Hurricane Company

July 31st, 2112.

This is it, finals day. This i when i'm going to find if i made it or not. 21 years of training, running, jumping, lifting, shooting, throwing, punching, kicking, meditating, hitting, getting hit, crying, sacrificing...Everything. Everything comes down to this. I'll finally show them. All the haters, those born from the clans, those with families, those with money. Everyone who bullied me, told me I'd never amount to shit. That my parents abandoned me for being a freak. All the colonels, leuitenants, sargents who said it didn't have 'the right stuff' and never make it into the Canadian forces. After today, everyone will know, who's a proper Ninja.

I will show them all!

It was a humid day outside of the Hidden Leaf training compound, well past noon, the sun barely showered the area in golden light and nature was in full bloom. Heavily wooded, the British Columbia area, normally under harsh winter, was a sight to see. But none of the fifty or so men and women waiting in the clearing outside of the blocky coupound could notice, lost in their own thoughts. The group, ranged in age from their early to mid twenties, all had green army fatigues on, and sat on the ground meditating. Waiting for their name to be called up for the beginning of the exam, traditionally known as 'the Crucible.' For many of them, it wasn't their first time. Most will not make it out unscathed, nor was everyone expected to survive. But the most nervous of all were the few who were told that this would be their one and last chance at the Crucible. These were usually the trainees the instructors and commanders felt were the dregs of the class, sucking away resources that would be better spent on elsewhere. How such a determination was made of young adults capable of superhuman feats, was hard to say. There were the malcontents that couldn't take orders. The soldiers whose innate special abilities were more defects than anything useful. Some were soft of mind or had learning deficiencies. Of course there were those who had no family or 'clan' they can fall back on within the leadership ladder. Hell, after spending the last eight years with these trained killers, many of the instructors grew to hate them personally.

Out of all the reasons given for failure, one was never uttered and kept silent on till completion. The Leaf needed 'Ninjas,' soldiers who could single handedly take on armies, with powers and abilities straight from one's imagination and the mental toughness to weather the harshest of odds, in order to combat the violent and chaotic world. But they need pawns, moved around and ready to die at the behest of grander strategy, even more. Thus the failure rate of the Crucible was over two thirds. Those that passed were immediately put into a leadership and that meant they needed followers. Useful idiots being the best, at this early stage of their military careers. Ofcourse these disposable soldiers were not told of this, its better that they not know and feel as if they were joining a team or 'Company' within the Hidden Leaf, on their own. Hence they were given a choice. Join one of the newly minted 'Genin' commanders, thereby sticking with their friends and colleagues with the hope of proving their worth later and becoming Genins themselves.

Or they could go become mercenaries for hire, the life for whom was cruel, brutish and short. Mercenaries, independant contractors and traitors to their army were always treated one and the same, hunted down even by their own for bounty, cash rewards or sport. As an further disincentive for going this route, the mercenaries were immediately saddled with an crushing debt for tuition and boarding over the last eight years. In light of this, and the pittance of pay given to brand new mercenaries, almost no one took this path. Later on, once these ninjas came to their own and were confident in their own abilities to handle the soldiering life on their own, did they go this route. Only those with suicide in their minds or with bigger balls than brains said no to the Leaf after the Crucible.

As the trainees sat on the ground, clearing their minds and relaxing their bodies for what lay next. They meditated and used their mind to go over the three primary tests that made up the Crucible. The first test was the most basic and fundamental for all Ninjas worldwide. It delineated one from human to superhuman. It was the skill that made them fearsome, hard to kill, elite. The trainee would be shot at and not move. A marksman with an automatic assualt rife would fire from a distance, at full auto until three full clips of ammo were expended, and would come closer with ever clip until they were at point blank range. The Ninja-to-be had to use they mystic force called chakra, an amalgamation of spiritual and physical power, to divert the bullets away from them with just their thoughts alone. At the conclusion, the test taker would allow one bullet from a high caliber handgun to pierce their leg. Now it was their turn to show that with chakra alone they can close and heal the would within minutes. Both a test of control and power of their chakra, it also tested their bravery. Most deaths in the crucible are made at this stage, the ultimate test of human durability.

The second stage of the Crucible tested what gave Ninjas their otherworldy reputation, their ability to transform their chakra into what civilians thought was magic, but ninjas refer to as 'jutsu.' Jutsus can be throught forms made real, transforming reality to the ninja's will and can harness the forces of nature. Earth, Wind, Fire and Lightning composed the fundamental forces of nature that chakra flowed into, with mixtures in between and a few esoteric and very rare elements outside. These abilities could transform the ninja herself to look like someone else and decieve, shoot lightning from ones fists to stun, to transforming the entire battlefield into mud to ensnare the enemy. Each Ninja army had their own, favored and kept secret, jutsus for their soldiers to become proficient in. Older ninja clans developed powerful family techniques called bloodlines and a few enterprising or genious ninjas developed their own jutsus to fit their personality and ends.

Those that passed the first test satisfactorily were led into another room with three elder ninja awaiting. Each a master of a particular class of jutsu and a keen eye for perfection. The Leaf Army was famously known for three basic jutsus in particular, which they trained their recruits from day one. Today, they will have to pull off these jutsus in a high pressure situation, quickly and to the judges' satisfaction. In decreasing order of difficulty, the first task was to do the Substitution jutsu, the ability to take something nearby of similar weight and size and exchange bodily places with it in an instant. During this test, one of the judges will lob a live grenade at the test taker's feet. The second jutsu tested is of the mind, a school of jutsu called genjutsu and requires advanced chakra control and a subtle mind, where the test taker must fool a judge into think he or she looks like someone else visually. The judge, is herself a genjutsu expert and will only let those through who could fool her for a few seconds. Enough time for a ninja out in the real world to incapacitate a target or fool a guard. The third and final Leaf test laid out in this stage is to produce multiple illusory doppelgangers of the test taker and maintain them. These clones, made of nothing but chakra are made to look like the ninja and divert fire away or through pursuers away from the scent. In the Leaf's eyes, these three jutsus are fundamental to the warrior's life and are essential to survival. Either to increase one's score or make up for botched marks, test takers can also demonstrate a personal bloodline or specialty.

The third and final stage of the Crucible is a one on one physical battle with an ninja general or Jounin, whereby the finalist must show martial skill as befitting a recognized warrior of the Leaf. It is here that the instructors opinion of the recruits hold the strongest sway as the Jounin can be signalled to be less or more hard on the test taker. The test takes into account the administration's perogative to advance a popular or bloodlined recruit or one who's primary specialty is non-combative such as support or spy. Combat heavy test takers are given a harder test in order to test them at their chosen specialty. A darker and more controversial aspect is the intentionally high difficulty set for students the leadership core has pegged as followers and who do not belong in any leadership fuction. This is a safety valve to keep the unfit or dangerous from infecting the Leaf but still keep them around to be useful.

Upon completion of all three stages of the Crucible, the student is hearby given the title of Genin, Ninja of the Leaf. An elite within the elite of all the warriors in the world. With all the privaleges, rights and duties that entails. Along with the command of his or her own squad and respect from the populace. With this in mind, a bell rung from a nearby clocktower signalling the beginning, and each soldier on the ground quickly stood up at attention. The beginning of the rest of their lives is hours away. Or its end.