Graduation from the academy was only a few days away.

Hii had finally gotten permission to be out a night from his mom some time ago, much to her displeasure.

He was currently in the training grounds, glowing gold as he used Fuyuki's power.

His punches and kicks brought gusts of wind as he practiced his moves in the moonlight.

[You've gotten pretty good at combat.]

"Thanks to you and Guy-san."

Hii shivered as he remembered his last session with Guy.

"I still can't believe he actually got a disciple. And students."

Hii recalled when he was first introduced to Rock Lee. He remembered the cold sweat crawl down his spine at how similar the two were.

 [You even asked if that was his son.]

"How could I not?! You saw the resemblance!"

Hii shook his head to stopped thinking about it.

"Nevermind that. Let's spar, Akumu."

[Sure. Let's see if you improved.]

Akumu leapt out of his shadow and stretched his limbs.

Hii went next to the nearby pond and weaved hand signs.

Water Style: Water Wolf Armor!

The water swirled around him, forming a blue wolf around his body.

{Ooh! Let me in too!}

"...Okay, but don't get too into it. You messed up the grounds pretty bad last time."

{Yay! I'll be careful!}

Fuyuki leapt out of the wolf and stood next to Akumu. She had grown over the years, but she was still a bit short of Akumu's size.

Her white fur shined brightly in the night as she gleefully dashed around.

{What are the rules this time?}

[Should we go with pinning one of us to the floor before time runes out?]

Hii nodded his head.

"Let's go with that. The first to get pinned loses."

The three nodded their heads and began to circle each other.

Hii watched Akumu carefully, but also checked what Fuyuki was doing as well.

Akumu did the same, keeping his eyes mainly on Hii, but also checking on Fuyuki.

{When are we starting?!}

Fuyuki was too excited to notice the balance of the situation. Her tail wagged with explosive energy.

"Let's go!"

Hii quickly dashed towards Akumu and tried to bite his neck!

Akumu skillfully jumped back and distanced himself from him!

{Yeah! It's time to fight!}

Fuyuki gleefully jumped and slammed her paw towards Hii!

Hii felt a cold shiver and immediately jumped away from Fuyuki!

*Boom*

The ground bursted as Fuyuki's paw slammed into it! Dust flew into the air, covering a fraction of the training grounds.

'Where did he go?! I have a better chance catching him than Fuyuki!'

[Kukuku! You won't be getting me that easily!]

{Why do you sound so evil when you're having fun?}

Hii continued to chase after them for a while until Akumu suddenly stopped!

[Hii! Time's up! Last chance to win!]

"Uugh! I took too long! Guess I gotta go for it!"

Hii suddenly sprinted over to Fuyuki and reached for her neck with his jaw!

{Oh ho!? You're brave tonight to challenge me!}

Fuyuki tried to counter Hii with a grab from her own jaws, but Hii feinted the initial lunge and latched on to her from the other side!

"Grrrrrr!!"

{I! Won't! Give! In!}

Fuyuki's head was being slowly dragged to the ground, but she resisted against Hii's power with all her strength.

{Gruuuah!}

"!!"

Fuyuki suddenly lifted her head up violently and flung Hii into the air!

Hii quickly reoriented himself and landed down on the ground with a thud.

[Aaaand time!]

{Yes! We won!}

"Haaaa. I was so close!"

Akumu came beside him and nudged him with his head.

[You did really good. Almost like a real wolf! Next time, try to use your weight and gravity to knock her down.]

"I'll keep that in mind. We better hurry now. Time's almost up!"

[Right. I'll see you there.]

Akumu slowly sank into the ground and disappeared!

{That's cheating! Weren't we going to race?!}

"You know how it is. The only time you two are equal is at dawn or sunset. Looks like it's you and me this time!"

{Huhu~! This Onee-san will be gracious and let you get a 10 second head start then.}

"Thanks! I'll take it!"

Hii immediately bolted towards home as Fuyuki stood there, mouth agape!

