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. . .

One by one, each team left until only Hiroshi's team and mine remained.

"When do you think our sensei will come?" I complained to no one in particular.

Yashamaru briefly glanced at me, an amused smirk curling at his lips, "She'll come when she comes, Yū-san."

I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest, "That's what everyone says," I exclaimed childishly, "who knows, maybe they're late 'cause they're making out with each other!"

Hiroshi turned his head in my direction, a confused frown tugging at his lips, "What is this "making out", Yū-chan?"

I choked on my own saliva, whizzing around to face him, "You don't need to know that, Hiroshi-kun!" I exclaimed, all the while waving my arms wildly even though he had no chance of seeing it, "you're too young for that sort of stuff!"

"What sort of stuff?" Hiroshi asked blankly.

I didn't bother deigning him with an answer, merely pressing my lips into a straight line as I stared straight ahead, my right hand coning to rest at my chest where the neckelace was situated.

It pulsed under my fingers.

My eyebrows drew together.

It was still like a butterfly.

Hiroshi suddenly went stock-still, his head snapping sharply to where the academy entrance was situated.

"I sense two people," he murmured after a moment's silence.

Without meaning to, my hand found his, my fingers slipping in his.

The other seven year old stiffened, before, finally, his hand went slack in my grip.

"It's your brother, Yū-chan," Hiroshi said softly, "and another signeture that I don't recognise."

Hmm, so if it was Takashi, then the other person with him must be his girlfriend, Kazuki.

Great.

Notice the blatent sarcasm there?

Yeah, so it wasn't as if I didn't dislike Kazuki, it was just that she was a tad bit... um, enthusiastic.

Yeah, enthusiastic would be the perfect world to describe Kazuki, I'm sure.

My grip on Hiroshi's hand tightened, and not a moment later, I felt him shift from what I thought was discomfort.

I sighed, of course he wouldn't really like physical contact.

Not that I really did, either.

But I was like other human beings, and if I didn't get enough physical contact, then I'd probably go insane.

Hesitantly, I retracted my grip, and as I did so, I caught the gaze of the eeiriest blue I had seen in my life.

It was some kid with long, spiky orange that seemed to cover half of his face.

I had never seen him in my life, and I'm sure I've never seen him around Sunagakure, ether.

My eyees narrowed minutely, considering.

"Who are you?" I finally whispered.

The boy smiled mysteriously, "I don't know," he answered softly, "but everyone has been calling me Cho, so maybe that's my name?"

I then noticed something really weird.

This Cho kid looks a lot like Yahiko.

The fuck?

That was really weird.

Because as far as I know, Yahiko's parents are dead.

And who names a kid Cho?

Seriously?

"Are you a girl in disguise?" I asked bluntly, peering at his face closely, "because you really do resemble one."

Silence.

The boy, or what I assumed was a boy, didn't even look offended. He merely continued to smile that creepy little smile of his that nearly sent me shuddering.

"Quit smiling!" I hissed, the colour draining from my face.

Fucking hell, this kid was the definition of creepy.

And apparently, he had amnesia, as well.

Seriously.

"You still look like a girl," I muttered, digging my fingers into my shirt as a sign as agitation.

"Finally," I heard Kame-chan sigh, "Sensei's finally here!"

I peered upwards and through Kame-chan's ragged curls of blue hair.

Just like Kame-chan said, Takashi was indeed making his way toward our little group huddled in the corner.

"He always takes his time," I murmured, looking up at my brother through strands of red hair, "that's why he's so akin to a girl."

"I heard that, Yū-chan," Takashi called, and he didn't even sound remotely annoyed like he always was when I made those comments, "and even though you're a Genin now, you still have to show your senseis respect."

"Yeah right," I muttered, crossing my arms and standing up, "how can I respect you if you haven't even given me a reason to, Onii-chan?"

From behind me, I heard Kame-chan shriek, "Respect your superiors, Aka-chan!"

"Shut up," I replied shortly, not even turning around, "this doesn't concern you in any way, shape, or form."

To my satisfaction, Kame-chan remained silent.

A slightly smug smirk tugged at my lips, and to swell my ego even more, my big brother didn't bother to reply to my question.

Instead, his lips pressed into a thin line, and he remained silent, glaring at the ground.

For a precious few minutes, the atmosphere of the room around was tense and thick, and for the first time in my life, I was stuck in a glaring contest with my big brother, Takashi Kishi.

We were both extremely tense, neither side willing to give in and give up.

But, eventually, we were forced from our battle of wills by the introduction of yet another voice.

