Prologue

"Oh come here and see.."

The boat was rolling up and down against the subtle waves of the lake with the bobbing of her hooking line that was gingerly fiddling amongst the soils and earth below. It churned with the waters and every so often the corner of her thumb would twitch at the sensation that traveled past the fishing line up to the little thumbnail of her makeshift gear. She whistled to the tune and sang it every so often to lure the fish towards the boat. Naturally those grubbers would come and she could snare them up and easy out of their nesting grounds so that there would be more room for the lil' ones that were hiding in the bustle of mal-nutritious weed.

"The heads of rice have matured..."

As she fished the yonder lake of its reaps, she paid attention to the inkwell beside her, the mixture of chemicals overlaying with the rison paper as it gradually over layered its top form with a rison coat that matched its texture. This little article was an application form; the same application form that was necessary to get into a Chunin exam.

"And bow low with fruit..."

She faltered in her stroll of the fishing line when she noted that same application form. It was a mimic nonetheless and it was foolproof in the way she designed it to match accordingly like the original. That residue solution that was wading the blanket opposing sheet in the water was also being matched by a sunlight which would let the shadow light register to the direct approach of the information sheet while also transferring the right texture and calligraphy needed to make it look legit. An idle grin would surface to her face finally when she assured herself that the precautions she took were worth the struggle to get an original application form in the first place.

Sure, she'd have to disguise herself as that original user of the application and work her way through without getting suspected, but this was all child's play. She's developed long enough without the help of an academy of any type, a village, and even a home.

Her "uncle" made that clear to her when she was coming of age. Since the ambush in her prior village, she was kept beside her elder at first as a guest stolen away from the inhumane nature that surfaced her home at the time of the reaping. It was a major village, not even one to be counted as a capital on the maps, but it was a home she grew accustomed to since she was 7 years about.

'Seven years...' Misaki thought to herself; the very sound of that decimal attracting all sorts of fond memories of which she could rekindle in her childhood.

The children that would visit the shrine to play with her handmade kusudama; the rice balls she prepared every morning as she sat to the porch and waited for the regular tributes to arrive for her given advice; and the spiritual cleansing in the form of festivities that would discard fear from the villagers and qualm the grounds with peace. Perhaps it was because of the shrine that the place seemed fortunous enough to be pinned on a target. Faith to others seemed like a luxury, and before the invasion, she pitied those who thought so because this was often so because they underwent horrible experiences. Now her thoughts changed...

Checking the sundial talisman, she came to the conclusion that she had thirty minutes to spare till she had to get going. It wasn't so much of the idea of getting ready. She was already prim and prepared with the necessary tool bag at her side and the credentials behind her amidst her uniform. The disguise was simple: come into the exams posing as a kunoichi from the Village hidden in the Rain and mingle with the rest of group in order to blend in.

All of a sudden a whisk brushed past the gradual waves that the waters drew and it opened Misaki's eyes to look past the fishing line to where it was directed to the bobbing kit where it would dip in and out of the water though the tug was subtle, it was distinctive in the back of her head from the collusion of waves. With a tuck of a stray strand behind her ear, she waited at the edge of the boat and grazed the texture of her tongue against the bottom frame of her lip before tucking it in contemplation, watching the scope of the bait for herself. A second or two passed, and built up into a minute which drew her back to the boat, but hardly in disappointment before the tug was apparent now as the line went spinning.

She took the reel sharply, clutching its gear and drew her fishing line back to her shoulder, hooking the lower handle to the seat so that she could spend all her energy on reeling the sucker in with dozen rotations of the gear. Slowly but surely, the line became shorter and just as she felt it get lighter and thought for the worse she noticed another sharp tug shortly after to the point where it nearly tugged the fishing pole out from the seat's lodge. Both hands on the handle now, she would hold it between her legs stirnly and played no games as she kept drawing the line further and further to her, the frame of her brows furrowing together as she kept drawing it towards her briskly to the point that she feared the spindle below would tangle up in the fishing line.

The fish was bigger than what she predicated when it came fumbling through the skin of water till it was dragging up the coastline of the boat. A nicely built Hakuren, or rather a Silver carp, that sagged against the line as her slender fingers would reach and take the body in her palm, guiding it to the seat beside her so that she could proceed to pry the fish's lips apart and unhook it, only to notice something strange in the midst of this catch...

