Chapter 24 – Graduation

The final exam, that was a necessary steppingstone for the young children to become real shinobi of Konoha. This day was such a day when the exam took place, Sango and his classmates reached age 12 officially, the age at which most children graduated.

Sango and friends were patiently waiting for the arrival of Iruka-sensei so the exam could begin. Many were nervous while some were confident, and then there were those whom cared not, like Sango and Ino and Sakura and Hinata, they long ago passed such basic graduation requirements.

For the past few years, life fell into a regular rhythm and the group of five, including Kurenai, became much closer as they spent much time training together. They now formed their own circle of friends, a bit unusual since Sango was the only male, but he wasn’t one to complain.

Sango’s most obvious change was his appearance, despite being 12 years old on paper, he looked like a 16 years old, put together with his classmates as comparison he stood out just by that, even without considering his unusual features that stood out even before he enrolled into the academy.

Regarding his strength, that had to be seen in the future. The girls improved such that they could defeat anyone in their class on their own, excluding Sango, relatively easy. In the beginning there had been some complications as Sakura and Ino wanted to give up at a certain point, Sango didn’t even try to dissuade them and let them go, but after only one day of missing training they returned with more determination seeing as Sango wasn’t paying them any more heed, leaving them alone and focusing his free time on Hinata.

Hinata was the most impressive of the trio, her improvement was much more outstanding than Sango expected. Even her father, Hiashi Hyuga, was surprised by such improvement in her ability, he thought that was thanks to her natural talent. Yet, Hiashi Hyuga wasn’t stupid, seeing as Hinata spent much time outside, he sent someone to investigate. He was pleasantly surprised to discover their private training sessions, seeing how Kurenai was also involved he felt relieved since she was a trusted shinobi. What intrigued him was Sango, the unknown kid whom there were no information about, the one responsible for Hinata’s radical improvement.

The door slid open as Iruka made his way inside the classroom. He took his place behind his desk an announced, “We will now start the final exam.” Everyone was listening carefully to his words as he continued to explain the process. “If your name is called, come to the classroom next door.” He paused, making sure everyone is listening, “The subject will be the Clone Technique.”

At the back of the class, Naruto was making a painful expression since it was a subject, he wasn’t good at.

Having said what he had to, Iruka called the first name and left together with the first person to take the exam.

Once every ten minutes or so, Iruka came back with the person who undertook the exam and called another name. Before long, it was Sango’s turn.

Inside the classroom where the exam took place, Sango was facing Iruka and Mizuki whom were sitting at their desk, on the desk were rows of forehead protectors with the symbol of Konoha engraved on it.

“You can begin.” Spoke Iruka, he knew it was a waste of time, but formalities had to be followed if only for appearance’s sake.

“Clone Technique.” Calling out the name of the technique made even Sango feel embarrassed, but since it was the norm, he decided to go with it. Forming the hand seal of the tiger, he circulated his chakra as required by the technique. Two clouds of smoke appeared to his left and right and two identical clones of himself appeared, one couldn’t tell the difference even when inspecting from very close.

“Very good. Congratulations Sango, you pass.” Iruka announced, other basic demonstrations may have been necessary for others, but he knew that for Sango it was no different than a joke, “Come and take your forehead protector.” As per instructions, Sango walked to the desk and took one of the protectors and tied it on his forehead, hiding the small ‘gem’ at the centre of his forehead.

He turned too Iruka and Mizuki in turn and thanked them. Looking at Mizuki he had to hide a smile, he was an agent of Orochimaru, Sango looked forward to his ‘play’ later in the day.

Sango returned to his classroom as Iruka followed and called another name, this time it was Naruto’s turn. Sango did feel a bit sorry for him, he could have helped him graduate but then his own plans would have been disrupted. All was good since the even would help Naruto mature and will also improve his relationship with Iruka, in the end he would even graduate and gain his signature technique from the Scroll of Seals.

“Congratulations, Sango!” Hinata, Sakura and Ino rushed to congratulate him, Hinata already had her own forehead protector since she undertook the exam before him, only Sakura and Ino were left from their circle.

“Thank you.” Replied Sango with a smile, he could now sincerely say that he cared a lot about them, it was a new feeling for him, that of wanting to protect someone, but he didn’t dislike it.

Now he just had to take advantage of the confusion that would be created thanks to Mizuki’s scheme and look at the Scroll of Sealing. He was very curious about the forbidden techniques inside it, he was confident it would boost his own knowledge to new heights. One of the most interesting techniques was the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, he was mostly curious about the difference between the one he used himself and the one he would find in the Scroll of Sealing.