Naruto: Scrolls of the Dragonborn

Madame Yan walked past Yura and Arita before stopping in the doorway. "Say bye for now and let the children come with me," she said, her back facing everyone as she began to wait. Arita and Yura walked over to their children and gave them hugs.

Yura looked into her son's cool light purple eyes and said, "Zitsu, you're going to train to become a ninja, okay? Make sure you listen and be obedient. Mommy won't be able to see you every day, but know that I love you, okay?" Her eyes began to turn red.

Looking at his mother's teary eyes, Zitsu felt the burning pain in his chest again. He reached out and hugged his mother tightly. "Okay, Mommy. I love you," he said, his own eyes watering. Without him knowing, he had developed a real connection with his mother.

"Are you ready?" Madame Yan's voice came from outside. Yura and Arita led their children outside. "Chojuro, listen to the nice lady, okay?" Yura said, to which Chojuro replied with tears in his eyes, "Okay, Mommy."

"Zitsukani, try to make some friends. You're always so quiet. Mommy will come to see you in a month, okay?" Yura said to her other son. He slowly nodded his head and replied, "Okay."

"Come, kids," Madame Yan said, beginning to walk away. Yura and Arita pushed the kids to follow. Zitsukani began to walk forward, but Chojuro looked back every few steps.

Seeing his actions, Zitsu looked back one time and saw his mother's crying face. Taking a deep breath, he pressed forward. As they walked down the path, a whole new world came into view. The cylinder buildings were connected by a stone pathway, and as they walked, they could see the mountains below. The mountains were covered with trees and grass, a vibrant green. Being close to the water, the wildlife here grew without restraint.

"Just keep walking straight, and you can't get lost," Madame Yan smiled as she watched the kids walk past her. Looking at their backs, her smile faded. Raising her fist into the air, she raised a finger and drew a circle in the air. A ninja silently jumped up from below, clad in full black with a Kiri headband. He bowed slightly and ran in the direction from whence they came.

A glint flashed through Madame Yan's eyes as she looked at the backs of the children. The corners of her lips curled as she picked up her pace.

As they walked further, they passed through a few buildings, some of which were residential districts like the one they came from, while others were shops and restaurants instead of rooms.

As he walked, the one thing Zitsu noticed was how impoverished Kiri looked compared to Konoha.

"I'm tired," Chojuro complained after walking for so long.

Zitsu frowned slightly as he saw tears well up in the corners of Chojuro's eyes. Closing his eyes momentarily, he checked his stamina and saw that it was still over 80. He assumed a normal child only had around 20 stamina. Looking back, he noticed the somber expression on the woman's face. Clicking his tongue, he leaned forward and extended his arms backward.

"Get on," he said to Chojuro, tilting his head back.

Chojuro's eyes lit up as he climbed onto Zitsu's back. "Hehe, you're the best."

Hooking his arms under Chojuro's knees, Zitsu continued to walk.

Madame Yan's eyebrows raised slightly as she saw one child carry the other, feeling slightly pleased.

After walking for a few more minutes, they got closer and closer to the giant building in the center of the village. As they did, the mist got thicker, even though they should have been getting further from the water.

They came upon a split in the path. To the right was what appeared to be the Mizukage building, and to the left was a medium-sized stone cylinder building off on its own.

Unsure of where to go, Zitsu looked at the old woman.

Feeling the boy's gaze, she didn't even flinch. "To the left," she said.

Nodding his head, Zitsu continued walking to the left. As he got closer, he saw the words "Academy" written on the building. A wide smile crept onto his face completely out of his control.

Seeing the building, Chojuro increased his grip on Zitsu.

Madame Yan passed the kids and walked inside. "Follow me," she said.

Entering the building, a thick smell of blood flooded Zitsu's nose. In the back of the room were three large pictures of the current and previous Mizukage. To the right of the room, a middle-aged ninja sat behind a desk with a series of unrolled scrolls in front of him. The right of the room had a staircase leading down.

The ninja had a severely scarred face, and his right eye was completely white and blind. He was wearing a black and blue checkered shirt with his headband around his neck. His hair was completely black and slicked back.

Seeing the people walk in, he quickly stood up.

"Madame Yan," he said with a respectful look in his eyes, standing straight as an arrow.

"Taketa, these are the last two for the experimental class. Take them down." As soon as she finished speaking, Madame Yan turned on her heels and walked away.

Watching her leave, Zitsu frowned slightly. The name "experimental class" didn't sound good.

"Follow me, kids," Taketa wasted no time and headed towards the stairs, carrying Chojuro on his back. They walked down the stairs for a bit until they came across a door, and they heard loud screams and clashing metal behind it. Continuing to descend the stairs, they reached another door where synchronized yelling could be heard, but no clashing metal.

After passing two more doors, they finally reached the bottom of the staircase, and Taketa placed Chojuro on his feet. Despite the sweat on his brow, he was relieved they had made it, even though they had to go down at least forty stories.

"I'm scared," Chojuro said, clutching Zitsu's hand as he was put down.

Glancing at him, Taketa decided not to stop him and opened the door, revealing a large open space. Ten other kids around one or two years old were in the room. Four teenagers stood in front of the kid, and they all had the Kiri ninja symbol somewhere on their body. There was a door in the back of the room with the words "dorm" written on it.

Zitsu couldn't help the devilish look on his face as he squeezed Chojuro's hand a little harder. Taketa led them into the room and lined them up with the rest of the kids before nodding to the four teenagers and leaving.

One of the teens stepped forward and addressed the children. He had messy gray hair, pink eyes with a giant stitched scar under his left eye all the way down to his chin, and was wearing a gray bodysuit with chain mesh sleeves. His pink eyes scanned the children and their panicky faces.

"You may not know why you're here," he began. "But the Land of Water is in a time of need. Usually, you have to wait until you're five to enter the academy, but by then, it will be too late. I could talk more, but none of you will really understand."

Zitsu tried to keep his head low to hide the smile trying to creep onto his face. The teenager introduced himself as Yagura Karatachi and would be instructing three of them.

Yagura selected two boys and a girl, choosing only the kids that looked the oldest. While he was selecting, Zitsu tried to look as meek as possible.

The three children Yagura picked stepped forward. "What are your names? Introduce yourselves," Yagura asked.

The oldest-looking boy, Koji Suguro from the Suguro clan, puffed out his chest and looked smugly at the other children. The next boy, Taisho, was very pale with green spiky hair and blue eyes, and he proudly announced that his dad was a ninja. As the boys finished, the girl of the group, Eire, with shoulder-length blue hair and dark black eyes, stepped forward and timidly said, "Hi, I'm Eire."

"Good, come stand behind me," Yagura instructed, walking over to the side, and the three kids followed him. "Okay, so I'm next," a teenage girl stepped forward. "I'm Mei Terumi, and I'll only be picking boys," she added with a smile.