Tools

I sat down at the back of the class, followed by Koji and Shira, who sat next to me. Leaving me in the middle. Sighing, I crossed my arms and silently waited.

About ten minutes later, a familiar face entered through the door, it was Raccoon-Sensei, still carrying a suspicious book in his hand. To my surprise, another person followed him in. It was none other than the principal.

They both made their way to the forefront of the class and sat behind a table. The principal smiled, and retrieved a scroll from his sleeve, before spreading it on the table's surface.

With a cloud of smoke, a bunch of headbands appeared, all with Sunagakure's symbol on them. After this, Raccoon-Sensei rose from his seat and spoke loudly.

"Ahem. Welcome, everybody. As you may already know, today is the day of your graduation exam, and the headmaster has been kind enough to attend, so don't make me look bad."

He then sat down, and it was the principal's turn to get up and speak. He seemed to look at us with his perpetually closed eyes and stroked his beard.

"Greetings, children of the academy. You're all part of our most prestigious class, so I'm expecting good results across the board. I look forward to the day where all of you become leaders of tomorrow."

After some clapping, the teacher made us form a line, and come up to the podium one by one. He then explained the rules for this test.

Basically, we are going to be tested in Ninjutsu, but we also have the option to request a Taijutsu test. Of course, if the latter is chosen, one will have to excel to get a pass.

This system was made so that people like Shira could graduate.

"Alright, let's start then, aside from Shira, all of you are going to perform the transformation technique, to turn into the principal. Now, Koji, you go first."

"Yes!"

With determination, Koji walked up to them and performed the required hand signs before transforming into a perfect replica of the principal.

"Good, you pass. Congratulations… here's your headband."

"Y-yes! Thank you!"

With his eyes shaped into stars, Koji received the headband from the principal and quickly put it on.

After him, everybody passed. Well, it was to be expected. After we were done, the teacher sparred with Shira and passed him immediately. There was no way that he didn't qualify with his strength.

I took my headband from the principal, and he looked at me right in the eyes, making me a little uncomfortable. His mouth opened, and he spoke words that only I could hear.

"Young Gaara, I hope that you are able to control that thing inside of you, for the sake of the village. I have faith in you."

Hearing him, my expression turned sour. All of these guys just think that I'll go on a rampage at any given moment, it's really annoying. I mean, I had a couple of slip-ups, but nothing that warrants so much worry, right?

Sighing, I looked at him with a reassuring look before speaking.

"Old-man, those words are unneeded. Don't worry, I'll keep it in check."

The principal nodded and smiled warmly as I wrapped the headband around my forehead. Although Gaara didn't do this, I don't see why I can't. I've always dreamt of doing it anyway.[1]

"Now that I'm finally a ninja, things should get a little more exciting… I hope."

As I was talking to myself, the teacher clapped his hands and gained everyone's attention once again. He then spoke with a smile on his face.

"Congratulations! You have all passed! You are all free to go, but tomorrow we are forming teams, so come back here in the morning. Once the teams are formed, you will be learning under a Jonin from now on."

Before anyone could say anything, Shijiro[2] raised his hand and asked an interesting question.

"Sensei, We are supposed to form three-man teams, but we're seven students here. Is someone going to be left out?"

Sighing, the teacher scratched the back of his head and spoke.

"Sadly, what you said is true, we do have an extra student here. To fix this issue, we are going to bring in class B's two top students and have them join your ranks."

"Interesting…"

I couldn't help but think out loud. Was this deliberately done or was it a coincidence? No use thinking over it.

Smiling, I left the room. Of course, Shira and Koji following me closely.

"What are we going to do now, Gaara-Sama?"

Hearing Koji's words, Shira started drooling once again. He had a pleased expression as he thought about all the food he was about to eat.

"Temari-San invited us for lunch! I can't wait!"

"I-Is that so? I…"

Seeing Koji's nervous response, I crossed my arms and spoke in my usual indifferent tone.

"You can come if you want. Apparently my sister's loaded."

The thought of making Temari go broke was somehow making me want to laugh out loud like a maniac. I didn't know that I could be so evil… Ahem, one learns something new about themselves every now and then.

"Really? Thank you so much!"

Koji looked happier than ever as we made our way to the restaurant Temari had told me about earlier. It looked decent enough for a mere Genin's budget. Then again, we do get a monthly allowance from father… But I've been saving up mine for some reasons.

Temari and Kankuro were already waiting for us outside, and we sat at a table after a small greeting. Temari looked ecstatic, and Kankuro looked like always, annoyed.

It's

Seeing him, I sympathized a little. We both don't want to be here, albeit for different reasons. While I'm somewhat anti-social, Kankuro despises anyone younger than him, and only respects Temari.

Sighing, I crossed my arms and sometimes joined in on the conversation. It was mostly Temari and Shira doing the talking though.

Overall, it wasn't an unpleasant experience, and we went our separate ways after eating. As I left, I made my way towards the ninja market.

This area was near the general market but required a headband to enter. Basically, if you're not a ninja, you can't get ninja stuff. Sounds fair to me.

After a quick check with security, they allowed me to enter. The place looked like a typical Japanese market, although it had some eastern vibes. Different stalls sold goods ranging from Kunai to summoning scrolls.[3]

I confidently made my way towards the ninja tools shop and was greeted by a man seemingly in his forties, he looked quite unfriendly. In fact, when he saw me come in, he frowned.

"Aaah? A kid? You still reek of your mother's mi-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a sharp sand-blade materialized in front oh his neck. It glistened with killing intent, and the shop's temperature dropped by a few degrees.

"Let's start again, shall we? I'm a customer, so treat me like one, have I made myself clear?"

The man gulped down hard and nodded frantically before the blade disappeared. His expression quickly changed and he started showing me some items.

In the end, I bought a pouch, some Kunai, shuriken, explosive-tags, empty scrolls, wire, and soldier pills. Everything at a discount, I wonder why? The shopkeeper was so nice.

Satisfied, I went back home. As soon as I opened the door, Yashamaru's face was the first thing I saw.

He congratulated me and promised my favorites for dinner. With a smile, I hugged him and went over to my room to meditate.

A while after the sunset, I heard a knock on my door, disturbing the peace.

"Who is it?"

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[1] http://bit.ly/2Lf5dl7 (His hair looks like this, but with a headband.)

[2] Shijiro is the child from the Dami clan and Gaara's classmate. He wields puppets.

[3] By summoning scrolls, I mean scrolls when you can seal an item and make it appear anywhere with chakra. It's a basic ninja tool.