{I was joking! Get back here!}

Fuyuki chased after Hii as the two headed into the village.

*******

"Mmmm. Huh?"

Hii woke up with white fur all around him.

"...She snuck in again?"

Fuyuki loved to sleep in Hii's bed ever since she started coming out for fresh air more often.

Hii has woken up quite a few times thinking his hair was over his face only to realize it was just Fuyuki.

"Fuyuki. Time to get up."

{Mmmm. Five more minutes.}

Hii shook his head and slowly moved his body to the side of the bed. He got down on the floor and checked under his bed. The silhouette of Akumu could barely be seen as his stomach moved up and down slowly.

"Morning, Akumu."

Akumu's white Sharingan slowly appeared in the darkness as hr woke up.

[....Morning.]

"You ever gonna just sleep in the bed like Fuyuki?"

[Once the twins stop laying on me when I do.]

'That...probably won't happen anytime soon.'

Hii shook his head, stood up, and stretched his body.

"Today's the day."

[Excited?]

"Kinda. I'm just...ready to get it over with."

Hii rubbed hia eyes and went to wash up.

Fuyuki slowly rose from the bed, still with her eyes shut.

{...}

[You never could get up properly.]

Fuyuki yawned and shook her head.

{I can do it...when I need to.}

[Ha! When will that day come, I wonder?]

The two walked out of Hii's room and sat near the table.

Fuyuki laid down on the cold floor and soon went back to sleep.

{Zzzz.}

[Seriously?]

"Haha. Fuyuki-chan acts just like Moya in the morning."

Riku came out of her room with a grin as she rubbed both of their heads.

[Morning, Riku-san.]

"Morning. I'll get breakfast started."

She went to the stove and started to cook.

Akumu watched her work, then noticed Yozora had latched on to Fuyuki when he wasn't looking. 

"Zzzzz."

[Huh? When did he-?]

"Mmm...Fluffy."

Akumu felt arms wrap around his neck as a face rubbed against his.

[Haaaa. Get off of me, Moya.]

"Zzzzzz."

[She's down too?!]

Akumu could only sigh as Riku laughed at her grandchildren.

"Hm? Those two fell asleep again? Well, three counting Fuyuki."

Hii came to the table and stood close to Riku.

"Morning, Grandma. Need help?"

"Sure, dear. Help me with the fish."

Hii nodded his head and started to cook with Riku.

"Morning."

Di came to the table shortly after Hii and sat down. He chuckled as he saw Yozora and Moya sleeping on their fuzzy family members on the floor.

"Those two better get up before Kaya comes."

"We have a show every morning, dear. They'll learn eventually."

Sure enough, the door to the parent's room opened and Kaya came out in her mission gear.

"...."

"Zzzzz."

"Zzzzzz."

"....Haaa. No time."

 Kaya shook her head and looked over to Hii.

"Morning, Mom."

"Morning, sweetie. When you head to school, make sure you tell the twins they will be dealt with when I come back. Are you ready for your exam today?"

"I'm pretty confident, or rather, pretty sure I passed already."

"That's my son! Just be careful of whoever your Sensei is."

"Do you know who it is, Mom?"

"I have an idea, but not a guarantee. Between your options, they'll be weird either way."

Kaya walked next to Riku and grabbed some nearby toast. She looked at Riku with a wide grin.

"Sorry, Mom! Gotta get going!"

"Hmph! You know very well I only let you do this because you're in a rush. Don't teach the twins anymore of your bad habits."

Kaya gave a wry smile as she took a few more pieces of toast with some jam.

Riku's frown deepened as she stared Kaya down.

"Hehe! Just this once! I'll see you, son! Good luck!"

"Thanks! Bye Mom!"

Kaya hurried out of the door and dashed away with her breakfast.

Riku sighed as she brought a plate over to Di and set it in front of him.

"You can sit down and eat dear. Good luck on your test today."

"Thanks, Grandma! I'll do my best."

Riku nodded and moved a few strands of hair away from Hii's face.

