[Scene – Kirigakure Academy Courtyard, Morning Fog]
The mist was heavier than usual.
Rows of students stood in silence. Some were still bandaged. Some were crying. Others… were simply gone.
Of the twenty students who had been given early graduation missions, only nine had returned.
Two stood at the front of the group.
Shiroku Hōzuki — composed, eyes forward, with a quiet pride behind his stoicism.
Riku Kiryū — exhausted, his body still sore from the fight, but his expression unreadable. Kōten, his summoned scout beetle, rested discreetly under his collar.
The Academy head instructor, flanked by two silent ANBU, stepped forward and unrolled a scroll.
"These are the ones who returned. These are the ones who lived."
Names were read.
Some students lowered their heads in grief when names were skipped.
Others didn't flinch—they'd been hardened by the loss, or simply numb.
The instructor's voice did not falter when he reached the final two names.
"Shiroku Hōzuki.
Riku Kiryū.
Effective immediately, you are both recognized as full genin of Kirigakure."
There was no applause.
Only silence, and the sound of the academy bell echoing once across the courtyard like a funeral chime.
[Scene – Quiet Moment Afterward: Riku and Shiroku Cross Paths]
The two boys stood apart, yet gravity pulled them into proximity as others dispersed.
For a moment, they stood side by side beneath the shadow of the Academy's great gate.
Neither spoke at first.
Then Shiroku broke the silence.
"We made it."
Riku nodded.
"Not all of us did."
Shiroku glanced at him, then back ahead.
"They were weak. Or they hesitated."
Riku's eyes narrowed—but not out of anger. It was something more… resolute.
"Or maybe the system was designed to break them."
A pause.
Shiroku didn't argue. But he didn't agree either.
"Doesn't matter now. We're here. And everyone else will have to deal with that."
He walked off, steps confident, cold mist clinging to his heels.
Riku remained a moment longer, glancing up toward the village skyline—where the Kage Monument loomed through the fog.
"I made it. But I won't forget who didn't."
Not everyone gets to survive Kirigakure.
But maybe… maybe I can be the reason someone else does.
[Fade Out – Elsewhere in the Village]
Mei Terumi, watching from a high balcony, arms crossed. Ao stood beside her, Byakugan eye glinting faintly.
Ao: "So… they both survived."
Mei: "More than that. They thrived."
Ao: "You still think the crystal one's worth recruiting?"
Mei (quietly): "He survived without becoming a monster. In this village? That makes him rare. And dangerous."
END