By the time he arrived home that afternoon, Reito’s exhaustion had finally got the better of him, and he fully intended on going straight to bed. He had performed poorly in all his classes that day. If he had any hope of passing tomorrow’s exam, he needed sleep.

Passing through the Tsu family’s wood-paneled tea shop, he waved hello to his father, a stocky man with greying hair, who waved back from behind the counter, where he was taking an order from a customer. Before he made it to the back, his mother put down her serving tray, took him by the shoulders, and looked him over closely.

“Sweetie, you look awful,” the round-faced woman said, placing the back of her hand on his forehead to check his temperature.

“Gee, thanks, Mom,” Reito replied with a grin.

“You know what I mean,” she said, swatting him playfully on the arm. “I left a snack for you in the kitchen. Eat that first, then get some rest. You’ll need your strength for tomorrow.”

“Good idea, I’ll do that,” said Reito with a sigh of relief, thankful that she was thinking the same thing, as he was occasionally asked to help his parents in the shop after school.

Upstairs, Reito kicked off his sandals and found a sandwich and glass of milk waiting for him in the kitchen as promised. He sat at the dining table to eat it in peace when his younger sister came barreling into the room.

Apart from her hair being longer and being more than a foot shorter—and being a girl—Reika was the spitting image of her older brother. “What did you learn today?” she asked excitedly without missing a beat.

Reito chewed his food longer than necessary, then swallowed and reached for his milk.

“Reito!” Reika whined impatiently, putting her hands on her hips.

He grinned widely and put his hands up in a defensive manner. “Alright, alright,” he said. “Hmm, let’s see, what did I learn, what did I learn…?”

Reika frowned and pouted.

“Well, there was that one dragon-shaped Fire Style Jutsu. That was pretty cool,” Reito deadpanned with a hand placed thoughtfully on his chin.

“Really?” Reika asked, starry-eyed.

“No, not really, dummy! No one at my level can use a Jutsu like that! A good ninja must see through deception,” Reito chastised, bopping his sister gently on the head with the palm of his hand.

“Reitooooo!” she sulked.

He smiled widely before “I didn’t learn anything new. Tomorrow’s graduation…hopefully. This week, we’ve just been revising. What did you learn today?”

Reika pulled up a chair and sat down. She eagerly began to explain at length how she had improved her shuriken technique, which, despite his tiredness, Reito dutifully nodded along to while eating the remainder of his snack, as a good brother should.

***

Reito was glad to find himself feeling much better upon waking the following morning. However, his nerves quickly kicked in when he remembered what day it was, and by the time he made it to school, he had a whole swarm of butterflies in his stomach to contend with.

The morning session consisted of a written exam, the results of which, while not a determining factor in their graduation, would go on their records. The questions were scenarios based on challenges ninjas faced in the field. Reito found it okay. He wasn’t bad at that sort of thing. It was the practical exam he was dreading.

“We will now start the final exam,” Iruka Sensei announced after the lunch break. “When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on—”

“Not transformation, not transformation, not transformation,” Reito muttered under his breath, his fingers crossed tightly.

“—the Clone Jutsu.”

“Yes!” Reito cheered in a whisper while varying degrees of response swept across the classroom.

“I didn’t realize you were so good at cloning,” Kazuki remarked.

“I’m not, but anything’s better than transformation,” Reito replied. “I just know Iruka Sensei would have failed me if I did that reflecting thing again.”

One by one, students were summoned to the testing room by Mizuki Sensei, another of their teachers, who was grading them alongside Iruka Sensei. He was a mild-mannered man with fair skin, and his hair was styled like Reito’s, though it was powder blue in color.

Each time a student was called, they would leave, then return a few minutes later with a shiny new Konoha headband in hand and a smile on their face, barring Sasuke Uchiha, who returned looking as sulky as ever despite a round of applause from the girls in class. After half the class had been assessed with passing grades, including Kazuki, Naruto’s name was called.

Knowing that the boy had failed the final exam on three prior occasions, Reito was interested to see how he would do. After all, if Naruto could pass the test, he surely wouldn’t have any problems with it. Sadly, when Mizuki Sensei next appeared in the doorway, he was conciliatorily patting a red-faced, empty-handed Naruto on the shoulder.

