Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All I own are the plot line and my OCs. Please read the author's note at the end of the chapter.
"Nagato-sama, will we be required to attend this village's academy to become genin?"
"No, I have spoken about this with Ruka-sama and she has agreed to leave your training in the hands of the Akatsuki. Once we feel you are ready to be genin, she will come here with one of the Academy instructors and have him test you. After that, she'll give each of you a hitai-ate and you'll be an official genin. At that point, each of you will be placed under the supervision of one of the teams that make up the Akatsuki. It is likely that all of you will raise through the ranks quickly. You will have to attend the chunin exams in one of the major villages."
"What if we don't want to be a ninja?"
"You won't be forced to become a ninja, Naruko. Although, I was almost certain you would want to be a kunoichi."
"I do. I was making sure you wouldn't force anyone. If you had answered differently, things would not end well."
"I see."
"Naruko! Come on! I made a new piece of art!"
Naruko races after Deidara and the two of them head to a training ground to test out the new explosive. Nagato turns his attention to the other three children.
"Do any of you not want to be ninja?"
Haku, Kimimaro, and Gaara shake their heads.
"Okay. Your training starts tomorrow, children."
Nagato stands and leaves the kitchen. Kisame races past him with Meigetsu in his arms and enters the infirmary.
"The baby's coming!"
"It's too early."
Nagato follows Kisame, calling for Sasori and Kakuzu as he runs. Sasori and Kakuzu follow Kisame into the infirmary and Nagato shuts the door behind them.
"I hope Meigetsu-san and her child will be okay."
"They'll be fine. Sasori and Kakuzu are capable medics and Meigetsu is strong. She must be to survive in a group comprised mostly of men. She was also a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of Kiri."
"She was also known as Kiri no Mizu Akuma. She was the only one who could rival Kisame's command over water."
"I didn't know she was Kiri no Mizu Akuma."
"Sounds like she would make a good sacrifice to Jashin-sama."
Hidan yelps when he is suddenly hanging upside down by his ankle. Naruko glares at him through narrowed red eyes.
"Touch her and I will rip you into pieces, then scatter them across the Elemental Nations, dattebayo."
Hidan smirks at Naruko, who then throws him through a wall and out of the base.
"When did she learn to use chakra chains?"
"In Konoha. I used them to rip apart a mob that tried to kill me."
Naruko hops out the hole she made in the wall and launches herself at Hidan, intending to take his head off. Itachi gets between the two combatants and disarms them quickly before trapping Hidan in a genjutsu and turning a disapproving look on Naruko. Naruko huffs, then turns to go back inside.
"Stupid Uchiha, always ruining my fun."
Deidara grins at Naruko, then flashes a scowl at Itachi. Itachi watches the blonde and redhead silently, then he turns and walks away.
"Why do you dislike Uchiha Itachi so much, Naruko-chan?"
"He massacred his entire clan in one night, except for his younger twin siblings. That was incredibly cruel of him. Those two probably wished he had killed them after they woke up in the hospital and realized that all their family was dead and that the one who killed them was their beloved nii-san. I never had a family, so I'm not sure if that's right. They may have been fine. Who knows?"
Deidara ruffles Naruko's hair and she snaps at his hand.
"Leave my hair alone, baka."
Deidara grins at Naruko, then turns to look at the other kids.
"Come on, kids. I'll take you out for dinner."
A scream splits the air and Konan pales slightly.
"Meigetsu-chan."
A second scream splits the air, but this one is deeper.
"Kisame?"
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
Deidara herds the four children out of the base and toward the village gates.
"How does ramen sound?"
"Can we get as many bowls as we want?"
"Yeah, un."
Naruko grins and takes off running toward the ramen stand. The rest of the group races after her and skids to a stop in front of the stand. Naruko glances at them, then returns to devouring a bowl of ramen. Deidara's eye widens when he notices that she has already eaten two bowls of ramen.
"I'm going to not have any money left after this, aren't I?"
Naruko shakes her head as she stacks her empty bowl on top of the other two and asks for another.
"If I hated you, then yes. Luckily for you, I don't. This will be my last bowl."
"How many can you eat if you go all out?"
"The most I ate in one sitting was thirty bowls."
Deidara stares at Naruko in stunned amazement.
"Did you get sick right after that?"
"No, why would I?"
"I can only ever eat three bowls. Where did you put all that ramen?"
"In my stomach, obviously."
Haku, Kimimaro, and Gaara snicker at Naruko's response. Naruko rolls her eyes and quickly finishes her bowl, then slips off her stool and walks over to a weapon shop. She looks through the window and grins, then slips into the shop.
"I'll be right back. Eat as much as you want."
Deidara sets a small pile of money on the counter and hurries into the weapon shop. He looks around and spots Naruko over by a display of gloves. He walks over and stops behind her at the same time that she picks up a pair of clawed gloves.
"You like orange, un."
"Hai."
"Not the best color for a kunoichi to wear. It stands out and ninja are supposed to blend in with their surroundings, un."
Naruko looks at the price tag on the gloves, then sets them down and turns to leave the shop. Deidara frowns and stares at the gloves for a moment before grabbing them and heading up to the counter to pay for them. Naruko rejoins the others at the ramen stand. Deidara exits the weapon shop and motions for the four to come over to him.
"Here, Naruko. I got those gloves for you, un. Haku, Kimimaro, Gaara, go inside and pick out a weapon. I'll buy them for you, un."
Haku, Kimimaro, and Gaara all enter the shop and separate instantly. Kimimaro gravitates toward a display of scythes and Gaara heads for a display of tessen. Haku remains at the front of the shop with Deidara and Naruko until he spots a display of senbon. Naruko slips her new gloves on and swipes at the air a few times with each hand, then nods.
"Like them, un?"
"Hai. They'll be helpful in a fight. I just need to poison the tips. I'm going to be smaller than most opponents I face, so these will give me an advantage, especially if the tips are poisoned."
"Sasori no danna could help you with that. He's an expert at making poisons."
"I'll have to ask him later."
Kimimaro and Gaara walk back over to Deidara and Naruko. A scythe is in Kimimaro's hands and a large black tessen is in Gaara's.
"Are those what you want, un?"
Kimimaro and Gaara nod.
"Alright, un. Kimimaro, Hidan will probably be the one who teaches you how to wield your scythe and Gaara, I would ask Konan-sama for help with tessenjutsu, un."
Haku walks back over to the group a few minutes later with a pair of senbon launchers and two packages of senbon. Deidara nods approvingly and leads the group to the counter, then he pays for the weapons.
"Let's head back to the base, un."
Naruko, Haku, Kimimaro, and Gaara quickly follow Deidara.
"Do you four consider yourselves a team, un?"
Naruko, Haku, Kimimaro, and Gaara huddle together for a moment, then look up at Deidara and nod.
"Do you have a name for your team, un?"
The four children huddle together again and begin to whisper among themselves. A few minutes later, Kimimaro turns to face Deidara.
"We're Team Zabuza because none of us would have met each other if Zabuza-san hadn't found us."
"That's a good name for your team, un."
AN: The next chapter will skip ahead to when the four of them take the exam to become genin.