Di looked over and shook his head.

"What are we going to do with this hair? It's gotten so long now."

"Well, we can't cut it. You remember what happened last time?"

Hii sighed as he sat at the table. 

Hii planned to cut his hair a few months before graduation to a shorter length. This was met with quite a bit of resistance from everyone since they had grown used to the look, but he persevered and got it cut to his shoulders.

The problem was what happened the next few days after.

'It all grew back. It was like I never even cut it.'

Looking for answers from Akumu for why that happened, they could only believe it was a strange trait from either Fuyuki or Akumu. Either way, his hair couldn't be tamed.

"Haaa. Guess I'm stuck with the wild look."

[At least it looks good on you.]

Hii nodded his head. There was at least a silver lining.

Riku came over and put a plate of food in front of Hii.

"Eat up. You'll need to pay attention after you get your headband. There might be important facts you need to know."

Hii nodded his head and began to eat.

"Ugh....hm?"

"Huh..? The kitchen...?"

The twins finally began to stir up from their sleep, though they were still groggy.

""Morning.""

"Morning you two. Mom said you're gonna get it when she gets back."

""Ehh?!!!""

[That woke them up.]

{Huh?! What happened?!}

Hii shook his head and continued to eat with a smile on his face.

'Another beautiful morning.'

********

At the Academy, Hii sat patiently as he read the news about the newest medical breakthroughs.

'The Nara family really does have great minds. Maybe the laziness is just the side effect.'

Hii flipped through the pages as Iruka began to go over the test.

"Now class, the final exam to become Ninja of the Leaf is today! The Jutsu you must use to pass is.... the Clone Jutsu!"

"Gaaah!"

Hii knew who that was from the scream.

"Calm down, Naruto! Now, the test will be held in a separate room nearby. We will call you all one at a time to the area and you'll perform it in front of us. When you pass, you will receive your headband. Good luck with the test, everyone!"

Iruka left the room to prepare for the exam. The students all started to jump out of their seats and wander around.

"Ugh! I'm getting nervous."

Hii looked over at Sakura with a smile.

"You'll be fine. Just remember your training."

"R-right!"

Sakura nodded her head, but Hii could still see her clenched fists.

"Hehe. You can't get close to Sasuke if you get held back."

"!!"

Hii saw her resolve firm up as she stealthily took a glance at Sasuke.

"I won't lose! Shannaro!"

Hii chuckled when he saw the fire in her eyes.

"Hii! You gotta help me!"

Naruto came charging down the aisle and stopped right in front of Hii. His face was looking desperate and scared.

"What do you need help with?"

"I can barely do the Clone Jutsu! I don't wanna be held back! What should I do?!"

Hii looked at Naruto with a sigh, stood up, and hit him lightly in the head.

*Whack*

"Ow! Why did you do that?!"

"Then just use the other one you know."

"Eh?"

Hii covered his face with his hand when he saw Naruto's expression.

"Use the Shadow clone Jutsu. It's still a  Clone Jutsu and it's harder to do than the one for the exam. Iruka should let you pass if you use that."

"Oh yeah! That's right! Hehe! Thanks!"

Naruto heard laughter coming from the back of the class and realized something.

"Nee-san! You could've told me that!"

"Hahaha! Where's the fun in that?"

Shizuka smiled as she watched Naruto fume about.

The door suddenly opened as a teacher leaned his head into the class.

"The test will start now! I will now call the first student in to start."

Soon students started getting called into the room and coming back with Leaf headbands.

The first of the friend group to get called was Shizuka. She came back to the classroom with her headband in under a minute.

"Awesome, Nee-san!"

"Did you expect anything less? Don't screw up now."

"I won't! It'll be a breeze!"

Shikamaru, Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke, and Maka all got called as well before Hii was finally summoned.

Hii walked into the room and found Iruka, a teacher of the younger grades, and another teacher named Mizuki inside.

"Ah. Hii-kun's turn, eh? Well, show me the Clone Jutsu and we'll give you your headband."

