The Forgotten Child

Old friends

The team and I were on our way to the Third Training Ground. My students behind me were extremely exhausted, mainly because I got them up at sunrise to train. That was never like me, but we had the chūnin exams in two days to prepare for.  As we approached the training field, I noticed a male was standing at this large rock. The rock he was staring at was the Memorial Stone that I went to a few times when I was younger. I looked at my team and smiled softly at them.

"You three stay here. I'm going to go talk to him." I said softly as I made my way towards the male. I stopped and stared at the Memorial Stone before letting out a sigh.

"It seems like just yesterday we met at this stone..." The male said. I slowly began to look around, assuming he was talking to someone else. I then turned and looked at him, realizing who it was.

"I remember that day. How time flies..." I said as I slowly looked up into the sky.

It was midday. Father, mother, and I just finished up lunch and I wanted to practice my kunai throwing. Father suggested we do it at the training grounds, since mom was always mad when I missed a target and my kunai knife went flying into the side of the house. As we got to the training ground, a young boy was staring at the Memorial Stone with his parents. I soon looked up at my father curiously.

"Daddy, can I go see the Memorial Stone? I wanna say hi to Obito." I smiled up at my father. He chuckled softly and nodded.

"Of course, Mikazuki." Father said as I ran over to the stone.

There, I stood by the boy and his parents. I felt his parents leave the two of us as we were there, just staring at the stone. I carefully reached out and ran my fingers over Obito's name. He was a good friend of mine since I was born. I know it hurt father to lose his student. I also knew that Rin and Kakashi were both heart broken when they lost Obito. I looked down and noticed his goggles were sitting under the stone. I let out a soft giggle as I looked at them.

"Did you lose someone in the war..?" The young boy asked. I turned to him and watched him. He has brown hair up in a spiky ponytail with a scar along his nose.

"Hm? Oh, yes. My friend, Obito. I was only four when the war happened. How about you. Did you lose anyone?" I asked the boy before my attention went back to the stone.

"Sort of. My dads friend died in the war, but I didn't really know him. They brought me here today so I could learn about the stone. I'm Iruka by the way." The boy said as he held his hand out. I giggled and gently shook it.

"Mikazuki. Nice to meet you, Iruka." I said with a smile.

I giggled softly at the memory before looking at the stone. There, my eyes stopped on Obito's name, then, moved to my parents name. Tears slowly filled my eyes as I ran my fingers over their names. They protected Naruto and I. They gave their lives up so we could live ours. I let out a sigh as I slowly wiped my eyes. I turned to look at Iruka with a small smile.

"You know, it was fifteen years the other day. How time flies." I said and watched Iruka. He chuckled some and nodded.

"Why are you back in the village, Kazu? I haven't seen you since the day before your brother was born." Iruka asked me. I almost forgot I had my students with me. I quickly turned on my heels and pointed to my three students all sitting at a base of a log, sleeping.

"They were awake. My students are participating in this years chūnin exams." I smiled brightly at Iruka. He chuckled softly and nodded.

"I see. That's nice. I'll see you around, Kazu. I have to get ready for my class today." Iruka said before he began to walk off. I smiled and soon made my way towards my team.

"ALRIGHT. UP AND AT 'EM. COME ON." I shouted at my students. Reiko shot up and screeched as Toshi and Shuji slowly opened their eyes.

"Five more minutes, sensi." Toshi grumbled. I raised my brow and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Listen here, you want to pass these chūnin exams? You have to train! Now get up or I will give you a special training exercise myself." And with that said, all three of my students quietly stood.

I chuckled as I explained their exercise. It was a simple exercise, trying to destroy my clones faced each student. I made three clones and sat at the base of the tree. They all watched my clones before each one charged at their opponent.

It wasn't even five minutes later when all these were completely exhausted. Toshi was laying on his back breathing heavily while Reiko and Shuji were sitting back to back, tied together. Reiko soon groaned as my clones began to circle the three.

"This isn't fun, sensi! Let us go!" Reiko whined. I laughed softly as I stood up.

"Training isn't supposed to be fun, my dear pupils. When I was young, my father had me do a training exercise with his three students. Would you really be willing to do that?" I asked with a raised brow. Toshi looked at Reiko and Shuji while smirking.

"Whatcha got for us, sensi?" Toshi said as one of my clones cut the rope binding Reiko and Shuji together. The two stood up and walked towards me with Toshi. I smirked as I pulled two bells out of my pocket.

"Well, here's the exercise..."