Naruto had failed. Again. While some of the students snickered, Reito’s heart sank. He felt bad for the boy, but in that moment, he was more concerned for himself. People could actually fail this test. Was he going to be one of them? Was he going to have to repeat the final year?

A few minutes later, Yuji returned from his exam, looking relieved while clutching a headband, and Mizuki Sensei called, “Reito Tsu.”

Reito got up from his seat and headed to the door on shaky legs. Yuji gave him a confident nod as they passed, but it did nothing to alleviate Reito’s butterflies, which now felt like they were swarming. He followed Mizuki Sensei down the hall, the phrase ‘dead man walking’ coming to mind.

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Inside the testing room, Mizuki Sensei took his seat next to Iruka Sensei behind a desk with ten or so headbands remaining. Was one of them destined for Reito? He was about to find out.

“Okay, Reito, when you’re ready, please perform the Clone Jutsu to the best of your ability,” said Iruka Sensei.

Reito nodded in understanding and gulped. He had no problem producing two of the incorporeal doubles, but final-year students were expected to be capable of at least three, and he had only pulled that off a handful of times. He wasn’t sure he could do it under pressure, but he had to try.

After taking a couple of calming breaths, Reito focused on molding Chakra, then performed the ram, snake, and tiger Hand Seals. This was it. This was his shot. “Clone (Bunshin no) Jutsu!”

To his left, one, two, three afterimages appeared. So pleased by his achievement, Reito lost his focus, and the third clone fizzled out. The remaining two, however, mimicked his movements for another few seconds before vanishing.

Reito and Mizuki Sensei tentatively looked to Iruka Sensei, who wore a pensive expression. “Could you please step into the hall for a moment, Reito?”

Gone now were Reito’s butterflies. In their place, a gaping maw had formed in the bottom of his stomach. Even so, he nodded and left the room without a word. He couldn’t believe it. They were going to fail him. They were actually going to fail him.

Through the door, the teachers could just about be heard discussing the situation. “I don’t think we can pass him like this,” Iruka Sensei explained. “His Chakra pool is shallow, and he’s never demonstrated particularly good control. Those clones didn’t last five seconds. The first vanished immediately.”

“But he did produce three, and that was the requirement,” Mizuki Sensei stated. “It wasn’t anything like Naruto’s performance.”

“I’m not sure… He’s down as one of the Genin applicants. I just don’t think he’s ready for that.”

“And what about his scores? His Jutsu may need refining, but he works hard, his intelligence scores are always reasonably good, and he got one of the top marks on this morning’s tactical knowledge exam. Shouldn’t that count in his favor?”

After a minute or so of silence, Reito almost jumped out of his skin when the testing room door slid open. The two teachers stood in the doorway, their faces blank. Just as he began to despair, Iruka Sensei raised his hand, presenting him with his very own Konoha headband.

“Congratulations,” said Iruka Sensei with a smile.

Reito beamed. “Thank you, Sensei!” he croaked, bowing low in gratitude.

***

After school that day, many of the graduating students were met at the gates by expectant parents. While Reito’s parents were absent because of work, and Yuji’s didn’t approve of the academy, they were happily surprised when Kazuki’s parents relayed a message.

“Congratulations, boys,” said Mr. Torimoto, who looked remarkably like his son, with a matching long ponytail. “Reito, your parents asked us to take you three right to the shop for a celebratory meal!”

When they arrived at the shop, they found a veritable feast waiting for them at a special table. While Reito’s father worked the shop, his mother and sister joined him, the Torimotos, and Yuji at the table, where they enjoyed their favorite sweets.

“I can’t believe Naruto failed. Again,” said Kazuki while taking a huge bite out of a red bean pancake.

Before Reito had a chance to reply, not even sure what he would say considering how close he had been to failing himself, his friend’s mother chastised shrilly, “Kazuki!”

“Wha?” the boy replied, his mouth full.

There was a noticeable change in the atmosphere at that moment, but oddly enough, Reito didn’t think the woman’s reaction was about her son’s table manners.

“Don’t concern yourself with that boy,” she added more calmly.

