---
Graduation day arrived with a cool breeze sweeping through the village. The children of Konoha, once hopeful and wide-eyed, now stood on the edge of transformation. They were no longer students—they were shinobi.
At the Academy, Iruka's voice was calm, steady as always.
"You've all worked hard to get here. You are now official Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village."
Cheers echoed through the room.
Only Naruto failed, but Noir knew exactly what Naruto would do to become a genin.
Naruto stood on his desk, arms raised. "Believe it! I'm gonna be Hokage one day!"
Noir didn't flinch. He stood silently at the back, his gaze far more distant than celebratory.
---
Elsewhere… beneath the village…
In the cold, dim caverns beneath Konoha, he moved.
Orochimaru's pale fingers caressed a scroll stained with secrets. His eyes gleamed—not with joy, but calculation.
"They graduate so young," he whispered to himself. "But one… one carries something interesting."
He traced a black nail across a page filled with symbols. "Kuraseigan or so they call it... how poetic."
From the shadows behind him, a Root operative bowed low. "Danzo-sama says the boy cannot be touched."
Orochimaru smiled, snake-like and cold.
"Then I won't touch him. I'll watch."
---
Back at the Academy…
Squad assignments were made.
Team 7: Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. A classic lineup with tension baked into every breath.
Naruto's jaw dropped. "With him?!"
Sasuke smirked. "Try not to slow me down."
Sakura brightened, eyes shining at being placed with Sasuke.
Noir didn't react, though he caught Naruto's glance—sharp and slightly bitter.
Iruka continued.
"Team 8: Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga."
Noir blinked—I wonder which team I'd get placed in.
"Team 8... correction," Iruka added, checking a scroll. "Due to certain recommendations from the Hokage's office, a fourth genin will be placed here."
He looked up.
"Noir Tsukihana—you'll be joining Team 8."
A few heads turned.
Shino raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Kiba's eyes narrowed in curiosity, not hostility.
Hinata's hands fidgeted at her sides. Her eyes flicked up, briefly meeting Noir's before darting away.
Noir tilted his head slightly.
"Hn. Understood."
---
Later, as they left the building…
Naruto scowled. "Tch. Figures they'd put him somewhere else."
He stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"He's not so different from Sasuke. Just another stuck-up genius…"
From a tree branch above, a figure in black robes crouched silently—masked, waiting.
The gears were turning.
And somewhere deep in the heart of the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled smoke, staring into the flame of his pipe.
"The next generation… so much promise… and so many shadows."
---
[End of Chapter 13]