"Alright, that's enough playing around," Honoka called from the kitchen, carrying the last dish to the table. "Come eat. After dinner, get some rest. You still need to go to the Hokage Building tomorrow to register your information and take your ninja ID photo."
"Coming!"
Daiki deactivated his Sharingan with a thought, and the red faded back to brown. He released the Mind Body Switch Technique, and his consciousness snapped back into his real body.
He gasped as sensation returned and his lungs filled with air. The transition was always jarring, going from the puppet's artificial sensory input back to organic perception. He pushed himself up from the floor and glanced at the puppet. It had gone completely still the moment he left it.
He canceled the summoning, and the puppet dissolved into white smoke before disappearing. Then he rubbed his slightly numb legs, which had been supporting his unconscious body.
"Thank you," he said, looking at his father. "I don't even know what to say. This is way more than I expected."
Kenji shrugged. "You earned it. Just try not to destroy it in the first month."
"I will take good care of it," Daiki promised with a smile.
Then he hurried to the dining table.
His mother had made his favorites tonight. Grilled fish, rice with furikake seasoning, miso soup, and pickled vegetables.
"So," Honoka said as she served him rice. "Are you excited about tomorrow?"
"Kind of," Daiki admitted between bites. "I'm a bit nervous too."
"That's normal. Your father was the same way when he graduated."
Kenji, who had been eating quietly, looked up. "I wasn't nervous."
"Ikkaku said you were terrified," Honoka said with a smile. "You checked your forehead protector five times before leaving the house to make sure you hadn't forgotten it."
"That was being prepared, not being terrified."
"Sure, dear."
Daiki grinned. His parents had been together for years and still acted like this. It was nice, in a way.
After dinner, he helped clean up, then headed to his room.
---
Two days later, early morning sunlight had just begun climbing over Konoha's rooftops when Daiki burst out the front door.
"I'm heading out!" he called back into the house.
"Be careful!" Honoka's voice echoed from somewhere inside.
"I will!"
He shut the door behind him and tied his forehead protector around his head as he walked. Today was the graduation orientation, the meeting where they would announce team assignments. He couldn't help wondering who he would be paired with.
The walk to the Academy usually took about fifteen minutes at a normal pace. He cut that down to ten by moving faster, eager to get there and find out who his teammates would be.
As he turned the corner onto the main road, he spotted two familiar figures walking side by side ahead of him. Both had long hair, one blonde and one pink, and they were clearly in the middle of an argument.
He jogged to catch up.
"Sakura! Ino!" he called out with a grin. "When did you two make up? You're walking to school together?"
"Who made up with this wide-forehead?" Ino immediately snapped, shooting a glare at Sakura.
"You were the one blocking my way, Ino-pig!" Sakura shot back, then turned to Daiki and her expression shifted to a bright smile. "Morning, Daiki."
"Morning," he replied, then looked between them. "Alright, seriously though. You two need to stop fighting. Aren't you worried about being assigned to the same team? If you keep clashing like this and the jonin instructor judges you as unqualified, you could lose your ninja status and get sent back to the Academy."
Both girls stopped walking at the same time.
"Teams? What teams?" they asked in perfect unison, confusion written all over their faces. "Didn't we already pass the exam? How can we get sent back?"
Daiki looked at them. "I only found out myself yesterday when my father told me."
He gestured down the path. "Okay, we will talk while we walk. If we stand here much longer, we will be late."
Sakura and Ino immediately stopped bickering and crowded around him.
As they walked, Daiki explained. "Traditionally, newly graduated genin can't take missions alone. They have to form three-person squads led by a jonin instructor. You work under that jonin's guidance, accepting and completing missions as a team."
He glanced at Ino. "Your dad didn't tell you this?"
"He has been on missions constantly lately," Ino said, deflating slightly. "I barely even see him anymore."
Daiki nodded. Inoichi was a jonin, and jonin were always in demand for important missions. It made sense that he wouldn't have time to explain the details of the genin assignment process to his daughter.
