I'm really excited for this part of the story because it means that I can finally move the story along!

Enjoy!

. . .

I was still stiff with shock.

I was a Genin.

Of Sunagakure.

I had passed.

I looked up from when I had been idly staring at my sandeled feet, and gazed at the two senseis sitting in front of me.

The sensei that had been teaching me the past few months met my stare, and to my complete and utter surprise, he smiled at me.

I blinked.

"Congratulations, Yūmaru-chan," he murmured, "it truly was a pleasure to teach you, and Sunagakure will benefit from you greatly in the future."

Sunagakure will benefit from me greatly in the future?

I let out a soft, bitter laugh, soft enough that the senseis couldn't hear.

So I'm to become a weapon, huh?

Of course.

I still doubt Sunagakure.

How will I know that they won't stab me in the back later?

How can I trust Sunagakure?

I sighed softly, "Thanks, Sensei."

After adjusting my new head-piece, I sauntered out of the room and met with Hiroshi on the side.

The white-haired boy smiled at me gently when I approached, and I didn't question how he knew that I was there.

He could sense chakra, after all.

"Did you pass?" He asked hopefully, "is that why you feel so happy?"

I smiled faintly in response, "Yeah, Hiroshi-kun," I confirmed, tapping the metal plate of my head-band, "I passed."

His half concealed face considerabely brightened when he heard the metal clink of the plate, "Let's go and meet with your mum," he said, "I'm pretty sure she's out there waiting for you."

I nodded, "Yeah."

I was a bit perplexed as Hiroshi led me outside, and I had to wonder: was my mum really out there?

When we exited the academy, I was greeted with a whoosh of fresh air instantly blasted into my face.

I sighed happily at the feel of the cool but slightly dusty and warm air on my skin, and when I glanced at Hiroshi, it seemed as if he was enjoying it, as well. Though I couldn't see his sightless eyes under his hair, there was a small, contented, smile on his lips.

I grabbed Hiroshi's hand, sliding my fingers to grasp onto his.

His smile soon dissolved into a frown, but I ignored it in favour of tugging him to where I saw a shock of bright crimson hair.

I greeted my tall, jōnin brother brother by tugging harshly on his shirt and pinching on the skin underneath.

Takashi wasn't even fazed, "Hello to you, as well, Yū-chan," he greeted blandly.

I smirked in response, and was delighted when my big brother rolled his eyes at me.

The fifteen year old jōnin set a hand on the top of my head, ruffling the crimson strands slightly.

"Congratulations," he quipped a little sarcastically, smirking when I scowled at him, "I see you've passed."

"Indeed I have," I deadpanned, my scowl softening ever so slightly into my own smirk, "and I'm the youngest Genin in the family!"

Takashi's smirk faded and his face fell into an unreadable look, "Whatever you say, Yūmaru," he muttered.

My heart sank.

Takashi was doing it again!

When I voiced those thoughts aloud, Takashi's face gradually turned colder with each passing second, "That's none of your concern, Yūmaru," he answered coldly.

I flinched at the iciness of his tone.

"Takashi!" Mum scolded, gazing back at me with worried eyes, "apologise to your sister this instant!"

"Yeah," Akito agreed, a strange glint entering his big black eyes, "what Kaa-chan said!"

Takashi's face looked pained, "Okaa-san..." he muttered, "... I'm sorry."

And then he was gone like a whisper in the wind.

I sighed harshly, looking down at my sandel-clad feet, "Why does he always do this?" I murmured to no one in particular.

Mum placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Takashi-chan will come around eventually, Yū-chan," she said reassuringly.

"And then what?" I muttered, "we'll be a happy little family?"

"Yūmaru," Mum sighed, and I flinched at the use of my given name, "why must you always be like this?"

I stiffened, and my hair shadowed my eyes as I answered, "Like what?"

"So bitter," Mum whispered, her voice shook slightly, "and... so doubtful."

I struggled to answer, and I hated Mum's pitiful expression.

I hated it so much.

"It happened because... because..." I trailed off, I sighed, screwing my eyes shut, "fuck it!"

I kicked the ground angrily, keeping up a chant, "Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it!"

My last word ended in a wail, and nearby people turned to give me dirty looks, but I ignored them.

I felt numb.

I thought, that after I graduated from the academy, that I would feel happy.

But I didn't.

I just felt horribly, painfully numb.

Suddenly, the sound of something clicking caught my attention.

I looked up, my face set in a quizzical frown.

Mum had unclipped something from her neck, and was holding it out.

Noticing my look, my mother smiled sadly, "It belonged to your father," she explained, "he gave it to me, and he told me, that when the time was right, to give it to you."