Reito frowned. It wasn’t the first time he had heard adults refer to Naruto in this strange manner. He was a known troublemaker, of course, but was that reason enough to explain the funny looks he sometimes got?

After that tense moment, they ended up having a pleasant afternoon. Shortly after Yuji left for home, however, the celebration was interrupted by the arrival of two Konoha ninjas, who came with a message for Mr. Torimoto. After whispering a few words to him, the man gave his apologies and took off with them, looking rather alarmed.

“Did you hear what they said?” Reito asked Kazuki, who had been sitting next to his father.

With an apprehensive look in his mother’s direction, the boy gave a surreptitious nod.

“We’ll be back in a minute,” said Reito, preemptively placating his little sister with his last dango and taking Kazuki through to the back. “What is it, what did they say?”

“All the off-duty ninjas are being called in. That idiot, Naruto, stole some scroll from the Fire Estate!” said Kazuki.

“No way!” Reito exclaimed. “Man… I feel bad for him, but they wouldn’t call your dad and everyone in for one of his typical pranks. The scroll must be important.”

“Failing the exam and committing a crime… Forget graduating. Naruto’s getting expelled this time for sure!”

***

The following morning, Reito arrived at the Fire Estate, which housed Konoha’s leader, the Third Hokage’s, offices and residence. The estate was based at the foot of Hokage Rock, the cliffside that bore the carved faces of the past four Hokages. There, he met Kazuki and Yuji, who were waiting for him outside the large red Administration Building. Today, they were getting their pictures taken for their official Ninja Registration Forms.”

“Sorry I’m late, guys. My mom kept fussing with my hair,” said Reito.

“I can see why,” joked Kazuki, which the three of them laughed at. “Ready to become a ninja for real?”

“You bet! I can’t wait for Genin Orientation!” Reito replied, and the boys made their way into the building and up to the roof as instructed.

“Wanna train again this afternoon?”

“Definitely!”

“I think that would be wise,” Yuji concurred. “The Graduation Exam may be behind us, but we shouldn’t neglect our skills. Most of our peers can produce four effective replications now. Sasuke Uchiha can make five. I only managed three in the exam.”

“I made four clones, but they disappeared like that,” said Kazuki with a snap of his fingers and a hearty chuckle. “Iruka Sensei still passed me, but I probably should have done the easy thing and gone for three.”

Reito felt his cheeks flush red. He hadn’t told his friends the truth, that he only passed the exam by the skin of his teeth. He knew they wouldn’t judge him, but the fact that he may not have graduated with them had it not been for Mizuki Sensei’s intervention was too embarrassing to admit right now. Instead, he changed the subject as they reached the roof access door, “Why do you think they take the pictures up here?”

“Maybe for the view?” Yuji suggested.

“Dad says it’s tradition,” said Kazuki.

When they stepped onto the roof area, giving them a great view of the whole village, they spotted the photographer facing away from them, in front of a large camera on a tripod and other equipment, and found Kiba Inuzuka waiting for his turn.

Kiba, a wild-looking boy with red fang-shaped face markings, had his fur-lined coat hood pulled up over his head, where his little white puppy, Akamaru, sat. Evidently, he wasn’t concerned about smartening up for the picture. “Hey guys,” he said in greeting. “I’m glad someone else is here. I didn’t think anyone would believe me otherwise.”

“Believe you about what?” asked Kazuki.

“You’ll see,” he said with a toothy grin, nodding in the direction of the photographer, who was speaking to whoever was currently having their portrait taken.

“Hey, you! Are you sure you want to look like that?” the photographer asked.

“Yes, of course! So, c'mon, hurry, hurry!” the unseen subject insisted eagerly.

“Don't regret it later,” the old man said with a sigh, then ducked under his camera’s dark cloth. “Say cheese! Okay, you’re done. Next!”

As Kiba stepped forward, grinning over his shoulder at Reito and his friends, a blonde-haired boy in full kabuki makeup appeared around the photographer and approached them with a spring in his step. They watched in stunned silence as he passed them and made for the stairs, looking absolutely ridiculous but smiling ear to ear.

Reito looked to Kazuki and Yuji openmouthed, then asked in disbelief, “Was that…Naruto?”