She opened the mouth of the fish wider so that she could scope through and feel the surface of a different texture that didn't match the fish at all. It wasn't the mouth but rather it was a smaller build of fish that was trapped in the very body of this one. She took care to pluck the itty-bitty bottom feeder from its cell, relieved to find it alive and flipping.

'Well well..." She observed it in her hand and unhooked it from the thin draw of the needle, "A Kin-buna... To think there was still any of those around..."

A goldfish, basically, was in her palm, wading in the oxygen like a withering flower. She didn't take much time to observe it until she finally released it back into the waters where it would develop some more. Had she brought any breadcrumbs with her, she would've certainly fed the lil' youngin now–––but it couldn't be helped. Better to starve for a while than to be eaten after all.

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"Aki Akabare, is it?" The inspector looked over the identification card with a single eye, "Of the Village Hidden in the Rain?"

"Yes, Sir." She'd issue her response casually without looking to the officer in particular, but rather scoping the area behind her where the other genins were amongst one another in groupings.

"And where are your team mates in particular?" He'd lean closer to her, trying to catch her attention from where she stood but by the time she turned around, he drew back to avoid a head on head collision.

"Good question... " She muttered under her breath as her eyes glanced from him to the back corridor, searching for something in particular.

"Excuse me?" He'd infer closer and draw a skeptical eye over her expression as he observed her behavior meticulously, "I'm sorry, but you do know you can't enter the premises without your full team–––"

"That's them!" She'd cry aloud, startling the man out of his skin as he looked from her to where her finger pointed, introducing two other younger males that had approached the line of registration.

The inspector took a hard look towards the boys in particular and used his eagle eye to demote all the imagery so that he could focus on one thing in particular: their forehead protectors. Sure enough the three slants provided were symbolic to the Village Hidden in the Rain and even their apparel seemed to match the description well enough. But then there was her. While her supposed partners wore gray on gray uniforms, she wore a different type of tunic that appeared to be much advanced than what a genin could get a hand of. By the texture and color, her clothes appeared subtler, as if she were a regular civilian. It was a white tunic vest that invested in her shoulder line whilst guarding the undertone of her torso in a charcoal ashen under armor that clung to her skin in its thin material. The pants she wore could've been mistaken for hakama had they not been baggy at the top area till they were thinned out below the knee to her shins, allowing flexibility to account for her cases of taijutsu, if she were able. Even the nin-boots she sported on didn't look anything that the village could afford...

And of course Misaki took that under account when the man scrutinized her apparel so, as if to ask how did she manage to get her hands on such a uniform that makes her squad look so outdated. She didn't want to come up with a false explanation so she simply called to the boys briskly.

"Hey! It's about time you guys showed up from the bathroom!" She yelled loud enough for the rest of the line to hear, but sure enough it caught the attention of the boys seeing as how she was thrashing her arm from side to side to the point it could've detached itself from her body had she not been careful enough.

Sure enough she caught the boys' attention and the gradually noticed her obnoxious waving only to somewhat wave back sheepishly, seeing as how it seemed that they didn't know her, yet she somehow knew them––and even more strange was the fact that her forehead protector gave hint that she was from the Village.

Turning herself right back around in that haste pivot, Misaki granted the gate keeper a keen smile before tilting her head off to the side, seeming somewhat pleased of her handiwork, "See? They were just taking a trip to the loo. Boys will be boys, after all."

The said gatekeeper was still skeptical about the reoccurrence of what was going on but couldn't say anything once Misaki snatched her faux application card back and continued on her way through the door panel to the corridor leading up to the rest of the applicants. Sure enough the man would turn to watch her leave, bewildered by what he just saw until one of the runts interrupted his train of thought.

In the midst of all this however, the two boys were still unnerved by what they just saw. Sure enough it left a print on what they believed was true or not, but one of them managed to ask the other in a sub sequential inference.

"Kedo.." One of them would whisper amongst themselves, as if to ask the most obvious question, "When did Aki have enough time to change her clothes?"

"I'm really not sure, Tasu... I thought she was right behind us..." Kedo would respond just before another interruption phased them.

"––I'm back!"

A trail of footsteps would follow right behind them and as they turned, their eyes grew like saucers in sheer shock as the 'real' Aki ran up to them with the original grey uniform they had seen her in the prior morning.

"Someone in the bathroom locked me in my own stall using a minor tool of some sort..." Aki grumbled under her teeth as she speculated around the line, "Think they could stop me from taking my third exam this year. Tch. So what'd I miss?"

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