"Me?" I asked, somewhat stunned.

I took a closer look at what was dangling from her outstretched fingers.

It was a neckelace.

And not very pretty, either.

The chain was a silver that lacked colour, and the strange, polished stone that dangled from it was very dull.

"Take it, Yūmaru," Mum said softly, "it's yours now."

"Mine?"

I reached for it, and when the cool metal touched my skin, my fingers curled around it.

Mum helped me put it around my neck, and when it was, I tucked it under my shirt and out of sight, clasping it tight to my chest.

As soon as the stone touched my skin, I felt a faint sort of thrumming.

It was so faint that I barely felt it, but it was there.

It was like a butterfly.

"Keep it safe, Yūmaru," Mum cautioned softly, "you may never know when it will have to come of use."

I nodded at her cryptic words, and from beside Mum's leg, Akito gave me a curious look.

My little brother was nearly three now, and he already reached the middle of my chest in terms of height.

Akito had inherited the tall gene.

Despite my horrible mood, the thought of Akito someday being taller than me made me inwardly growl.

"What did Yūyū get?" Akito asked curiously.

"Something very important, Akito-chan," Mum answered vaguely, and when he grinned, she continued on sternly, "and nothing that you need to be concerned about."

"So it was important, then," Akito ventured, my little brother then turned his slightly tearful gaze to me, "you'll tell me, won't you, Yūyū?"

"..."

A few moments passed in silence, and then- "You're my Nee-chan, Yūyū," Akito tried again, "you're supposed to tell me these things!"

"I-" I broke, tearing my gaze away from him and murmuring, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

I didn't hear his muttered words, but I did feel him attach himself to my leg.

He buried his face into my pants, and I could feel something wet seep into the fabric.

I sighed, planting my hand onto the top of his head and slightly ruffling the crimson spikes of his hair.

As I had predicted,, Akito let out an indignant whine and shuffled away from me, pressing his arms to the top of his head defensively.

I smirked, and approached him faster than he could blink.

Ah, the perks of being a ninja.

I hooked an arm around his shoulders, spun him around, and knelt before him.

Before he could protest at such rough treatment, I grasped his chin with my hand. I tilted his face up, tsking at the mess of snot and tears.

I used my sleeve to wipe all the perspiraion from his cheeks and eyes, grimacing at what I knew would be on my sleeve.

"Stop crying," I ordered.

The toddler merely sniffled, more tears pooling in his dark eyes.

He pulled his face away from my grasp, turning his back to me, but before he could fully turn, I spun him around again and clasped him to my chest.

When his face made contact with the rough fabric of my shirt, he immediately poured it all out, pressing into me further.

I sighed heavily, rubbing slow, soothing circles onto his back.

"That's it," I murmured, "let it all out."

I didn't know how long we stayed like that, and I was certain that we received a bunch of strange looks from the other parents, but I found that I couldn't care less.

I could feel Mum's steady presence right next to me, and I was grateful for it.

And I knew that no matter what happened, she would always support me.

When that thought faded away, it was then that Akito decided to pull away.

His eyes were still dripping tears, and his face was blotchy and red from all the crying he had just endured.

Fucking hell.

Akito is such a crybaby.

But I don't blame him for it.

And I never will.

I stood up, linking my hand with my brother's.

"Can we go home now, Kaa-chan?"

I nearly cheered when she said yes, but then I froze.

I had forgotten Hiroshi.

In all my haste at being angry at Takashi and comforting Akito, I had completely forgotten about my closest friend.

Shit.

Mum, noticing my look, explained, "Hiroshi-kun left a few minutes earlier to find his father, but he said that you will see him on orientation day in a few days."

I nodded wordlessly, my hand tightening minutely around Akito's.

"Let's go home, then," my mother said softly.

"Kaa-chan," I began as we began to slowly walk home, "can you make me tea and riceballs for dinner?"

Mum looked over her shoulder at me, "Whatever you want, Yū-chan."

"Yeah, Yūyū," Akito piped up, "you can have whatever you want!"

Two hours later, I was sitting down to a meal of of tea and riceballs.

Since Takashi was nowhere to be seen, I got his share of the food.

I was grinning so ridiculously huge, that Mum said from across the table, "Have as much as you want, Yū-chan."

By the time I finished, I was sighing happily with a huge smile on my face.

I yawned, and turning to Mum, I said, "Is Onii-chan coming home tonight?"

Mum was finally for a while, but when she did break the silence, her voice was somber and quiet, "Takashi-chan said that he would be away on a mission and that he should be back in a few days time in time for your orientation, though I don't think he intended to storm off like he did."