"Okay, but what's this about being sent back to the Academy?" Sakura pressed. She had thought that once you wore the forehead protector, you were officially a real ninja. End of story.
"So like I said, after we graduate, we get put into three-person teams," Daiki explained, keeping his voice low enough that other people on the street wouldn't overhear. "But before the team can officially start taking missions, the jonin instructor conducts a test. If they think the team isn't good enough, they have the authority to refuse to lead them. Those three genin would then be judged as unqualified, lose their status, and get sent back to the Academy to repeat their training."
Both girls looked worried now. The confidence that had carried them through graduation was starting to crack.
"That seems really harsh," Sakura said quietly. "Why would they even let us graduate if they're just going to test us again right after?"
"The Academy graduation exam tests your individual skills. The jonin test is different. It's about whether you can work as a team. Totally different thing."
Daiki paused, then glanced around to make sure no one else was close enough to hear. When he was satisfied they had privacy, he leaned closer to both girls.
"I got some information from my dad. Want to hear it?"
"What information?" Both Ino and Sakura leaned in immediately, eyes bright with curiosity.
Daiki dropped his voice to barely above a whisper. "There is a very high chance that one team from our graduating class is going to fail the jonin test and get sent back to the Academy."
"Why?" Sakura and Ino's voices rose slightly in alarm. They both caught themselves and leaned in even closer. "What makes you say that?"
"Because one of the jonin instructors assigned this year is a guy named Hatake Kakashi," Daiki said seriously. "He has been assigned as a team leader multiple times before. Every single time, he has judged all his students as unqualified and sent them back to repeat their Academy training."
"Kakashi..." both girls murmured.
"That can't be right," Ino said, though she sounded uncertain. "Are you sure? Has he really never passed anyone?"
"I'm sure," Daiki confirmed. "My dad told me the Fourth Hokage has talked to Kakashi about it several times, trying to get him to be less strict. But it hasn't made any difference. He still fails every team."
The information hit like cold water. Both girls' faces fell. Their earlier excitement about graduation was completely gone. They walked the rest of the way to the Academy in silence, too preoccupied to even argue with each other.
When they reached the classroom, Ino and Sakura were still so distracted that they didn't even fight over who got to sit next to Sasuke. Naruto took advantage of the unusual peace to grab Sakura's hand and pull her over to sit between him and Sasuke.
"Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, poking her arm. "Today is the graduation orientation. You should be happy. Why do you look so worried?"
Sasuke, sitting on Sakura's other side, also glanced over. He recognized this girl. Naruto had mentioned liking her before.
Sakura looked around quickly to make sure no one else was listening, then grabbed both boys and pulled them closer.
"I need to tell you something," she whispered. "I ran into Daiki on the way here. He said we are going to be divided into three-person squads and follow a jonin instructor on missions."
Both boys nodded. That much was common knowledge, at least to them.
"But the instructor is going to test us first," she continued, swallowing nervously. "If we fail the test, we have to go back to the Academy and repeat everything. And there is this jonin named Kakashi who is going to be one of the instructors. Every single team he has ever led has failed his test. Not one person has ever passed."
Sasuke's expression immediately shifted. "So you're worried about being assigned to him as your instructor and getting sent back?"
"Yeah, exactly," Sakura said, nodding quickly.
"Hn..." Sasuke muttered as his hands clenched into fists. The pressure turned his knuckles white.
He had to grow stronger as quickly as possible. He had to hunt down Itachi and make him pay for what he had done to their clan. There was no way he could waste an entire year repeating the Academy. Every day of delay meant another day Itachi remained free.
Naruto scratched his head, looking thoughtful. "Kakashi... That name sounds really familiar. I feel like I have heard it somewhere before."
"You know him?!" Both Sakura and Sasuke's heads snapped toward Naruto.
If Naruto knew this jonin, and if they were assigned to Kakashi's team, perhaps he could say something on their behalf. Maybe they would pass the test after all.
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