing a finger at me. "I know you, you're Yūmaru Kishi!"

I rolled my eyes.

"What're you doing with her, Jun?!" Another kid demanded.

Jun seemed at a loss on what to say but, luckily, he was saved from having to answer by another kid.

"Lay off her, will you?"

The other kids seemed to be in awe with him, and I soon found out why.

A Sunagakure head band glinted around his forehead and I fought the urge to scoff.

He was a Genin, yeah, so?

There were plenty of Genin in this village, and more came with each graduation exam. And they only became official if and when they passed the final test.

"What do you want?" I muttered.

The boy seemed to find my rudeness endearing, for he said, "I'll only let you play if you can get this other kid to play."

So he thought that this was his game?

Well, two can play at that game.

"Fine," I mumbled, looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

He looked to be about twelve, with rumpled black hair and wide blue eyes.

He didn't look very significant- he looked like the type of person that someone wouldn't look twice at.

The boy grinned then, showing off disturbingly white teeth.

He pointed a finger in a direction, and when I turned around, my jaw dropped in horror.

"Him," the boy announced. "I want you to get him to play."

A few of the kids gasped.

"But, Boss," a kid protested. "He's so creepy!"

"Not as creepy as her," Kame-chan muttered.

"Why him?!" I demanded, rounding on the boy.

"Because he always just sits there whenever he comes to the park," the boy explained easily.

"Maybe it's because Sasori doesn't want to," I mumbled.

"Huh, what was that?" The boy turned a curious eye to me.

"Maybe Sasori just doesn't want to play," I said louder so he could hear me.

"So his name is Sasori?" The boy said, mostly to himself.

"Yeah," I said uncertainly.

"Go and ask him, then," the boy said. "It's worth a try."

I sighed, knowing that I couldn't do anything to get out of this. "Fine."

Almost cautiously, I approached the bench that Sasori was sitting on. He looked nearly the same as when I had last seen him, which had been about two years ago.

His hair was longer, falling down his forehead in a shaggy mess of red spikes. But they refrained from falling into his brown eyes. His eyes- oh Kami, they were significantly colder than when I had last seen them, and very guarded. He had that air of chilliness that blatently stated that he cared for no one but himself.

Sasori was as withdrawn as I remembered.

He was reading a book, and I didn't have to be a genious to know what it was about.

Puppets. I was sure he was reading about puppets.

He didn't look up as I approached, though I wasn't as naïve to believe that he didn't know I was there.

"Uh, Sasori-san?" I began uncertainly, all the while thinking, I can't believe that I got talked into this!

"Yes?" He answered without looking up, calmly turning a page of his book.

"Do you want to, uh..." It was times like this that I cursed my shyness, so I blurted it out: "DoyouwanttoplayNinjawithme?!"

"No."

I blushed fiercly at the deadpann refusal, and I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling.

"Why not?!" I demanded, tossing away my shyness, but it still managed to seep out in the way that my fingers twisted into my shirt angrily.

That was when Sasori looked up, but his expression was blank. I had no idea of what he was feeling.

"You," he finally murmured.

"Me," I echoed back uncertainly.

"I remember you," he finally stated.

I felt my eyes twitch.

Who did Sasori think I was?

"You were that girl that Granny found on the street," Sasori went on. "She made me watch over you until you woke up."

"Yeah," I answered, and a touch defensively, I added, "But I'm stronger now! I won't pass out so easily now!"

"Fine."

I blinked, "Huh, what?"

"I'll play Ninja with you," he said impatiently.

"Really?!" I said excitedly.

Sasori watched me, saying in a bored tone, "Didn't I just say that?"

I grinned, Sasori watxhing me in amusement. When he stood up, sliding his book into the sleeves of his robes, I noticed that he was only about a hair's breadth taller than me. A far cry to how short I was two years ago.

I then realised something.

I had had a growth spurt.

I attributed that to the fact that my training had left me somewhat toned. My legs were also stronger than I ever remembered having them.

I was taller!

"Awesome!" I cried.

I practically sprinted back to the crowd of kids, Sasori in tow.

When he came to stand beside me, he seemed amused by the amount of gasps that resounded throughout the small circle.

The Genin from before stepped foreward, a frown twisting his tanned face.