"Taka-chan's a jōnin, right, Kaa-chan?" Akito asked between mouthfulls of rice.

"Yes, sweetie," Mum answered, looking perplexed, "did he tell you that?"

"Nuh," the two year old red head said, pausing to swallow his food, "Yūyū did!"

Mum looked over her cup of tea and fixed me a sharp glare, "Don't be telling your brother about these sort of things!" She admonished, her glare hardening at my wince.

I flushed when my not-so-quite-emo brother giggled, and to my mortification, he tried to mirror our mother's glare.

And since Akito had inherited her personality, he got it down perfectly.

His glare was twisted and dark, but I had gotten used to Takashi's constant mood swings and temper tantrums that it didn't really bother me much.

But it still sent a shiver down my spine.

And those eyes.

It reminded me of...

Tou-san...!

My fingers clutched at the neckelace under my shirt, pressing it further into my skin.

I closed my eyes, my breaths evening out.

It throbbed under my fingers.

I let out a quiet sigh, a tiny smile curving at my lips.

It reminded me of a butterfly.

. . .

First Person's POV- Takashi

My breathing came out in harsh, unsteady rasps.

The sand beneath my feet kicked upwards and all around me as I ran, creating a thick cloud of dust that floated around my head and obscured my vision.

I didn't know how long we had been running for, but I'd estimate at least a few hours.

I wasn't ready to stop, because if we did, then we'd be delayed.

My mission was quite simple in quota, but it held a very high risk.

It was A-ranked at the very least.

When we reached the border, we would be met with a very highly ranked noble of sorts, and were to protect him from rogue ninja that wanted his head because the noble had, in turn, done something to sabotage them.

"Takashi," my team-mate called, "we should stop for the night."

I knew protesting was futile else I'd be disobeying a direct order from my leader.

So I just settled for saying, "Fine then."

We stopped for the night, and at dawn, we set off again.

We reached the border by midday and met with the noble we were supposed to escort.

The noble was a man called Arashi, and upon first glance, I decided I didn't like him.

At all.

He was a tall, weedy looking man with sickly-pale skin, bright blue eyes and a shock of pale-blue hair.

His lips curled into a smile when we warily approached him.

I was even more wary than usual.

Something about this man seemed... off.

I would keep my guard up at all times.

This attempt appeared to work as later in the day, we were ambushed.

The enemy were three Shinobi either Chūnin level or higher.

It was a pain to dispatch them.

It was even more of a pain to keep one alive for information.

As we were in the nearby Land of Rivers, there were an endless supply of trees.

As I was bigger and stronger than the remaining ninja by a huge margin, I easily slammed the smaller man into a tree, my hands enclosing around his throat.

The smaller Shinobi gagged and bucked and kicked against me with a vengeance.

"Akai!" I called, "get me some rope!"

With said, I swiftly spun him and struck the back of his neck with the flat of my palm. He instantly went limp in my grasp, and after a moment of pondering, I gently set him down on the ground.

He didn't stir once as I rolled him over to rest on his back.

He was younger than I expected.

What I thought to be a very small man was actually a very young boy. He looked to be no older than seven.

Yūmaru's age.

The boy obviously wasn't dressed to impress, and his clothes were very plain.

A simple mesh shirt under a ratty looking beige jacket, his feet were bare and bandaged, hidden underneath a very long pair of black pants. Half of his face was hidden by a shock of very bright orange hair.

I wrinkled my nose.

Who has orange hair?

This kid certainly does.

When Akai came back with the ropes, I soundly tied the kid up, and standing, I slung him over my shoulder. When we had taken care of the other two bodies, Akai, the noble we were guarding, and myself all set off at a sedate pace.

When we reached the border of the Land of Rivers, we silently accepted our mission pay and began our course back to Sunagakure.

It was nightfall when the kid next woke, and I was alerted to it when I got a hard kick in the back.

Instantly, I stopped, pulling the kid from my shoulder and setting him on the sand beneath my feet.

I pressed the edge of a kunai to his throat, growling, "Who are you?"

The kid blinked his eerie looking blue eyes at me, murmuring, "I don't know."

I pressed harder against him in response, and he didn't even flinch when a thin line of blood welled up on his neck.

"What do you mean?" I said warily, not letting my guard down.

The boy gazed up at me blankly, and when he spoke, there was no emotion in his voice whatsoever, "I told you, I don't know. I don't know who I am and I don't know where I came from. Who are you? Can you help me?"

Ever so slowly, my grip on the boy began to ease, until finally, he was free from my grasp.

I stood up, turning to face Akai.

"It appears as if this kid has amnesia of some sort," I reported, then scowled darkly, muttering, "could be a fucking joke for all we know."