"Takashi-kun!" A familiar voice scolded, "quit glaring at Yūmaru-chan like that!"

Once again, I deflated, and burying my face into my hands, I moaned, "Why must everyone call me by that masculine name?"

I was, once again, ignored.

Like always, my mind whispered.

"She started it," Takashi near-whined, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"Definitely too girly to be a jōnin," I muttered, glaring up at him with a twitching eye.

Takashi abruptly stilled, "You are an evil child," he hissed, near seething at my audicity.

I snickered, then patiently waved a hand, switching my gaze from Takashi to my sensei.

"Hey, Kazuki-sensei," I said, "are we going to go now?"

My new sensei answered me distractedly, too busy gazing at her boyfriend with a lovestruck expression on her face, "Yeah, meet me at the academy training grounds, I'll be there in a few minutes, I have something to take care of."

"Like making out with my Onii-chan," I muttered, then smiled innocently when she glared at me.

Takashi, unfortunately, wasn't quite so lucky.

He flushed and sputtered and stuttered, and it still made me smirk triumphantly.

"Guilty pleasure!" I rang out cheerfully, a gleeful look present in my eyes as I caught sight of the various grimaces around the room.

The only person that wasn't affected was Cho.

The fuck?

The orange-top butterfly boy had his head cocked to the side, his brow furrowed in confusion, "What does this "making out" mean?" He asked innocently.

I narrowed my eyes at him, then slowly, a devious smile began to spread on my face, "We're leaving, Onii-chan, Kazuki-sensei," I said, turning to face them, "we'll be waiting in the training grounds."

While Takashi merely nodded warily, Kazuki frowned, "How do I know that you won't skip out?" She asked, planting her hands on her hips.

"Kazuki, anything to get the brat to leave," Takashi pleaded his girlfriend softly.

The raven-haired teen sighed, and she said, relenting, "Fine, I'll meet you in the training grounds in about five minutes."

"That's the same for you, as well, Team Three," Takashi interrupted.

A few minutes, both the majority of Teams' Three and Four were clustered outside the window overlooking the room we were just in.

Sasori, however, wasn't having anything of it.

"This is a waste of my time," the redhead stated, already beginning to walk away, "I'll be at the training grounds. Don't keep me waiting."

I frowned at his retreating back, "Whatever," I muttered, turning my gaze away from him.

However, Hiroshi stayed at my side, and for that I was grateful.

I gazed into the classroom, but to my complete surprise, Takashi and Kazuki weren't kissing as I'd expected them to be.

No, they were merely holding hands and gazing deep into each other's eyes.

They were lost in each other's eyes.

"Is holding hands this "making out"?" Cho whispered from his spot beside me.

I shook my head, determined to avoid his creepy eyes.

It wasn't as if I was scared of them or anything.

No, they were simply creepy.

Eerie.

They were blank most of the times, but sometimes, a kind of innocent curiousity could be seen in those deep blue depths.

"They're just holding hands," Kame-chan added in distastefully, "and staring into each other's eyes."

I rolled my eyes, turning my head slightly to glare at her, "Pretty obvious, Kame-chan," I sniped.

The Sea Turtle narrowed her dark eyes at me, "Whatever, Aka-chan," she sneered.

I smirked.

Yū= 1

Kame-chan= 0

I then looked back at the two jōnins in my old academy classroom.

They were talking.

I couldn't really hear them, but I knew that they were talking because their lips were moving.

I pressed my cheek against the glass, straining my ears to hear what was being said.

"... worried that I won't be a very good sensei," Kazuki was saying, looking at him, "I'm afraid that I'll mess everything up."

Takashi squeezed her fingers with his own hands, "You'll be fine," he said soothingly, "and don't worry about it, either. I'm just as scared as are you are."

The raven-haired beauty sighed, a bitter smile playing on her lips, "I hope you're right, Takashi-kun."

Takashi smirked in response, "Well, I know I'm right."

His smirk dimmed when his girlfriend slapped him upside the head, and he whined, "What was that for, Kazuki?"

Kazuki huffed, "Stop being so arrogant!"

Takashi's smirk came by full swing, "Are you jealous, Kazuki?"

Kazuki smacked his arm in reply, "Never!" She growled, "anyway, Takashi-kun, we should get to the training grounds. The kids will be wondering where we are!"

I froze, my eyes going wide, "Shit!" I cursed, then flushed when everyone turned to stare at me, "What?!" I snapped.

I took my face into my head and gently massaged my temples, all the while glaring at everyone and silently warning them to keep their mouth's shut.