"How did you get him to play with us?" His tone was disapproving, and I had no idea why. "Not even I could, yet you, a tiny little girl is able to accomplish what I couldn't?!"

I was beginning to feel uncomfortable, and I think that the boy could see that for he smirked.

Everything was beginning to get out of hand, and the blush of humiliation just wouldn't leave.

"Aki!" A voice snapped. "That's enough!"

The so called 'Aki' rolled his eyes, but he didn't attempt to speak against the person.

I slowly turned around, and to my horror, I found the person to be Akai, my brother's team mate. Standing at his side were my mother, my little brother, Akito, and my lder brother, Takashi.

But the thing that surprised me the most was that his fingers were intertwined with a girl about his age.

I recognised her, but I couldn't put her face to name.

Her hair was black, cascading down her back in an inky waterfall. And her brown eyes were guarded than I remembered. I now remembered who she was.

Kazuki.

The girl that I had teased about having feelings for my brother.

And she was holding hands with him!

I frowned then.

What were they doing here?

I voiced my thoughts out loud and all eyes turned to me.

I blushed furiously at being the center of attention, and it was my mother who deigned to answer me.

"We came here to find you, Yū-chan," she answered softly.

I wasn't given time to answer because it was then that my little brother decided to dart foreward, wrapping his chubby arms around my leg.

"Yūyū!" He chirped, black eyes wide and innocent.

I couldn't help but smile at him, placing a hand on top of his tuft of messy red hair and ruffling it.

Akito was about twelve months old, and since learning how to walk, he had begun to speak, as well. But he had a very limited vocabulary.

Mum was known simply as Kaa-chan- the same thing I called her.

Takashi was known as Taka-chan.

And I was known as Yūyū.

But sometimes it was painful just looking at Akito.

My little brother was a spitting image of Dad.

But I still loved him, regardless.

And I would continue to love no matter what he chose to do in the future.

Even if he chose to leave Sunagakure.

"Yūyū?" Akito looked up in confusion.

I shook my head and scooped him into my arms, burying my face into his hair, Akito pressig his face into my neck in return.

"What did you want, Kaa-chan?"

"I had a talk with your former teacher, Rin-san, today," Mum began.

I stiffened, and Akito froze, as well.

"So?"

"So," Mum answered just as stiffly, "I learned that Rin-san possesses the same thing as you."

I noticed that Mum kept from saying illness in front of everyone, and I found myself grateful to that. I didn't need complete strangers knowing that I lacked the ability to properly utilise my chakra.

I then noticed Mum's gaze drop to my bandages hands, her expression contemplative.

Finally, she spoke, "Yū-chan, while I may not be a ninja, I can recognise the signs of training when I see them. Rin-san had the exact same marks and bandages on his own hands."

Silence.

Then-

"Please let me enter the academy, Kaa-chan!" I burst out. "I'll do anything!"

"Anything, you say?" Mum narrowed her eyes. "How can you expect to become a ninja without the use of chakra?"

Ouch.

Nice one, Mum.

"Actually, Okaa-san," Takashi interjected. "I think that you should let Yū-chan enter the academy. I think that she can, with lots of time and proper training, prosper into a strong kunoichi. Even if she can't use chakra."

Mum sighed. "Fine, then, Yū-chan," she said. "I will let you enter the academy on three conditions."

"And?" I asked, barely able to believe that she was offering this alternative.

"The first: you have to spar with someone of my choosing."

Excitement ran through the circle of kids, and one impulsive one cried, "Make her fight Aki!"

Cheers chorussed, and even Aki looked eager.

He pointed to himself, scoffing, "I'll be able to beat her easy!"

I rolled my eyes, and nearly laughed when Akai pointed out, "You were the dead last in the academy, and you only recently became a Genin, Aki."

Aki flushed. "Whatever, Aniki," he muttered.

I looked at the Genin in disbelief.

This guy was Akai's brother?

Well, I suppose it made sense since their names are quite similar.

Well, enough of that, I suppose.

"I'll fight Aki, then, Kaa-chan," I stated.

"Now?" Mum raised an eyebrow, then set her gaze upon the boy beside me.

I turned, as well, but Sasori didn't so much as blink against our double scrutiny.

"And you're Sasori-kun, I grant it?" Mum inquired.

I tried not to grimace at her tone, it was too childish for my tastes. But if Sasori was disturbed by the tone, he didn't show it.