"Ok, Sensei."

Hii quickly made a hand sign and channeled his chakra.

*Poof*

A clone of Hii stood right next to him. Iruka scanned the clone and nodded his head.

"Good. Everything is in order, as expected. Here's your headband, Hii-kun."

Iruka handed over a blue headband to Hii with a smile. 

"Thanks, Sensei!"

Hii took the headband and headed back into the classroom. Naruto immediately came in front of him, eyeing his headband with envy.

"Hii! You got your headband! How was it?!"

"Pretty easy. Remember to do Shadow Clone Jutsu if you feel like your clone one isn't good enough."

"Y-Yeah!"

"Relax! It's not hard at all."

Shizuka came down next to Hii and Naruto with a smile.

"If Hii can do it, you can do it."

"Naruto Uzumaki! Please come to the testing room!"

"H-Here I go!"

Naruto walked with determination to the exam while Shizuka shook her head.

"He gets nervous for the weirdest things."

"Well, He's excited. There's no harm in that."

"True. Well, I guess we're all gonna be ninjas. How are you gonna wear your headband?"

Hii looked at his headband and thought about it.

"I guess on my arm or neck. How about you?"

"I think I'll stick with the standard way."

"Hii-kun!"

The two looked over and saw Sasuke and Maka coming towards them.

"The test was pretty easy, huh?"

"Yep. No problems."

"Now comes the hard part."

"What hard part?"

Shizuka looked at Maka with a mischievous grin.

"Squad selection. Let's hope we get in a squad with our friends."

"!!!"

Maka's fists tightened in response.

"I forgot about that."

"We'll probably learn about our squads tomorrow. Let's hope for the best."

Hii nodded his head and wondered who his teammates would be. He would definetely love to have his friends watch his back.

Sakura watched Sasuke with a bashful gaze as he stood beside Maka.

"H-Hi, Sasuke-kun!"

"....Hey."

Sasuke seemed to slowly slink behind Maka as Sakura stared at him with a heated gaze.

"I did it!"

Naruto rushed back into the classroom with his new headband in his hands.

"They let me pass with the Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"You couldn't do the regular one?!"

Hii couldn't believe it!

[Haaa. Some things never change.]

{Well, he passed, didn't he? That's still great!}

Hii shook his head with a smile on his face as he saw Naruto dance with excitement.

********

The next day, all the students sat in their seats excited for the day's main event, squad selection.

"Alright! Well class, this will be the last time you come to my classroom. From today onwards, you will be official ninjas of the Leaf Village. In a moment, I will announce what squads you'll be apart of. Your teachers will also come to pick you up today as well. Now, I will go over the names of the squad members. Remember who you're partnered with and get along with each other."

Hii sat in his seat and waited for his name to come up.

'I wonder who I'm gonna be paired with?'

[I have a slight idea on who. Just depends if things are still the same.]

{Who were in the squads again?}

[Just wait and he'll tell you.]

Iruka started to call off names of squads as everyone listened for their groups.

"Squad 7 will consist of Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha!"

"Yes!"

"Alright!"

"Hmph."

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all celebrated getting in the same group in their own way as Iruka continued.

"Squad 8 will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame."

"Alright!"

"I-I'll do my best!"

"Hmmm."

Kiba, Hinata, and Shino all celebrated as well.

"Now then, Squad 9 will consist of Maka Uchiha, Hii Kurokumo, and Shizuka Uzumaki!"

"Yes!!"

"Eh? Really?"

"Hehehe! This will be fun!"

Hii was surprised! The squads had been one girl and two guys so far, but they suddenly switched it up.

Iruka looked at Hii with a wry grin.

"It's because you three are the only outliers in the class. You would mess up the composition of other groups at your level, so you have to be together."

"I see. Well, so be it."

Maka face grew red as she realized she shouted a bit too loudly. Shizuka just giggled as she poked Maka in her shoulder.

"You seemed really happy all of a sudden~. You like the squad members~?"