"Let's go," I muttered, "'cause if we don't go now, than Onii-chan will know we've been listening in."

I got up from my crouch, my knees cramping slightly.

I winced slightly from the pain before murmuring, "I'll see you there."

I ran in the direction of the training fields, and I discreetly pumped the smallest trickle of chakra to the soles of my feet, knowing that if I didn't hurry, then Takashi would know that I had been spying.

He probably did, anyway.

Though I wasn't sure if he could sense chakra as well as a Sensor-nin.

And he could just body-flicker himself there, and when he saw that nobody but Sasori was there, then he would for certain that we'd been spying on him the entire time.

Shit.

It didn't take me more than a few seconds to arrive, though I was sure that I'd expended a half one of my jutsu limit.

Yay, two and a half before it conks out on me.

Isn't that nice?

Yeah, notice the sarcasm, please.

I found Sasori waiting rather impatiently on the edge, not that it wasn't hard to find him.

His red hair was a dead give away.

"Finally," the read head sighed, sounding vastly irritated, he turned around to glare at me, "I told you not to keep me waiting."

His eyes were cold, but they didn't really deter me.

He had a pretty good glare, too.

But before I could reply with a snarky retort, I heard the others approaching.

Someone tapped me on the head, and I jerked back, turning to see who the perpetrator was.

I wasn't even surprised to see that it was Hiroshi, his arms crossed across his chest and the exposed half of his face set in an uncharacteristic upset look.

"You left me, Yū-chan," he accused, and when I was about to apologise, his frown faded to be replaced by a grimace as he added, "with her."

He turned his head in what I thought was a random direction, but when I saw who he had gestured to, I stifled a snicker.

I easily recognised the distinctive blue hair and brown eyes of Kame-chan.

It wasn't hard to miss.

They were the distinctive markings of a Sea Turtle.

"Good one, Hiroshi-kun," I praised, still giggling.

"Let's get this party started, children," Takashi's voice suddenly stated, and then the noise of him yelping reached my ears, "ow- the fuck, Kazuki?!"

Kazuki hit him again, "This isn't a party, Takashi-kun!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "these are children- Genin, and they're going to need all the help they can get!"

I smirked at my big brother's abusive girlfriend, and all of a sudden Kazuki's head snapped towards me and her eyes pierced mine.

"Got to something to say, Yūmaru-chan?!" She growled, her eyes looking dark and feral.

The fuck?

Oh yeah, did I ever mention how masculine sounding my name is?

And that I prefer being called Yū insead of Yūmaru?

I think I did.

About a bajillion times!

So instead of retorting that she should call me Yū, I muttered, "Nothing," my voice low and my eyes wide and innocent.

My Semsei eyed me warily for a few seconds before she gave up and announced, "Alright, Team Four, we're gonna go somewhere other than here! I don't wanna see Takashi's face right now!"

I shrugged and smirked, "Can we go to a tea store?" I piped up.

Kazuki shrugged with elagance, "Sure."

I beamed, and disregarding the rest of my team, I leapt up and disappeared from view.

But before I could leave entirely, something caught me by the sleeve of my shirt and pulled me back.

I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest unhappily.

"Ah, ah," Kazuki berated, "we'll go as a team."

I glared at her sullenly, muttering, "Fine."

Ten minutes later, all members of Team Four were sitting around a table,and they were either glaring at said table or at their new Sensei.

The only thing that made my day was the cup of steaming tea delicately held in my hands.

Yashamaru was staring at his tea, and Sasori didn't even have any.

Whatever.

"So," Kazuki began, leaning back in her chair and gazing at us curiously, "tell me about yourself.

Sasori: "..."

Yashamaru: "..."

Me: "..."

Kazuki slapped her forehead, muttering, "I just had to get the team of antisocial idiots, didn't I?"

That comment made me smirk a little, and I decided to take pity on her, "Alright then, Kazuki-sensei," I said, "I'm Yū Kishi, and I suppose I like tea."

"Pretty obvious," I heard Yashamaru mutter, then in a louder voice, he said, "my name's Yashamaru."

Sasori remained silent for god knows how long, until finally, he murmured, "... Sasori."

Kazuki clapped her hands together, her mouth set in a vicious grin, "Alright then, I think I should just get straight to it. After you graduate from the academy, there is one final test that you have to pass."

"And that is?" I raised an eyebrow at her challengely.

Kazuki grinned, "You just have to catch me!"

And with that said, our Sensei was gone like a whisper in the wind.