His face was somewhat bored as he politely answered, "Yes, I am."

"And you're Yū-chan's friend, aren't you?"

I opened my mouth to say that Sasori was not, in fact, my friend, when he beat me to it.

"We're acquaintance," Sasori corrected.

Mum frowned, then turned back to me, "Do want to fight Aki-kun now?"

I nodded, glancing at the Genin.

Aki held his hand up in a gesture that I was all too familiar with.

A peace sign.

"Let's do it right here," he said.

Before I could get into position, a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned to find Sasori staring at me.

"I can heal your burnt hands if you want," he said after a moment's hesitation.

I blinked, a little touched at his unexpected offer of kindness.

"You know Medical Ninjutsu?" Was my very intelligent reply.

"Only the basics," Sasori answered quietly. "Extend your hand out and I'll heal it."

I did as I was told, and I watched as he meticulously began to unwrap the bandages on my right hand. He clasped it in his own, and I sighed as his cool chakra began to heal the burns, pale green chakra enveloping the entirety of my hand.

When he finished, he did the same with my other hand, and not five minutes later, I was gazing at my newly mended hands in awe.

I opened my mouth to thank him, but quickly closed it at the look he shot me.

"Don't thank me just yet," Sasori said softly. "You still have to win against that boy."

I nodded, turning back to face Aki.

The Genin had already dropped into his stance, and it was rather sloppy looking.

No wonder Akai had said that his little brother was the dead last.

I dropped into my own stance, still watching him. While his stance was sloppy looking, I think that mine was even worse than his.

"Only Taijutsu," Akai stated. "And I mean it, Aki."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Aki waved him off.

"You can start, then," Akai said dryly.

We stood frozen for a few seconds, then Aki ran foreward, his fist raised to punch.

I anticipated the attack, and in an attempt to avoid it, I twisted my body. But I was too slow, and his attack grazed my side.

I gritted my teeth against the tell tale sting of his punch, and I forced my body to duck from an oncoming kick.

However, Aki's kick left his legs right open.

I took that opening, sweeping my leg foreward and hooking it under his knee, pulling it towards me.

I pulled back sharply, causing Aki to trip.

But he didn't fall for it, and braced for it.

He fell foreward and snapped an arm out, hooking it under my armpit. I panicked for a moment, but I knew that I could win this.

When he grasped my armpit, I twisted my body around, and for that moment, I was glad for how short I was.

When I failed to fall to the ground, Aki quickly grew frustrated.

His arm snapped out, catching me in the face.

I gasped at the burn that exploded in my left cheek. Aki took the time to grin at me mockingly. And I took his hesitation as an opening.

My hand darted out, smashing into his cheek. He grimaced at the pain, and I knew that whatever luck I had, I prayed for it to stay with me.

Aki recovered quicker than I thought, but I didn't give him time to attack. Instead, my hands darted out and landed a quick succession of hit against his face, arms, and chest. I hooked my foot around his left knee and kicked in.

But whatever luck I had possessed before had faded when Aki's head rammed against mine and his hand smashed into my stomach.

I coughed, an when I began to feel the tell tale burning of my illness, I begannto panic.

Fuck, shit, it can't happen right now.

Not when I'm in the battle that could decide my future.

I coughed.

And when I started, I couldn't stop.

I hacked until my throat was sore and warm, metallic crimson began to dribble my chin.

I groaned when Aki punched me again.

I turned my head and spat out warm, gooey blood.

Then I did something that I had read in fanfictions.

I kicked Aki in the balls.

The Genin immediately howled in pain, and I hit him until he released me. He fell to the ground, clutching his crotch and I went with him.

I slumped over him tiredly, my hand pressed against his throat.

"Yield," I whispered. I then lowered my voice to a whisper, "If you don't want me to kic you in the balls again."

His eyes widened in horrified resignition. "I-I yield," he all but yelped.

I got to my feet, and immediately staggered. Takashi rushed foreward and caught me before I could collapse.

"Do I pass, Onii-chan?"

Takashi smiled into my hair, before pulling back and examining me with a frown.

He gently wiped the blood away from my face and embraced me.

"Of course, Imouto."

I felt a genuine, beautiful smile for the first time in a year.

I had passed.

I could become a ninja.

And to Hell would I waste this oppertunity