"S-Shut up! I'm just excited I won't have to hold back with you guys. That's all."

"Hehe. Suuure."

"Ahem! Well, Squad 10 will be Choji Akamichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Shikamaru Nara!"

"Alright!"

"Ahh! I wanted Sasuke!"

"What a drag."

Iruka continued and finally finished his list after a few more squads were announced.

"Okay! Now for each of your teachers to meet you. Come on in!"

The door opened and a group of older ninjas lined up in front of the students.

"Each squad will go with the sensei who calls your number! Learn from them and become strong Ninja together!"

Iruka turned to the group and nodded his head.

"Squad 1 comes with me!"

"I'm the leader of Squad 2. Follow me."

The leaders began to take their squads with them outside. The classroom started to thin out as students all left according to their squads.

"Team 8. Come with me."

A woman with vivid red eyes and messy black hair took squad 8 with her outside.

"I'm the leader of Squad 10. Meet me outside."

A man with a beard and a cigarette in his mouth took his group outside as well.

The groups all slowly disappeared until it was just Squad 7 and Squad 9 left in the room.

"Huh?! What's wrong with our Sensei?! Everyone else is on time!"

"Shut up, Loser! We aren't the only ones left."

"Haaa. Sorry, you guys. Your teachers are on the way. Please be a bit patient and wait for them. I have to finish other work as well. I wish you guys the best of luck!"

Iruka left the class room and the six young ninja simply had to wait for their teachers.

"Seriously~? I can't believe we have to wait after all the tension was built up."

Shizuka played with one of her bangs as she slumped over the table.

"Haaa. At least we're in a squad together."

"True. Our squad is pretty balanced out. Look after me, would you?"

"Likewise."

Shizuka looked up to the front row and smiled.

"Hii-kun! Sakura-chan! Why don't you come back here? We can use the company from our squad mates~!"

"Heh! Fine. Come on, Sakura-chan."

"R-Right!"

Hii and Sakura both got their stuff and moved to the back with the others.

'Hmmm. What should we do in the meantime?'

{I put some cards in your bag! You can play games!}

[Good idea. You might be here for a while.]

Hii nodded his head and reached into his bag.

"I got a box of cards. We can play while we wait."

"Oh yeah! That should be good!"

"Hmmm~? What should we play?"

The Uzumakis were on board with the idea!

"It's better than waiting here twiddling our thumbs. I'm in."

"....Fine."

"Sounds like fun!"

The Uchihas also joined in along with Sakura!

"Hmmm. How about Old Maid then?"

Everyone nodded their heads except Naruto.

"Um? How did you play Old Maid again?"

"Don't worry. Onee-san will tell you all you need to know."

Hii opened the cards and suddenly thought of something.

'This...might be the bane of Naruto.'

***********

'Ugh. The meeting took much longer than expected. Not the best impression to my squad, huh?'

Kakashi was rushing over to the Academy to pick up his squad.

"Kaya will make fun of me again if I'm too late."

"Kaya-san will make fun of us either way!"

Kakashi chuckled as he jumped from building to building with the other sensei.

"Well, we better make sure we nail our introduction then."

"Right!"

The two made it to the Academy and reached the outside of the classroom.

" We're here. Let's go introduce ourselves."

"You first, Senpai."

Kakashi nodded his head and opened the door.

"Gah! How do you know?!"

"Hehe! It's written all over your face, brother."

Naruto slumped over his desk in defeat.

"I haven't won once! One more game!"

"Give it up, Naruto! This is our 9th game!"

"Umm. I don't think we have time anymore."

Hii pointed his chin to the door as everyone looked at the two ninjas.

"Huh?! We finally have a Sensei?!"

"About time."

The kids all faced the two, looking to see which one was their Sensei.

Kakashi cleared his throat and looked at the group.

"I'm in charge of Squad 7. My name is Kakashi Hatake."

The ninja beside him looked at the kids and gave a nod.

"I'll be in charge of Squad 9. My name is Yamato. Nice to meet you."