Akai met my dark expression with a grim one of his own, and he said coolly, "I'll bring him to the Kazegake when I do our report, and you can head home. You need rest, and you've deserved it."

My scowl softened into a smirk, "You really knowhow to make someone happy, Akai."

The anti-social brunette merely smirked in return as I once again knocked the boy out and slung him over my shoulder.

We reached Sunagakure by dawn.

When we arrived, I was ready to pass out and just sleep.

Akai gave me the affirmative that I could leave, and I handed over the nameless kid gracelessly.

I then proceeded to roof hop home.

When I entered the house, everything was silent and dark.

So everyone was asleep, then?

I intended to have a shower, and as Yūmaru's room was on the way there, I ducked inside for a brief visit.

Yūmaru was asleep when I entered, and I had to admit, she looked very cute sprawled out on her futon like that.

Her red hair was strewn about messily over her face, and she was hugging her pillow to her chest.

I smiled softly, and it soonm faded into a frown.

"I'm so sorry," I murmured.

I showered quickly and left the house.

I didn't want to be there anymore, it was too dark and depressing.

Instead, I headed to Kazuki's house.

It didn't take too long, either.

As I predicted, Kazuki opened the window when I knocked.

Her long black hair was mussed from sleep and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Takashi...?" She murmured sleepily, "what're you doin' here so early?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "but I couldn't stay in that house, so can I please come in?"

Awareness returned to Kazuki's eyes, and she nodded, gesturing for me to enter.

I followed in after her, sitting beside her on the bed.

"So," she began, "what's the real reason behind this visit."

"How did you-"

She cut me off with a kiss.

My eyes slightly widened.

Kazuki pulled away with a grin, and despite my mood, I found myself slowly smiling back.

"I guess I'm just worried," I confessed, my smile dropping.

"About?" My girlfriend pressed.

"Yūmaru," I admitted softly, "she became a Genin about three days ago. I'm worried that she's too young."

"And how old is Yū-chan?" Kazuki asked curiously, "I remember all those years ago when you brought her with you to meet us. She was so cute!"

"She's seven," I answered flatly, "younger than I was when I became a Genin."

Kazuki took hold of my shoulder, pulling me in closer, "You don't need to be so afraid, Takashi-kun," she whispered, "Yūmaru-chan will be fine."

"I'm not afraid," I protested, suddenly aware of how close we were.

She kissed me again, and I found myself silenced.

That was the only kiss we shared, and it was everything that words couldn't convey: whether it be anger, sadness, or happiness, we felt everything.

I held her close to me the entire time, and I knew that, in time, everything would be okay.

It just had to be.

. . .

First Person's POV- Yūmaru

I bid Mum and Akito goodbye before walking out the door, an excited hop in my pace.

I was excited.

Today was the orientation, and today, we'd all find out what teams we'd be put into.

I arrived at the academy in record time, and I zoomed down the hallways to my classroom.

When I entered, I made a beeline for Hiroshi and sat beside him before anyone could steal the seat.

The white-haired boy inclined his head ever so slightly to acknowledge that he knew I was there, and even though he couldn't see it, I sent a tiny smile at him in response.

I didn't know how long we sat there for, but finally, our sensei entered the classroom with a scroll in hand.

"Silence!" He boomed, his gravely voice echoing around us, "now, I'll skip pleaantaries and go straight to the matter at hand."

Sensei droned on about how we would be placed into our respective teams, but it was nothing that I hadn't already heard.

"Team One will be..."

I spaced out, and a while later, I heard Karura's name being called. She was placed into Team Two with two other boys that I vaguely recognised.

"Team Three will consist of Hiroshi," at the sound of his name, Hiroshi sat up sharply, "Kimiko," I winced in sympathy, and I found myself glancing at Kame-chan.

The blue-haired girl was looking directly at Yashamaru, her hands clasped together.

I scowled in her direction, and at the same time, felt an angry flare of hatred.

"... and Cho," Sensei blinked at the scroll in his hands before going on in a slightly puzzled voice, "your sensei will be Takashi Kishi."

I blinked.

Who was Cho?

I've never heard of him in my life.

And Ohmygod, Takashi is a sensei?

The fuck?

"Team Four will consist of Yūmaru," I looked up at Sensei, my gaze narrowed.

Who would be on m team?

"Yashamaru," my heart clenched with anticipation.

Who will it be? My mind chanted.

"And Sasori," Sensei finished with a flourish, "your sensei will be Kazuki Ren."

Wow, I thought sarcastically, I just had to get the future S-class ninja on my team.

Yeah, everything was just great.

Too bad everything wwould come back to bite me in the ass later.