"Don't really know. He probably doesn't like me much anymore, anyways." Given how much she'd stolen from him, she wouldn't be surprised.

Raizume giggles and hugs her mom.

"You're so cool. Best mom."

"Hah," she says, laughing. "You're the best youngest daughter!"

"In the whole world," she says, wise and knowing.

"In every world there ever could be!"

She giggles and hugs her.

"Do you think Kiba and I will be teammates?"

"Unfortunately that's pretty unlikely. Family's usually not put with family - they like to diversify teams a bit."

"Can you guess who I'll be placed with?"

"Hm. There's a lot that goes into it - personalities, existing friendships and enemies, fighting style, who's going to need which jounin. You're very up-front, and more of a front-liner than a tracker, so you'll probably be on a generalist or powerhouse team. You don't know anyone in that year other than Naruto, your brother, and distantly some of your brother's friends, so relationships unlikely to impact things a lot."

That kinda sounds like Team Kakashi. Which... could be a problem? But could also be exactly where she needs to be.

"I do love punching people."

"I've noticed! My little lightning bolt hits hard."

"I'm not that little. My body will match my mind soon. And I'll be a shinobi."

"I pity your poor jounin-sensei."

"I can't wait."

"I bet."

And soon enough, it is in fact finally time for Raizume to take the graduation test.

She gets there early, ever the over achiever, and picks a seat right up the front.

She's not the youngest there, because hope springs eternal, but she's the first one done. By a long shot.

She's allowed to leave the written exam as soon as she finishes, and then run through taijutsu, weapons, and the basic three techniques. 

She excels at the taijutsu and laughs with joy the whole time. Maybe not a good practice to take, but she's so excited! The weapons and basic three are a breeze too but she doesn't think much on it. They're boring compared to actual proper hand-to-hand combat.

The scores take a week to be posted - publicly, with rankings included. Raizume's on top, with Uchiha Sasuke ranked number two, Yamanaka Ino number three, and so on.

Kiba's ranked fourth to last.

Naruto's ranked last - and above the score threshold.

...that's unexpected. And totally not what was supposed to happen.

"Congratulations, you two! What do you say we go out to eat?" Tsume calls. Kiba cheers and punches the air.

Right as Naruto barrels over, wrapping his arms around Raizume in a bear hug. "I passed!!!" he exclaims. "Thank you so much Rai!"

She laughs and hugs him back.

"I'm pretty sure you did all the work."

Naruto's a pretty good hugger! "You taught me tons, though." Then he spots Kiba and Tsume. "Heh. Hey Ms. Rai's mom! You guys celebrating?"

"Yeah, figured I'd feed these two pits at some point." Inviting him seems awkward, not seems mean...