"I really need to learn that jutsu," I muttered.

I then turned to my team mates, "I've seen her train before," I stated seriously, "and she's wicked fast. If we want to catch her and pass the exam, then we need to work together. 'Cause I really don't fancy being stuck in the Genin Corps for the rest of my life as a ninja."

Yashamaru nodded, "And how are we going to catch her if she's as fast as you've said?" He asked blandly.

I shrugged, "Beats me."

Then as I saw Sasori from the corner of my eyes, a sudden idea struck me.

"Hey, Sasori-san," I said as I turned to him, "you wouldn't happen to have any puppets that restrain human beings, would you?"

Sasori smirked, though the aloof look in his eyes never faded, "I hapen to have a few," he answered softly, though there was nothing soft about his tone.

I smirked back, "Perfect."

. . .

It took us over two fucking hours to get a grasp on where Kazuki was.

I'm not kidding.

It really did take us that long.

At least we had a plan.

Firstly, we would have to find her.

Secondly, we would have to corner her.

And when she was cornered, Yashamaru and I would distract her while Sasori went in for the kill.

Problem is, we can't find Kazuki anywhere.

Then I heard it.

This loud cackling sound that seemed to taunt me.

I knew who it was at once.

"It's Kazuki-sensei!" I cried, turning to where my other team mates were.

Suddenly, our Sensei sprung out of nowhere, and I paid the price by the feel of a fist smashing into my cheek.

I swore loudly as the hit sent me staggering.

Wiping away the blood that had gathered at my mouth, I shot my Sensei a vicious glare.

Kazuki merely smiled sweetly back in response, "Always be on your guard, Honey," she reminded me, "you are a Shinobi, after all."

"Whatever," I muttered, and it was then that I realised that Kazuki was here and that Yashamaru and I were supposed to be distracting her.

"Quick, Yashamaru-san!" I shouted.

Yashamaru nodded back, and just as he was about to prepare a justu, Kazuki did...

Guess what?

... yeah, she disappeared again.

How original.

"Fucking hell!" I swore, stamping my foot into the ground childishly.

Half an hour later, we found her again.

The same thing happened.

And again.

And again.

And again.

This continued for what seemed like hours.

But by what I deem a twist of fate when I look upon this day years later, Kazuki reappeared.

The raven-haired beauty was grinning at us viciously, "Come and catch me if you can, little Genin!" She hollored, smirking the entire way.

This time, it was Yashamaru who nodded at me.

"Go," he mouthed.

"Okay," I mouthed back.

Yashamaru smirked.

Before I knew it, my hands were clumsily folding through the hand signs for the clone jutsu.

"Clone jutsu," I whispered.

Not a second later, a jutsu poofed into existance beside me.

It grinned its creepy grin that looked vaguely distorted.

I resisted a shudder.

My clone's grin reminded me of Cho's eerie blue eyes.

Creepy.

"You think a little clone will stop me?" Kazuki called, her smirk widening as I flushed almost angrily.

"That's an insult to me, Sensei!" I cried.

I prepared myself for another jutsu, then realised that this was my last limit.

Shit.

I resolved myself that Yashamaru would know what to do and that I'd just go with the flow.

Yashamaru suddenly appeared behind our Sensei, and he smirked back at me.

I knew the message.

Kazuki spun around, and before I knew it, there was another copy beside her.

I forgot about her sand clones.

Fuck.

"Substitution jutsu!" I cried, and I felt the ever present feeling of being squeezed through a tight space.

Kazuki's face stared back at me, and I launched myself at her clone.

Its knee caught my stomach, and I choked.

Damn that hurts!

Before I knew it, I had snagged a kunai from my pouch and stabbed downwards.

My attack met with a sickening crunch, and the clone exploded into sand, the grains pelting my body and face, tangling into my hair.

"Where does she even get all this sand?" I muttered.

A vicious grin was my one and only response, and when I saw Yashamaru desperately trying to escape the chokehold our Sensei had him in, I knew we had her.

"Sasori-san!" I called, "now!"

The sound of something unravelling was my response, and a split-second later, something long and thin and shiny flew towards Kazuki.

I had a feeling that she could dodge the attack of a newly minted, amatuaer Genin, but she didn't.

Why?

The wire that Sasori's puppet had provided wound around our Sensei's body tightly, and she smirked, "You've got me, kiddies, so I guess you pass!"

I shared a brief look of confusion with Yashamaru and Sasori.

They knew as well that Kazuki had purposely let us pass.

But the question was: why?

Why had Kazuki let us pass?